Matthew Broyles: “I make music to explain the world to myself. That’s really the primary function, and I probably wouldn’t be here without it. But corollary to that is sharing that sense of the world with others.”
Photo by Juan R. Govea
Matthew Broyles can do your typical relationship song, but he’d rather focus his songwriting energy on the moment, which just happens to be one full of anger, frustration, and sadness.
Released under his band name The Matthew Show, his new album echoes his 2012 release, Memphis, which could be seen as saying that not much has changed in society. The release party for texas ii is Saturday at The Cicada.
“I feel the need to address the dark trajectory we’re all heading down as a culture,” Broyles said. “Being in my 50s now, mortality is an additional gravitational force pulling on me, so the album does its best to merge those concerns.”
Broyles started recording the album in April 2024 and says the songs had been kicking around for quite some time, some going back a decade or more. Instead of mixing the tracks himself as he’s done before, Broyles turned to Mark Randall at Blackstone Studios in Fort Worth.
“When [Randall] opened Blackstone,” Broyles said, “I swore I was going to take the opportunity to work with him. Although it took a few years to get around to it, it’s been the most pleasant mixing experience I’ve ever had, and that’s up against a couple of Grammy winners.”
The Matthew Show blends mixed media, spoken word, and all permutations of Americana. Broyles draws from the personal to describe the universal, including thoughts not his own.
“I know a lot of very interesting people, and I just like to hear them talk sometimes,” he said. “I like when spoken word and music overlap. Movies like Waking Life or Magnolia have that element.”
The Matthew Show often performs at Truck Yard Alliance and the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, and Broyles solo acoustic can be regularly found at Tannahill’s, Birdie’s Social Club, and Woodshed Smokehouse.
“I make music to explain the world to myself,” he said. “That’s really the primary function, and I probably wouldn’t be here without it. But corollary to that is sharing that sense of the world with others, pointing out things I notice, and asking, ‘Do you see it, too?’ And when I hear from someone who’s heard my work and is grateful that someone else said the thing they were thinking, it’s extremely rewarding. I don’t make music for regular people. There’s plenty of that around. I’m using the weirdo glasses, and those who know, know it’s a lovely little fraternity.” — Juan R. Govea
The Matthew Show
9pm Sat w/Sam the Lion and Reid Perry at The Cicada, 1002 S Main St, Fort Worth. $10. @The_Cicada_FTW.
