Matt York – Mine

ARTIST: Matt York
TITLE: Mine
LABEL: Rock Ridge Music
RELEASE DATE: Available where digital music is sold
IN STORES: 1/20/09
GENRE: Acoustic/Soul

MATT YORK – “Death Came A Knockin’”

MATT YORK – “Tomorrow”

NOTEWORTHY:
After touring for the past three years supporting his first record “Under the Streetights,” playing nearly 750 shows across North America, Japan and Australia, and releasing his first DVD in March of 2008 (filmed by Dan Ramirez [Dave Matthews Band, O.A.R.]), Matt York is on pace for one heck of a year. After navigating his way through the music world on his own steam and getting a taste of both its luster and seedy underbelly, Matt was beginning to feel the effects of the road.

Rather than take a break, Matt responded by pairing up with some friends and exceptional songwriters: Brad Stella and Joel Parisien (NewWorldSon) to craft a selection of tracks for his latest project. Those connections, and Matt’s habit of locking himself in a Toronto rehearsal space for weeks on end, resulted in twenty new songs and a rekindled fire in the belly. In February of 2008, Matt went back in the studio with producer and longtime friend Justin Koop (Tomi Swick, St. Alvia Cartel, NewWorldSon) to begin working on his sophomore release – “Mine.” Six months of work and eleven final tracks later, “Mine” is ready to fill the ears of the masses. Matt York’s music will make you think, feel, dance, sing out loud until it hurts, and then do it all over again. The new album, along with his new five-piece band, has even further confirmed that Matt York isn’t just another singer-songwriter.

“I grew up listening to the Motown and gospel that my mom and dad would listen to around the house,” says Matt. “In high school, when all of my friends were listening to Nirvana, I was listening to Stevie and Rare Earth. My dad’s a high school music teacher and accomplished violinist, and when he’d work long hours after school (I went to the same high school he taught at… it was awesome….), I’d sit in the music room and play guitar for hours each night. My dad would be there to help me if I didn’t know certain chords, but I never took one lesson. I just learned the songs I loved after school every day.”

Some highlights include:

• Matt’s first album, “Under the Streetlights,” sold nearly 8,000 copies worldwide.

• In 2006, Matt got picked up by Japanese label Entak/Universal. His single “Hey Love” charted in the Top 20 on Tokyo radio charts for nearly seven weeks.

• In 2006 and 2007, Matt hit the top three in the Canadian Radio Start Competition run by Mix 99.9 (now Virgin Radio) for his songs “That’s Life” and “Lucky Man.”

• In 2007, Matt was nominated for three TIMA (Toronto Independent Music Awards) including “Best Male Acoustic” and “Best Song.”

• Matt has shared stages with Andy Stochansky, Tomi Swick, Justin Nozuka, G. Love and Special Sauce, Stephen Kellogg, State Radio, The Alternate Routes, and Ryan Montbleau to name a few.

• “Tomorrow,” the first single off of “Mine,” has already been picked up by thirteen major radio stations across Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.

• Matt’s first EP sold nearly 5000 copies just from side-stage sales. Matt hand-made each one and sold them while on tour across North America.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Death Came A Knockin’
2. Tomorrow
3. Let Me Go
4. Someday
5. Give Me Love
6. Those Days
7. Lucky Man
8. Hard Days
9. Mine
10. It’s All Fire
11. Now And Then