Matt Jameson Acoustic: Where’d he come from? How does he get so many gigs? What’s his secret to success? Please read on for all of the answers and more…
Matt (Bynum) Jameson, currently lives in Harrisburg, but he was born and raised in Ft. Worth Texas. When he was young his Mom was a bartender at Joe’s Garage, yes, the same place where a little band named Pantera used to play, a lot! He used to hang with his older sister, Angie, and her friends, and in that area and time there were a lot of metal bands and music with amazing guitar solos, and before he knew it, when he was 15, he was already in his 1st “band” making music with his friends. At 16, he left home and started touring with the Renaissance Faire. He was hawking wares, and believe it or not, had his hair in dreads. He thanks that experience for helping him have the stage presence he has today. In 2000 he moved to PA where he worked in many different trades and focused on raising his family. In 2009 he started rehearsing with a band called Wrench, unfortunately that only lasted a few months when he realized that at that time he just had to focus on his family and he dropped music all together and started up his own business, a truck lot, in Dillsburg.
After a few years, in 2019, he was newly separated, and his good friend, Scott Troup, convinced him to go out to the D.A.M. Party, where he met his now, super amazing wife, Holly. Holly, who is my [Rachel Rocks] best friend, so we all started going out to shows together. Seeing and hearing all of the different performers was giving Matt the itch to start playing music again. When Covid hit Matt unfortunately, with the help of the government, lost his car lot after being shut down for what was originally 2 weeks, which turned into months. During Covid we would get together and watch livestreams, and one night Matt showed up with a guitar. From his first song, I was hooked. As Rachel Rocks I hear a lot of performers and I knew he needed to be playing his own shows.
Matt would play some of his “Texas Music,” two of his biggest inspirations were Chris Whitley and Ian Moore, and pretty much every show he pulls out “Blue on Black” by Kenny Wayne Shepherd. It was awesome hearing him knock the dust off his guitar and play again, every week I saw his confidence build. Finally, when live music started happening again, we were out supporting Derek Henry, Derek offered to have Matt come up and play a couple songs during his break, right away Angie Finney, told Matt he had a very unique voice and he can play during Derek’s breaks anytime. Angie was the first “outsider” that gave Matt that extra push he needed to realize that maybe he could play out again.
Matt encouraged me to play the ukulele along with him and we had a little stint playing together in our duo, Staying Vertical, we started going to open mics so I could get some experience on stage, and Matt would also play a few songs solo, and people kept telling him they loved hearing him play, which sealed the deal; he started buying equipment, more guitars, etc, and he was ready to perform! After playing at Fratelli’s during Derek’s break, he got his first solo show, which was April 9th, 2022. By September he started talking with Dave Gates about what it’s like to play as a full-time musician, Dave really took him under his wing and mentored him on the ins and outs of the local scene. He opened up quite a few avenues for Matt, and by October he quit his full-time desk job, and with the amazing support of his beautiful wife, Holly, he became a full-time musician and he hired me, Rachel Rocks, to be his manager.
Matt hit the pavement hard! When asked about his trick to getting so many gigs, his answer was “Phone calls, Messages, Emails, and Showing up, over and over again.” Dave and Matt went to Maryland on a road trip together and hit up a few places, and they are both playing regular shows at those places now. He hit the scene at the perfect time because venues were just starting to open their calendars for 2023, and Matt jumped on the opportunity to pick up shows people had to cancel over the holidays, which helped him secure future shows in 2023. You really have to be ready and willing to play anytime and anywhere. Matt has been very blessed to also have people referring him to venues, which definitely goes a long way when they’ve heard his name before he connects with them, he is very grateful for each and every one of the people that support him on and off the stage.
To keep track of all of his shows Matt is using the app Bandsintown. It’s super simple to input your show information, and the cool part is the events transfer over to his main website, www.mattjamesonacoustic.com.
One thing venues really like is to see is how much Matt promotes himself. He has all of the necessary social media sites, but he also advertises faithfully in the PA Musician Magazine, and keeps his website updated and current. Matt’s goofy Facebook posts have brightened people’s days. He makes sure to post about shows before they happen, and it’s equally as important to post about shows when they are over so people can see what they missed, and it helps to promote the venue even more, which obviously the venues love. Matt is not a fan of social media, it definitely takes lots of coaxing from me, aka, the “manager” but we know “teamwork makes the dream work” so with all of us working together we can get things done, and make things happen! Some of the hashtags Matt makes sure to use in every post are: #musicmademedoit, #greattimeswithgreatpeople, #letsdothistogether.
Matt has over 100 shows booked for the rest of the year and has very limited availability, but he could definitely play on a Monday, Tuesday, or even still some Wednesdays He also has his calendar ready to start booking into 2024, so book him now before his calendar is filled. You can give him a call directly at 717-497-9011 or email MattJamesonAcoustic@gmail.com to get him booked at your venue or private party.
Matt’s other super strength that really sets him above the rest is his stage presence. Even though Matt only started playing in April of 2022, he was already nominated for the Best Male Artist in the Central PA Music Awards, if you go see him play a show, you will see why. He quickly draws people in and has them singing and dancing away in no time! Matt does a great job at mixing all genres of music. He easily flows from Rock to Country, Modern to Classic, Johnny Cash to Slayer, the Foo Fighters to the Rolling Stones, and a lot of artists in between! One thing for sure is at every show, Matt is there to have a good time, and it shows!
Matt wouldn’t be able to do any of this if it wasn’t for his amazing support system: There are way too many people to list, but just to name a few, his very supportive wife Holly, who is constantly encouraging him to live his dream, his amazing big sister Angie for taking him to blues bars and metal concerts and introducing him to a wide range of music at a young age, Scott Troup for dragging him out that one night, not too long ago, Derek and Angie for believing in him when he didn’t believe in himself, again Dave Gates for showing him the ropes, the PA Musician Magazine for their constant support, all of his many family, fans and friends that come out and support him at shows, and most importantly God for always making sure he is in the right place at the right time!
Matt is just getting started! Check out his full schedule on his website, mattjamesonacoustic.com, follow him on Facebook or any of the social sites, facebook.com/mattjamesonacoustic. Most importantly make plans to come out to a show and have a good time!