Matt Long

The RattleKats

Presented by: John Peel Centre for Creative Arts

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0	STOWMARKET: John Peel Centre for Creative Arts
P	Saturday 7th September, 2019
N	7:30pm

Event information

24 year old Matt Long has carved himself a reputation as a stellar front man of award-winning British Blues band Catfish and is now also on the road with his own band with new riff-influenced blues/rock material.

With Catfish, Matt was awarded Blues Act of the Year in England and both of their albums have reached no 1 in the IBBA Blues Airplay Charts. During the past year, Catfish has already completed successful tours of Europe and the UK, with a very busy touring schedule during 2019 including major European and UK festivals.

This new band allows him to flex his songwriting muscles with a new project based on rockier riffs and showcasing his impeccable guitar wizardry.

Matt has also recently completed solo tours of Russia and the Czech Republic, playing his own material with local musicians, and has already been rebooked to return to both countries for another tour.

The band are currently recording their first album at Anchor Baby Studios in Kent with a release planned for late 2019.
They released their first single ‘So’ in October 2018.

Adam Pyke is on bass; Adam  is Matt’s band mate from Catfish but has also been a close friend of Matt’s since his days at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford. Adam’s taste in music is wide and eclectic, and you will hear references to all genres in his playing.

On drums is the critically acclaimed ex-RavenEye drummer Kev Hickman. Affectionately dubbed by one of the audience at their first gig as ‘half man half windmill’, Kev is no stranger to the world stage, having performed regularly across three continents and supported acts such as Slash, Deep Purple, Joe Satriani and the Darkness.

‘It’s been a long time since I experienced such a great, deep, powerful, heart-melting concert. Matt plays guitar like a god and sings even better. Matt is truly a musician we soon will hear a lot about.’ - Tomas Samiec

www.mattlong.net


Support from The RattleKats

The RattleKats were formed in 2017 by long time friends and band-mates Nathan Pickett and Leon Chapman. The two have been playing and writing together in various bands since 2003, but after making some progress with bands Old Crow and The Death Rattle were forced to stop playing in 2014 when Nathan broke all 4 fingers on his left hand. Following years of surgery and extensive therapy, Nathan was able to play again albeit with a modified guitar style - placing an emphasis on right hand picking to provide complexity where the left no longer could. Inspiration for this guitar style was taken from the delta blues greats such as Robert Johnson, Son House and Skip James.

Keeping a finger-picking style in mind, The RattleKats were created to put a modern twist on a foundation of blues and soul. The line up was completed with Laura Castle on Vocals - who's husky yet melodic tone perfectly suits the moody intensity of the songs and Aaron Oakley on drums - who may well be the loudest drummer alive but whose technical ability ensures every song stays interesting.



Licensed bar.