601 Longstaff St
Matt Heckler is comin back. Last year’s show was amazing, a good example of what happens if you take a chance on the unknown. Come again or for the first time!
MATT HECKLER is a solo multi-instrumentalist that barely fits into any ordinary musical category. He tends to keep to the darker side of Appalachian mountain music and early bluegrass but listen long enough and you’ll soon be transported to the mountains of Eastern Europe or a dimly lit bar in Ireland where they honor those who have passed with a gently swaying a cappella ballad.
After touring almost nonstop for years in support of bands like Devil Makes Three, Lost Dog Street Band, Flogging Molly, and others, HECKLER, like the rest of us, got sidelined by the ongoing global pandemic. With the newfound time off, he set to pushing creative boundaries in his home recording studio as far as his mind would allow. Each fiddle, banjo, and guitar track carefully put in place all the while retaining the grit and energy reflected in his live shows. Paired perfectly as the sequel to After The Flood, the Blood, Water, Coal album is a defining release in his career.
Blood, Water, Coal was performed and recorded by MATT HECKLER with upright bass and backing vocals provided by Jeff Loops (Lost Dog Street Band). While recording Blood, Water, Coal, MATT HECKLER released The Magnolia Sessions outdoor live set – the maiden release for the now popular series – which made it to #9 on the Bluegrass Billboard Charts. The Magnolia Sessions was still charting upon the release of Blood, Water, Coal, which debuted at #3, leaving HECKLER with two albums running on the Billboard Charts simultaneously.
With the release of his last album, “This Town Is Killin Me”, HECKLER signed off on his fourth album with a national tour. Fans filled the venues for a rowdy solo act, and he held true to the grit of his live shows reputation.
Moving forward, HECKLER has a new album in the works, which he says is his best yet. Keep your ears peeled for future recordings, videos and performances near you.
BIO
From a ridge in the Ohio River Valley, on a front porch where Kentucky’s visible through the winter’s bare trees, Joe Truck Stop conspires over a smoking blend of Bluegrass, Honky Tonk, Western Swing, and whatever else finds itself inhaled and manifested by way of a wood box and steel wire…Years of digesting so much of the Country Blues lexicon and traveling the country learning the numerous styles of fiddlers, writers, and travelers alike has led to the original music that comes by way of Joe’s Truck Stop.
The songs are stories of living on the road, love, temptation, heartbreak, family, banjo pickin’ tobacco spittin’ women, gas station sushi, and much more…
We’ve released a handful of self recorded demos and three studio albums, the Free Showers EP (2014), American Dreams (2018), and, Yonderings, released in April 2022, currently receiving positive praise from numerous outlets and publications.
