Matt Epp

International touring artist and award-winning songwriter Matt Epp is the quintessential troubadour of the Canadian prairies, who has won the admiration of an audience that spans the globe. A stark and confessional songwriter endowed with an infinite capacity to engage an audience, Epp’s performances encourage a sense of connection and community, where every listener leaves as a friend. He is one of the gifted forerunners defining the future landscape of Canadian music - no doubt contributing to his Grand Prize win at the International Songwriting Competition in 2017. A seasoned collaborator and activist, Matt's music has been on regular rotation on CBC, Sirius XM, and community radio for over a decade.

Rolling Wave is Epp’s 13th studio album; mostly recorded alone in a converted old rural ‘Art Church’ on Lake Huron’s shores during the second winter of the pandemic. It opens with the jubilant Made For Love (watch it’s playful almost nude prancing-in-the-snow accompanying video), then settles into the album’s mystic single Live Free and the sensual bluesy groove of Touch Yourself - celebrating a distant lover’s self-pleasure. The album sweetens with the innocent dream of Treehouse and Mexican ocean sounds of the love song Architect Eyes. Blade Fine Edge brings this collection back to Epp’s poignant lyrics and a sombre vision of the future, recalling the prettiness and spirit of Bruce Cockburn’s songs; with the stand out line “It’s hard as rock / to make change with talk / this is why we sing”. The lush and shadowy stalk of The Girl Who Walks The World was composed for a large land-based multi-disciplinary performance and film project called ‘Wandering With Wonder’ and will be performed with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra during the album release tour in May. The playful John Prine-esque Inside Out Man was born during an introspective psychedelic journey, and the album closes with an earnest and prayerful Americana jam, Present Moment, which was channeled during a spiritual reflection on death, presence, and interconnectedness. Epp’s lightest album to date, Rolling Wave marks the transition into a new era for both the artist and his offerings.

Host or Publisher Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club