KIND OF NEW

Never let it be said that Iain Matthews is one to dwell on past successes.

These days, most band ‘reunions’ take place because of the huge financial rewards available and occasionally, record company pressure. In the case of Matthews Southern Comfort, neither reason applies. The original band wasn’t around long enough to have any fanatical following and there is no high profile label hovering in the wings.

 

MSC has been reborn simply because Matthews feels he didn’t quite get it right the first time. Originally a vehicle for his musical concepts, forty years on, the sounds and songs just keep on coming.

The original band came to a shuddering and premature halt, when Matthews decided, rightly or wrongly, that it lacked musical depth. The formation of an all new MSC comes from his desire to finish the journey, plus a deep ongoing passion to make perhaps one more important musical statement, that will be both heard and acknowledged by his peers.

In conceiving and assembling this unique group of spirited and likeminded players, Matthews has once again surpassed all expectations. The musicianship and commitment are second to none and the sumptuous, soaring vocal harmonies instantly bring to mind the 60's version of the band.

The new MSC, a quartet, features an all Dutch lineup. With reknowned guitarist, songwriter, Bart Jan Baartmans. Keyboardist, Bart de Win, fresh from several seasons with the Gerard van Masakkers band and rounding out the lineup is the relatively unknown Zeeland songstress, Elly Kellner.

This spectacular band, represents both the past and the present, as Matthews cleverly reinvents some of the classic MSC songs, to accompany the new originals.

If it's that vintage swooping pedal steel sound you're after, this band may not be your cup of tea. But if you're looking for an evening of pure, unadulterated, sonic bliss,

Matthews Southern Comfort lives.