What Am I Making
What Am I Making Podcast
WAIM #068: Matty C Live From Ames, IA
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WAIM #068: Matty C Live From Ames, IA

To celebrate my return to the sheddio, this week's podcast is a very special full recording of my full show in Ames, IA while out on my Sheddio On The Road Tour.
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Yours truly with my friend Kim Nyborg who also took the photo.

As you are almost certainly aware of by now, I just returned home from a month-long US tour that took me to 28 states and covered the eastern half of the US in extensive detail. The journey took me across much of America that I had never seen before as I played my songs in houses, backyards, on patios, decks, and in breweries, historic buildings, and even the grotto of a pie shop. Nearly every night for four weeks, I told stories and sang my songs to engaged and attentive audiences.

Each of the 23 shows on this tour were a unique experience. While many of the songs were repeated from night to night, I did my level best to change up the sequencing of the songs and to try and to infuse new material to the sets as often as possible. I focused on my catalog of original songs from the last twenty years. At each gig, I played songs from my time in The Stick Arounds, Harborcoat, and The Pantones.

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In addition to those songs, I told many of the deep personal stories behind the songs, and even managed to infuse a bit of laughter into the proceedings as well. Knowing audiences at these shows would be familiar with little or more likely, none of my music, I felt that the stories would help to connect the listener to my songs in a more direct way. My hope was that folks would see flashes of their own lives in these stories and songs. The connection with the audience both during the show and before and afterward is always the most rewarding part of these tours.

Toward the end of the tour, I found myself at a house concert in Ames, IA. Ames is a small college town in the middle of the state. I’d set the gig up through a friend of a friend and was unsure what to expect. My hosts Tom and Mary Jane were a lovely older progressive couple with a gorgeous home and yard. Eventually, some 40 people piled into the modest ranch house and we had an amazing evening with music by yours truly, as well as local guitarist Jason Monday and Rockets Of Desire, a band comprised in part by Tom and my other two hosts Bryon and Rachel Dudley. And to my friend Kim Nyborg for co-starring in the photo on the show card.

The setlist from the Ames, IA show. I decided to skip ‘Go To Sleep’ in deference of the clock.

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I’ll tell the full recap story from the show very soon here on the blog. In the meantime, this week’s podcast is a recording of my full set from Tom and Mary Jane’s in Ames, IA. As I have said, each night is different, and no two shows the same, but this hour ought to give you an idea of what it’s like to spend an evening with Matty C at a house concert. Special thanks to Tom, Mary Jane, Bryon, and Rachel for their hospitality. And special thanks as well to my friend, Kim Nyborg for the selfie featured on the show card!

Thanks again for all of the support and grace while I was on the road, my friends. It’s great to be back in the WAIM saddle once more.

Cheers,
Matty C

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Discussion about this podcast

What Am I Making
What Am I Making Podcast
Hey there. I’m Matty C. For the formally inclined folks in the crowd, the official designation is Matt Carlson.
I am a 50 year old musician, songwriter, and graphic designer that's spent the Covid era pondering deep and meaningful questions about music, film, literature and art in the 21st century.
It seems as though we’re living in age where musicians have to give their music away, content is around every corner and we don’t seem to really value much of any of it the way we used to.
What is it really like to make a living pursuing a life in the arts these days? Why are we seeing a lower percentage of artists in the workforce than at anytime in 100 years?
Now, I’ve reached a point of massive change in my life and I am preparing to spend more of my time, and hopefully, generating a portion of my income from my creative endeavors. That’s a terrifying endeavor, but it’s also incredibly exciting.
I’ll be discussing these ideas and a whole lot more of my own curiosity and creative endeavors on this platform using the written word, videos, podcasts, music and probably some other assets I learn along the way. I’ll be seeking out smart, and fascinating creatives as they build their own lives while fighting an ever-growing series of new challenges and opportunities.
All of these journeys and detours are an effort to share my exploration of culture in the modern world, and to help shine a brighter light on the work I have been doing for years as a musician, designer and podcaster.
This discussion is at the very center of our civilization, what it means to be human andhow to find a meaningful way to connect through that shared humanity in the form of artistic expression. Art is at the core of the relationship. Let’s explore it with that context, and that incalculable value, in mind.
If you enjoy what you hear on the show, please subscribe to my Substack where I also I post this podcast as well as a variety of essays, video and recordings regularly in my search to find out what art really matters to people right here and right now, and they are willing to do to invest in our culture.
Thank you so much for being here. It’s wonderful to have your support.
https://whatamimaking.substack.com