MATT JOE GOW & THE DEAD LEAVES

Matt Joe Gow is a musical wanderer.

Matt grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand, a city famous for its independent music scene and sited on land that gives visual evidence of the ravaging elements that shaped it.  Land and the elements, a common theme in country music and a firm platform for Matt Joe Gow's heartfelt lyrical approach.

As a young teen, Matt’s great musical love was for the alt country sounds of bands like Wilco and Whiskeytown, and for artists like Grant Lee Buffalo, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams and of course, Johnny Cash.

“I was just drawn to anything raw, anything real with great lyrics or melodies,” Matt says. “Country music, being such an honest form of music, lends itself to the songwriter. It really resonates with me.”

But there was too big of a world out there to stay still for long, so Matt set out on his voyage of discovery. His wanderlust took him trekking through Asia, Europe and North America, where he immersed himself in the various cultures, formed bands and always wrote new material.

Now Matt has taken musical root in Melbourne and is again writing songs that are too beautiful to keep to himself. He’s formed a new band, The Dead Leaves, and after six short months of gigging around Melbourne together Matt Joe Gow and The Dead Leaves already sound as though they’ve known each other for years.

“Working with The Dead Leaves has become an intricate part of the writing process,’’ Matt says.

In September this year, all the hard work paid off and Matt Joe Gow & The Dead Leaves signed a record deal with Melbourne based label Liberation Music, and publishing with Mushroom Music. To top off the month, Matt Joe Gow and the Dead Leaves entered Melbourne’s Sing Sing Studios, under the guidance of renowned producer, ARIA & CMA award winner Nash Chambers. With the help of founding Midnight Oil member and multi talented musician Jim Moginie, in six intense days of recording Matt Joe Gow & The Dead Leaves laid down what will became their debut album for Liberation Music.

“Being able to work with Jim Mogenie one of the most talented musicians in the country is an honour for any aspiring band, let alone to be produced by Nash Chambers who in my mind was the perfect fit for this record,” said Matt.

The record aims to capture the raw energy of Matt Joe Gow and The Dead Leaves’ live shows, and that hint of Dunedin in Matt’s songs. You can hear it in their laidback Americana-influenced alt country sounds, inspired by the songs that thrilled Matt growing up.

There is a yearning for home that Matt’s songs have in common with so many great country songs and that deliciously languid pacing and sense of open space that makes Matt’s music his own.

Matt  Joe Gow & The Dead Leaves are:

Matt Joe Gow- vocals/guitar/harmonica/percussion   
Andrew Pollock- guitar/vocals

Kain Borlase- double bass