Matt Connarton Unleashed 9-20-25 hour 2

0:00 Speaker 1: W mnh rips the nobles.

0:04 Speaker 2: When Mattso wakes up in the morning, he gets into the shower and to the top of his lungs, he sings, I want because I can't. All right, I'm back to the radio show now on the best Cherry.

0:25 Speaker 1: Won't you take me.

0:28 Speaker 3: To the ocean's side. I'll catch a boat and our sail across the sea. Tell them Mada not to come.

0:42 Speaker 1: And then, won't you take me.

0:50 Speaker 4: Out to the desert hut so I can see what I'm really made. Tell them man not come in.

1:05 Speaker 1: Man, you see it takes time to make time in this Praise Praises city.

1:23 Speaker 5: I'm going where they say all the living.

1:32 Speaker 6: Won't you take me up to the bass land so I can see for miles around?

1:46 Speaker 1: Tell them man not come man mack. Won't you take me.

1:58 Speaker 4: Up to the mountains high where the trees they rise to the sky.

2:09 Speaker 1: Till them man dot cone And because it takes.

2:19 Speaker 7: Time, the mad time where the rays raises city, I'm.

2:31 Speaker 1: Going where the city all the live.

2:36 Speaker 5: Bands easy, yes they do.

2:41 Speaker 8: Now, won't you take me.

3:54 Speaker 1: Up to heaven.

3:59 Speaker 8: So can see.

4:01 Speaker 1: Everyone that I've ever loved. Tell them mattera not come back.

4:14 Speaker 1: Won't you take me to the darkas night.

4:21 Speaker 6: Where nobody else says ever been, tell them matter not come in.

4:37 Speaker 1: Because it six.

4:38 Speaker 9: Time the mad time in this crazy, crazy city.

4:49 Speaker 5: I'm going with the s all the liver easiy where time.

5:05 Speaker 1: Crazy crazy scene all the man.

5:25 Speaker 10: What a great track that is Matt Axton and the song is crazy City And we're going to be speaking with him in just a moment. Welcome everybody. We have entered our number two numrow doos of Matt Connorton unleashed on this Saturday morning, September twentieth, from the studios of w m n H ninety five point three FM and Glorious Manchester, New Hampshire. And Matt Axton is going to becoming a Manchester on September twenty fourth at the Rex Theater. But uh, let's see if we have him on the line. Matt, are you there?

5:54 Speaker 11: Yes, sir? Right here?

5:55 Speaker 10: Hey, welcome, So you are you are calling from the road? Correct, You're out on tour right now? Where Where are you calling us from?

6:03 Speaker 11: We're out in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. We played at the Guthrie Center last night out here, the Rlogutree Center.

6:09 Speaker 10: Oh, very nice, very nice. Yeah, you're touring. Let's see, so you started this month and then you're touring into October as well. Correct, you're out for uh, you're out on the road for a couple of months.

6:21 Speaker 11: Absolutely.

6:21 Speaker 6: Yeah.

6:21 Speaker 11: This is the longest tour to date from US. We came all away from Los Angeles, California, started out in Oklahoma, I went down south and I've just been hitting our first ever you know, Eastern Seaboard, Northeast run of our of our existence, and we're very excited.

6:37 Speaker 10: Oh very cool. Well, welcome to New England and I know you're gonna be You're gonna be right here in Manchester on the twenty fourth. I want to so, I want to start here because I so I played that song Crazy City. You sent you sent us a bunch of tracks to choose from. I opened with that one because selfishly, that is my favorite, and I want to tell you what I love about it, you know, because you sort of you sort of blend genres a little bit, you know you, I know it kind of falls under the Americana genre, a category of what you do but but that, but that tends to be a mix of things.

7:13 Speaker 10: Americana is kind of a broad term. It tends to be a mix of things. What I love about Crazy City is, you know, it's got that Americana, that folk sort of touch of country vibe, not not too countries. It's not overly twangy, but it's you know, just it's such a great song. But then you get to that point in the song too, where it kind of gets a little bit funky and a little bit of soul to it, and I really like the way you slip that into the song. It kind of changes a little bit, but it also fits in so seamlessly.

7:41 Speaker 10: But I noticed it the first time I listened to it, when it gets to that part and you know, the part of the song. I mean, obviously, I'm like, oh, I really like that. So I think that is such a great tune. That is my personal favorite of the ones that I listen to. And but you do you kind of you kind of blend genres a little bit, and I really like that, and I love that song. I wanted to tell you that right up front. I think that's such a great track.

8:04 Speaker 11: Oh well, thank you for mentioning that and listening. I'm glad that one struck you like that, because yeah, absolutely, you mentioned sort of Americana as a catch all term in the industry, and you know, some people think of that maybe, you know, sometimes it can be too broad of a genre, but I think that is its strength to me, is that you can mix, like you said, a little bit of country, a little a little folk, a little rock and roll. Sometimes you can get a little bluegrass, a little soul in there.

8:30 Speaker 11: And I come from, you know, a legacy. My dad, Hoyd Axton, really never fit in one genre. He hopped all over. He just believed in writing a good song, no matter what kind it was. And I fell under that as well. I couldn't help but escape, you know, but embrace that mentality around songwriting. So in a show, we're gonna sort of take you on Americana journey, is what I say. At the beginning of the show. We're going to mix it up a little bit and tell some good legacy stories and in the end, I just want you to tap your foot, get your mind moving a little bit, and give you a little escape if we can.

9:02 Speaker 10: So I'm curious to ask you about this, is is there a certain I've heard musicians who who have you know, famous families, or that they have a famous mom or a famous dad. Or talk about how there can be a certain weight to that. There's a certain pressure that comes with that, And I'm curious if that's how it is for you. Obviously you're very proud of your legacy. You embrace it, but you don't. But but you don't You embrace it, but you don't you know, kind of you have your own identity, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

9:35 Speaker 10: Like, you are Matt Axton and you have original music that you've created. You know, you're not doing You're you're not doing a show that where you just go out and play your dad's music for example. Maybe you have done that in the past. I don't know. But you have your own music, you have your own vibe, you have your own sound. But you also have this incredible legacy that you have to of your family that you have to carry around with you. Is there any kind of pressure with that or do you take that in stride or are you are you very comfortable with it or how do you how do you deal with that?

10:02 Speaker 10: I'm really curious about that.

10:04 Speaker 11: Yeah, absolutely, Well, you know, I don't think of it as a pressure much. I think of it more as an honor. Yeah, way, they're both. My grandmother was an amazing you know, songwriter and curator of community through art, and she started a lot of musicians in the industry, mainly in Nashville and in the sixties through the nineties, and so, you know, it's an amazing legacy to keep alive. But it's so like the communal I touched so many different genres, different generations of musicians, and I feel like I'm more walking with them than you know, it's like to have them on my shoulders, weighing anything down.

10:45 Speaker 11: And I'm lucky in one way too that the legacy I get to keep alive is pretty dang fun.

10:50 Speaker 1: Yeah.

10:50 Speaker 11: You know, my dad's biggest song was Joy of the World, and that was really his mantra around life is the joy of art and community that you can create through that. So, you know, every once in a while we'll do a white dedicated show, you know, I'll get grab his band and we'll do some some very very history leaden stuff. But for me, like I mentioned earlier, my dad was so eclectic. I can really mix in his songs in any way that we can, and that's a real challenge and a fun thing for me is to sort of like sort of weave in all the legacy stuff into our original songs as well.

11:25 Speaker 11: And then I have the accent curse of just way way too many songs, hundreds of them. They keep pouring out of my brain all the time. It's a curse, like I said, but it's also a really fun adventure every time. And one other thing that's different with my legacy too is a lot of legacy kids have one parent who's the creative and then one parent who sort of stays home and keeps everything balanced. And I did not have that aspect. My mom was my dad's piano player and band manager and tour manager. So when it was time to go on the road, it was a musical, you know, we all went, the whole family.

11:58 Speaker 11: So I was just always sort of, you know, in wrapped in this this lifestyle.

12:02 Speaker 10: Growing up in a family like that. Was it just kind of a foregone conclusion that this is what you were going to be doing? I mean, was there any was there or a moment growing up where you thought, you know, I might I might do this for a career, I might do that, I might do something else, or was it just always was this always the obvious path for you.

12:20 Speaker 11: I mean, truthfully, no, no, it wasn't. I mean music was always around. Like people ask like, oh, you know, did you did you like it? Were you going to do it? And I'm like, well, it just was always there was just a thing that was constantly happening. But I know, I was I was supposed to go. I got a scholarship to go play football at University of Oklahoma oh High School, and that was that was sort of my you know, my main direction. I was going to go do sports. And then I ended up hurting my knee really bad and had to get surgery.

12:46 Speaker 11: And as I was laid up for a few months, laying on the couch, I grabbed a guitar and I started drumming. I was like, wow, this is sort of easy. Let me see if I can write a tune. Okay, that was fun. Let's keep going. And what the rest is history. You haven't put it down since you know, I'll be damned.

12:58 Speaker 10: That's wild. So if you hadn't got hurt, you know, you you you might have gone on to the NFL. Who knows, right, But but it's interesting, so and and so obviously getting injured that's a terrible thing. But you know, you took it and you you did something positive with it, using that time to really, uh, to effectively start your music career right at that moment, you know, as your own, as your own entity on your own path. That's that's fantastic and uh, that's wild. Do you ever look back and think, I mean, do you still have thoughts about what would have happened if you had if you had been able to just continue to play football without the interruption of that injury?

13:35 Speaker 10: Do you ever do you ever have fantasies about playing in the NFL or anything like that?

13:38 Speaker 11: Or oh absolutely, especially when I go look at my bank statements and my guess, you know what was wrong with me? No, but but you know, it's one of those things. Everybody has those moments in our life right where it's the fork in the road and like, hey, if I would have chose this, what would have happened? What would my life be like? And the reality is, you know, as much fun as it would have been to do that and live that lifestyle, I love that. I actually coached high school basketball for ten years after that, when I was still you know, I was still an active musician up in Northern California.

14:10 Speaker 11: Where I'm from, I was able to coach and sort of the slow seasons, and so I've always been able to stay active in sports that way. Yeah, but I think, you know, music is, like you mentioned, it's such a connector. It's an amazing thing, you know, it's the only the closest thing to magic. I think we have in the world right art and music in particular and cross languages and oceans and generations. And the Night People has done well and really inspire people if it's it's needed. And I just think, you know, there's nothing more powerful than a really good good song sometimes, So that's that's an honor.

14:47 Speaker 11: And I tell you, boy, show was like my soul is very full. It's just my wallet and gas tank gra empty.

14:54 Speaker 10: Understandable, Matt, I don't. I don't know if something shifted on your end all of a sudden. The phone line is a little bit choppy. I don't know if you if you went to a different room or something.

15:03 Speaker 11: Okay, something, Well, I'm still here. I have not moved in the corner of this little room here.

15:08 Speaker 10: Okay. Yeah, it just sounds that's okay, Well, we'll we'll work with it though. And then so, uh, when you you said this, this is the longest store that you've been on so far, coming out, coming all the way out to the East coast.

15:24 Speaker 11: Yeah. Absolutely. So we usually go out to Nashville about every six months and sort of zigzag back to California and add some markets, and this is the first time we have decided to go east out of Nashville. We were there for Americana Fess for about a week and we got this gig up here in Great Barrington at the gut three Center, and we wanted to build a tour around it. So my mom is actually from upstate New York, so I've spent a little time growing, you know, as a kid coming out here. But we wanted to, you know, go full force and bring our music to to new ears and hopefully make a bunch of new friends.

15:56 Speaker 10: Oh outstanding. By the way, whatever was wrong with the phone cleared up, so it's just probably something some kind of external issue. I can hear you great now, so which is good because I'm enjoying. I'm enjoying talking with you. You mentioned too, you've got a lot of songs. Did I read this correctly? You've you've have you recorded over three hundred songs already. Is that number correct?

16:17 Speaker 11: I've written over three hundred songs. I'm all recorded about thirty or forty. But like I said, it's a continual process, I think for the rest of my existence.

16:27 Speaker 10: So when you go to record an album or you're gonna be going into the studio, is it hard to pick? I mean, it's a good problem to have, I guess, right, to have so much material, But is it hard to uh make those decisions about what you're gonna record and what you're gonna maybe put on the back burner knowing that you some songs you might never get a chance to record, right because you've written so many? I mean, is that is that difficult to narrow that down?

16:50 Speaker 11: I mean a little bit. And like I said, it's a good problem to have a problem on the left. Yeah, And what I try to do, I always try to do one one hot cover song every album, you know, pay homage to one of his tunes. Yeah, and so so that's going to add in, you know, a little bit more time to that process. But you know, right now, the group I'm bringing on tour, my main group, it's called you know, Mad Accident, Bad Moon is sort of a more country leaning Americana outfit. Ye, and we do a lot of we lean I tell for fans of white Accent and the Almond Brothers basically what we meet.

17:27 Speaker 11: So there's a lot of what we call guitar minies. There's two guitars sort of you know, singing together a lot, which brings you know, that that element of Almen Brothers, grateful Dead, you know, the southern rock element to it with. So so when we started playing a couple of years ago, naturally my songwriting style will start adjusting to that. I'll go dig into the vault and I'm like, oh, I wrote this song a long time ago that would fit really well. So it's constantly sort of you know, unearthing stuff and then adding new things and adjusting.

17:56 Speaker 11: So it's like I said, it's a it's a challenge, but it's something that you know, I will run at full force.

18:02 Speaker 10: Have you always played with a full band or did you ever do solo shows just you on a guitar on a on a seol or anything like that or is it always a full band?

18:11 Speaker 12: No?

18:11 Speaker 11: Absolutely, we sort of mix it up all the time.

18:13 Speaker 2: I do.

18:14 Speaker 11: I do a lot of solo you know, folks, singer songwriter stuff. That's how my dad, you know, cut his teeth. He just grabbed a guitar and jumped in the car and travel over the country in the early sixties and went to every music mecca he could find and just absorbed as much as he could.

18:29 Speaker 13: You know.

18:29 Speaker 11: He went up to New York, went to Chicago, went down south to the blues mecchas and and that really, you know, set them up on the path. Like I said, it me hyper eclectic and just really wanting to write a good song. And I couldn't help, but you know, sort of follow that path, and there's something, you know, it's a different connection with just you and a guitar on a stage. You know, there's nowhere to hide with the band you can have. You know, there's much higher hives. You know, you can just get so much more sound.

18:54 Speaker 11: But I enjoy both the truthfully. You know, when I grew when I was born, my dad was I'm my dad's youngest kid, so he was a lot more settled and had a very consistent band by the time I came around. But what he would do every show, if he would start it with the full band and they he'd send him off in the middle and he'd just come out with the guitar and do a lot of his early folk stuff, and that was always the moment that people sort of resonated with the most that resonated with them. Oh you know, so there's there's just something raw and really intimate about doing that, and I love it.

19:26 Speaker 11: I mean, I write all my songs that way. Yeah, you know, just me and a guitar sort of. I was born and raised up in Lake Tahoe, California, up in the heights here in Nevada Mountains, and you know, I just go sit out there on the porch and stare out into the into nature and try and get inspired whenever I can. And now I live in Los Angeles, so now I stare at traffic and get inspired.

19:43 Speaker 10: You know, it's a lot of fun, a lot of traffic there, that's for sure. So you mentioned it. So you're the youngest. You said, you're the youngest child of your dad. Yeah, yeah, did your siblings. I don't know how many siblings you have, but have any of them also taken this path or just you in terms of you know, your dad's legacy following that is and becoming a musician and doing all that you're doing. Are you the only one or.

20:09 Speaker 11: I'm the only one left doing it as a full time thing. All my siblings tried in some sort of form. My sister April tried to do She went more of the acting side of things. My oldest brother Mark went to the production side. He was the smart one, oh and stuff behind the scenes. And then my middle brother Michael was tried to do the sort of the traveling troubadour thing. So they all they all gave it a good shot and all talented in their own right. But now it's you know, it's followed on me. Like I said, I have, they had a different mother.

20:39 Speaker 11: My mom is the one who sort of like sort of balanced everything out. I tell people my mom is a classical piano master, like you know, maestro. Yeah, and my dad is a country bumpkin. So I land somewhere right in the middle of it too.

20:51 Speaker 1: I try so.

20:52 Speaker 10: Now I'm not sure you know you mentioned you're the youngest. I'm not sure when exactly your dad passed away, But did he ever get to see you you on a stage plane or I'm not sure the timeline.

21:05 Speaker 11: No, Yeah, so he passed away actually in nineteen ninety nine. Oh that millennium. Wow, you know when I was sixteen years old when he did. So, you know, we we we connected enough to have some good moments. But no, that was he passed before I was ever ever able to find my own voice. Really okay, But what he would do, you know when we were on tour, he'd bring the kids up every show, he picked songs to bring the kids up. We always do enjoy the world as a big family group at the end. So well, I got to be on stage with him and share some musical moments, but never got to show him, you know, show him my own voice.

21:39 Speaker 10: Like I said, Yeah, that's cool though that you got to be on stage with him, that's uh. And to do that, that's that's great. And what about your mother is she Is she still with us or.

21:50 Speaker 11: Yeah? Absolutely? She actually came out for the show last night. On very special occasions they get to bring her out and she still plays in the band and she's absolutely the highlight, the best person on the stage every time. And when I go back up to Lake Tahoe, I run a couple music festivals and nonprofit music you know, music nonprofits up in my hometown and she sort of leads that and we jump in. She jumps in the band, and I get to jump in her band all the time. So that part's still magical, keeping played alive with people.

22:22 Speaker 10: Oh in his band, that's that's fantastic. That must be so much fun. That is so cool that you get to do that. And I'm sure she's very very proud of you. And that's that's great.

22:32 Speaker 11: That's that's awesome, and and you know, and she's really good too. That's the fun part. It's not just being like, oh, here's my mom. It's all do something amazing and she does it.

22:41 Speaker 10: Oh, that's that's outstanding.

22:43 Speaker 1: Oh.

22:43 Speaker 10: By the way, So the tour, so I was reading, the tour is called Beast Goes East. Now, obviously the East I get because you're you're living on the West coast and we're on the East coast. But why why Beast?

22:56 Speaker 11: Well, so one of the people cannot tell from us talking about football and all that kind of good stuff. I'm a larger human being, okay. And one of our our mascots, you'd say, is that people people call me the last California and Grizzly, So there's a lot of bear influences and a lot of our artwork and all that kind of stuff. So it's more, you know, the Beastly Bear is finally treading east type thing and just rhymes, you know, as musicians like rhymes.

23:25 Speaker 10: Right right, that's true. Yeah. I'm looking at a picture on your website of you and three other guys who I assume are in your band, and you are kind of how tall are you because in this picture? But you can't tell from a picture. I mean you could be standing on something I don't know, but it looks like you're towering over everybody else.

23:43 Speaker 11: Well I make them do that. That's the ego things, got check them. No, But so I'm about six four. Oh you're a good day.

23:52 Speaker 10: Okay. You're a big guy.

23:54 Speaker 11: Yeah, yep, yump, and you know, two hundred and sixty pounds, but getting a little bigger every day on tour. I'll tell you what. But it's you know, Also, it's funny because I have a pretty tall band too. Just really happen that way, and so most people don't notice until I get off stage, you know, then I start talking to like, oh my god, they're like what happens, pecially with the cowboy boots? On being near eight feet tall, right, so, but yeah, that's the best the beast sleep part.

24:21 Speaker 1: Like I said, where.

24:22 Speaker 10: Does your height come from? Was your father tall?

24:26 Speaker 11: You know, he was about six feet tall, but he was he was as wide as the Mississippi type of thing. And yeah, he always wore cowboy boots and a big cowboy hat. So he just had one of those larger than life sort of personalities and statues. My mom's tall. My mom's six foot one, So I think six' one plus six feet equals six four and that's.

24:43 Speaker 10: Just matha think, Well, that's definitely Yeah, there's definitely something genetic on your mom's side, because six to one that's very tall for a woman that's very tall. Yeah right, oh yeah, that would that would that would definitely explain it. Wow, So you're gonna be uh so, what's your for our listeners who are in the area. Of course, you know online we have listeners all over, but for our local listeners who listen on FM here in Manchester, what what should they What should they expect? Again, you're going to be at the Rex Theater on September twenty fourth.

25:09 Speaker 10: Looks like shows at seven point thirty. Do you have a do you have an opener with you or or is it is it just you and your band? Or how does that? How does that work?

25:19 Speaker 11: No, this one is just us and our band. You know, when we were reaching out trying to figure out how to set this tour up, you know, the Palace Theater and the Rex Theater are like, hey, you let's just give it a shot. Just come out here and see if we can, you know, give you a good a good spotlight to bring your music. And yeah, very grateful for that. Like I said, it's our first time in all these markets and we'd love to sort of make this a routine. We've had a great tour so far, just like I said, meeting good people and telling good stories.

25:45 Speaker 11: And we sort of adjust the show to every different venue. You know, on this tour, we've done a couple of festivals. We do some late night honky tonks, some fun little divy bars, and we really changed the show to every place. And I know, like last night at the Guthree Center, we did a little more intimate, a little a lot more history and storytelling and explaining the ins and outs and the whiys of the artistic lifestyle and all that fun stuff. So the rest will be similar to that. But at the same time, we like to we like to you know, rock out and groove out and get people to sort of tap their feet and have a good time.

26:18 Speaker 11: So it's going to be a good mix of those and that's my job is to figure out exactly how to give you, guys, the best experience for the people in the room.

26:27 Speaker 10: I'm curious, Sue, do you know do you know ahead of time before you arrive at the venue, do you know enough about that particular venue where you've already planned out what the show is or or are you going into that are you kind of reading the room? Like do you arrive at the venue and you kind of check the place out and you think, Okay, now that I'm here, Now that I'm physically here and I can take this all in. Now I kind of know what the show is going to be tonight. I mean, is it that spontaneous or do you already know before you arrive at the venue.

26:56 Speaker 11: No, it's a good mix, you know, especially for new markets and new venue, is right you sort of you know, we know this is more of a seated theater, so we'll treat that a little differently than we will, Like a couple of days ago, we played at this you know, rockous honky Tonk in New York City, So we're gonna we know, we're gonna treat those a little differently in general, right, but you know, we also adjust when we get in there. We want to fill the I mean, this sounds so hippie dippy artists, but we're gonna like sort of fill the energy and yep and talk to the staff and talk to you know, see who's coming and showing up and sort of working around that.

27:27 Speaker 11: And it's really a challenge, but it's a really fun one and something that you know, we're working really hard on and very proud of the ability to do that.

27:36 Speaker 10: And it's nice that you play the style that you play and the configuration of your band and everything that gives you some flexibility to kind of change that on the fly if you need to, which is which I'm sure is very nice. I'm always kind of jealous of that. I'm a musician and I've played in some bands, but none of the bands that I ever played in were the kind of band where we could show up at a venue and say, oh, let's change the vibe a little bit. You know what I mean. It's like if you're playing in a you know, a hardcore metal band or something, it's, you know what, you're doing the same thing no matter where you're playing.

28:07 Speaker 10: But I've always been kind of envious of musicians who have that a scenario where they can kind of switch it up if they need to. But no, that's really cool. So that's gonna be uh yeah, September twenty fourth at the Seventh at seven thirty pm at the at the Rex Theater right in downtown Manchester and by the way too for our local listeners. If you've never been to the Rex, it's really beautiful, so you should definitely check it out. And this sounds like it's going to be a great show. So Matt, before we let you go, and we are going to play another track at the end of our conversation, I think I'm gonna play Same Old Story because that's another one that I really like a lot.

28:41 Speaker 10: I think that's really cool. But anything else too. We should know about how people should find you online. Where's the best place to go to follow everything that you're doing. I know you've got you've got a huge social media following, which is fantastic. And such an important part too of you know, the times that we live in having that social media following. That's something your dad never had to worry about, certainly, but in twenty twenty five, you gotta work with social media. But where's the best place for people to go online to follow everything that you're doing?

29:11 Speaker 11: Yes, or main site and a number one I cannot agree more Like, we just live in a digital social world now, and so that's what it's all about, right, I mean, the power is in the independent artist's hands, and I'm fiercely, proudly independent when it comes to that stuff. So every every clap and every click really matters a lot to people in our realm.

29:31 Speaker 10: Yep.

29:32 Speaker 11: But so matdaccident dot com is the main site, very simple, and then Matt acts and music on all the social media platforms on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all those things. And you know, it's something social media is amazing because you can really connect with people that you wouldn't really have got any chance to in the past. It can be daunting and crazy at times, but in the end, it's that's what it's about, with connecting with people. So please come say hi on any sort of way. Obviously in person is the best, so they can I can builk you for all your all your bitcoins or whatever.

30:04 Speaker 8: You know.

30:05 Speaker 11: But in the end, I said, it's just about connecting with people and spreading a little bit of joy.

30:10 Speaker 10: That's our job absolutely. And before before we let you go and we're gonna play this track, same old story. Anything we should know about this song. I really like this song a lot too, Anything we should know about it?

30:22 Speaker 11: Yeah, So this is one I was talking about earlier where I've had it for quite a while and when I got this band together, I've had my right hand man, guitar player Taylor krop Slash Almond Brothers proteget sort of playing with him for about three years, two and a half years. He's the main other player in the band. Once he joined the band, I was like, Oh, I'm gonna go dig into my archives and pull this song out, and it's become sort of a staple. It's the last single we just released. It's the one we're turning around right now, and very proud, very proud of it.

30:51 Speaker 11: And it's just a good old fashioned like sort of outlaw country vibe, but with the you know, the the the story of the common things, you know, some some some money, some heartbreak, some life experiences that we all sort of connect with at the end with a little uplift at the end, saying hey man, we can all, we can all figure this out. It's just the same old story. Let's go.

31:12 Speaker 10: Yeah, I love it, absolutely love it, very good. So we're gonna we're gonna end with that. So we'll let you go so we can hit that track. But matt Axon, thank you so much. Have a great show, have a we'll have a great Where are you playing tonight, by the way.

31:25 Speaker 11: We're playing out in New Jersey somewhere. Oh, I don't even know where I.

31:29 Speaker 10: W day somewhere on these cost people can go to the website to find it. But UH, so I have a great show tonight in New Jersey. And and of course, UH sounds like the tour is going well, so we wish you continued success with that. And UH look forward to having you in Manchester on September twenty fourth. And thank you so much for joining us today. I really enjoyed the conversation.

31:48 Speaker 1: UH.

31:48 Speaker 10: You've been generous with your time. It's great to speak with you, and UH, and UH be safe.

31:53 Speaker 1: On the road.

31:55 Speaker 11: Well, thank you so much for letting me talk. And uh and uh you know a great name by the way, Matt's to Nite.

32:02 Speaker 10: Yes, yes, absolutely, Matt's to Night.

32:05 Speaker 1: I like it.

32:07 Speaker 11: All right, thk you again and yeah, thanks for playing our music out there.

32:10 Speaker 10: You got it, you got it all right, Matt, Thank you, take care all right bye? All right. That was the great Matt Axton. And again He will be in Manchester at the Rex Theater on September twenty fourth, seven thirty pm. But let's play this again. I really really like this song a lot. This is called same old story and this is Matt Axton.

32:36 Speaker 1: It's the same.

32:39 Speaker 14: Old story once say again? And I guess some things just name.

32:57 Speaker 8: Change.

33:12 Speaker 4: Well, now, he was just a nice young man getting by the best he can, just wanted to do things right, have a happy house and home, shrid to love. His wife came back one day after.

33:34 Speaker 6: Sleeping all way, opening the door up the stairs, but his wife was not a loan up there.

33:45 Speaker 1: It's broken. Oh, it's a broken heart and home. But it's the same story. Won't again?

34:05 Speaker 10: And I guess some things just say a change.

34:13 Speaker 1: Won't you try a bit?

34:15 Speaker 8: Now?

34:15 Speaker 1: You won't mother?

34:16 Speaker 10: Then if you take too much, too little, vactor.

34:20 Speaker 8: Turn the bad.

34:22 Speaker 15: Money don't mean a thing when you're stone, read book.

34:27 Speaker 1: Don't bother me for change. They have be healthy as long as you can remember. There's no money in the cure.

34:37 Speaker 8: It's in the treatment. Man.

34:41 Speaker 1: But it's the same old story. Won't again. And I guess somethings just say a change. I am just one little life, an actor in this great It lived day and night just to think, think in the scheme of time. Grateful for what I have and what I find amaze.

36:12 Speaker 6: That's what I grab.

36:14 Speaker 1: I'm the ones that came before to give me a change.

36:22 Speaker 1: But it's the same old story once again.

36:30 Speaker 2: Man.

36:31 Speaker 1: I guess somethings just need a shame.

36:38 Speaker 13: But it's the same one story was again and I guess somethings the same.

36:51 Speaker 10: A change. That's a fun song, same old story. That is Matt Axton and Matt Axton will be at the Rex Theater on September twenty fourth, right here in Manchester, New Hampshire, so check him out. But of course I know we have listeners online from all over, so if you go to Mattaxton dot com you can find all this to our dates. He's gonna be playing he said, somewhere in New Jersey tonight, and I really enjoyed speaking with him, So thank you again, Matt. If you're still listening, thank you again for joining us this morning.

37:45 Speaker 10: I really enjoyed our conversation and I am definitely a fan. And check out Matt Axton online. He's got a big social media following too, so he's very easy to easy to find. But again, he will be at the Rex Theater right here in Manchester on September twenty fourth, so be sure to uh you can get your tickets right online. And let's see, well, speaking of shows and so forth, so well, we'll get to this in a moment. There's there's some pretty big music industry news I do want to dive into with Jenny for a few minutes.

38:15 Speaker 10: But first we should also talk about what we did one week ago today last Saturday, because we went to a couple of great events. Yeah, we did, so, we went to uh, we had your your art was featured in the what was the actual name of the show again.

38:28 Speaker 16: Well Circle it's the annual Full Circle show at the Mosaic Art Collective yep, and I have two pieces on display.

38:36 Speaker 10: Only one is available. Oh yes, one of them soulds congratulationing.

38:40 Speaker 16: Yeah, that was amazing. I've never actually had something stell at the opening before, so that was actually really cool to have happened. Yes, there's a whole lot of people. There are lots of good food, lots of good people. And you know, if you don't know the Mosaic Are Collective, you really should. It's one of the greatest art places I think here in the Queen City. I'm a little biased, maybe I don't know, but you should go check it out. The Full Circle. The show is going to be staying up for the rest of the month, and there is currently an an open call right now for the Exquisite Corpse Show and that show opening will be October eleventh.

39:15 Speaker 16: The deadline to submit pieces is us I believe September twenty eighth. September twenty eighth at midnight is the deadline. If you go to Mosaic Artcollective dot com you can see the instructions. It's very easy to submit and you know it's worth doing. In this particular show, they're looking for not just you know, scary, but unique, the unexpected things that inspire you, creations that are strange that are uncanny, that emerge from themselves. If you will, you know, take it as you will, go read up on it at mosaic Our Collective.

39:52 Speaker 16: I highly highly encourage you to do that. The art collective is located at sixty six Hanover Suite, Suite two oh one here in the Queen City, and they also have an upcoming event coming up on September twenty ninth at five forty five pm until seven ten. They're hosting a new series called the Artist Talk Series. It's going to take place once a month. It's going to feature a panel discussion as well as talks from professional artists and this month it is Florent Porisano. I'm sorry if I pronounced your name wrong, please forgive me.

40:26 Speaker 16: The front doors do lock at six pm, so if you come up late, you're gonna need to call the gallery to have somebody come in and get you in. And that's coming up here on September twenty ninth at five forty five right here at the mosaic Are Collective at sixty six Hanover Street, Sweet to one, Manchester, New Hampshire. Mosaic Arcollective dot com. I highly encourage you to go check it out very good, very good.

40:48 Speaker 10: And then of course we went over to Bad Burger that was so fun, Vices Inc. Vices Inc. And Plague Dad, and of course Under the Horizon, who we were talking about a bit in the first hour with our guests. Under the Horizon came up in that conversation. Yeah, absolutely, swhere.

41:04 Speaker 16: Every time I see them, the better and better.

41:06 Speaker 10: They've gotten louder and heavier, and they're just so good and they're so young too, They've got a huge career ahead of them. So yeah, we love Under the Horizon. Great, great job, and they really did. They put their all into everything.

41:16 Speaker 16: There's so much energy in the stage you can't help but just like get excited and should check them out.

41:20 Speaker 10: And Bad Burger is great. That was the first show. They've been doing shows there for for quite a few That was our first visit. That was our first visit to. Yeah, and the sound was great, and yeah the Burger is really good.

41:31 Speaker 16: Oh, the sound was excellent. The sound was excellent. And I really took note of the fact that they really took care of the artists. Yes, each individual band, each individual artists. They didn't just set it and forget it.

41:41 Speaker 10: No, very professional.

41:43 Speaker 16: Yeah, big time, So definitely a great place to go check out a band, have a bite to eat. We definitely enjoyed ourselves and I would I would. And they had that huge truck out front, so you can't miss it. There's a big monster truck on Elm Street that says bad Burger, so you can find it very easily right there.

42:02 Speaker 14: You stop and see that.

42:04 Speaker 16: I would definitely suggest doing that and check out under the Horizon play Dad, Oh my god, I love him.

42:09 Speaker 10: Yeah, it was just it was a really great show. Vice's Inc.

42:12 Speaker 13: Was amazing.

42:13 Speaker 16: It was so enjoyable and I really liked the venue because I had it was comfortable, I could sit comfortably.

42:20 Speaker 10: So yeah, that was cool, really good, really good. And then you want to mention what's happening today?

42:26 Speaker 16: Yes, today, today, today, today, go over to the Great north Ale Works for their Paws and Pints party fundraiser happening today from one pm to four pm. Matt and I are definitely going to be stopping by. This is a great, great thing. They actually ran a contest where people submitted their pets, photos, cats and dogs to see who was gonna win and be printed on their new paw prints Blonde Ale, which is releasing today and they used it as a fundraiser to benefit our local here, the New Hampshire Animal Rescue League.

43:01 Speaker 16: And they raised forty nine thousand dollars in the label contest alone for the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire.

43:09 Speaker 10: That is amazing. That is absolutely amazing.

43:12 Speaker 16: So if you go down there today, they're gonna reveal the cans, you're gonna see who won the contest, what animal is on the pawp pints blonde Ale. They're going to have cans to go available. They come in four packs as well. There is going to be just like a party atmosphere fundraiser. They're raising more money today. All of this, all these proceeds are going to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, which is awesome. You know, anybody's been around us.

43:38 Speaker 6: No.

43:38 Speaker 16: Matt and I are our Katie parents and we love animals, and I know that there was a large throth of animals, especially cats, recently brought in to the state from flood zones. So I know there's a lot of animals in the state needing care, needing help, and needing fosters and needing homes. So please do check out the Animal Rescue League of New Yamshire and if you can make a donation great, If you can help out or in any way possible, please I encourage you to and I would definitely Matt and I would definitely love to see you today at the Great North Aleworks, located at ten fifty colt Ab Unit fourteen, right here in the Queens City.

44:19 Speaker 16: If you've never been there, it's an excellent place.

44:22 Speaker 10: I love the tacos. I'm just gonna say that out loud.

44:24 Speaker 16: I love the tacos and it's a wonderful family owned business. Buy local, Shop local, go check out the Great North al Works and they're awesome. Pause and pints fundraiser today.

44:37 Speaker 10: Very good, Very good. We have a little bit of time I want to get in a music news story. You know, we do like to cover if we have a little bit of time in the show some weeks, we'll cover some music industry news going on, especially with the audience we have. We know a lot of musicians listen to the show, a lot of industry people, and I happen to see this pop up and this relates to a subject that comes up often on the show, and that is Live Nation and it's a ticketing arm Ticketmaster. It's the same company.

45:04 Speaker 10: If you didn't know Live Nation and Ticketmaster, they are interchangeable, kind of like Comcasts and Exfinity.

45:09 Speaker 16: You can say either one and it's the same company. But again Healthcare Optum owned by the same people. Yeah, everybody's good. Like businesses have like a ton of these days, but it is kind of hard to keep track of the subsidiaries.

45:21 Speaker 10: This is from Music Businessworldwide dot Com and I didn't realize this until this morning, but this just happened a couple of days ago. Live Nation and Ticketmaster sued by the Federal Trade Commission over alleged illegal ticket resale tactics. Because something that we've talked about on the show whenever we talk about Live Nation and Ticketmaster is how you know, because obviously over the years, ticket prices keep going up and up and up, long before there was any hint of severe inflation in the economy, just completely separate from all that, you know, and people people feel gouged and it gets so expensive.

45:56 Speaker 10: And one of the things that goes on is, you know, we've talked on the show about how these small companies that are effectively ticket scalpers will buy up as soon as Live Nation puts a show on sale, they'll buy up a bunch of tickets and they'll resell them on their own sites at a higher price, especially once Live Nation Ticketmaster runs out of the tickets. But a lot of them have been bought up by scalpers who then resell them. But what a lot of people don't know is some of these companies that are doing that are actually owned buy Ticketmaster.

46:29 Speaker 10: So Ticketmaster sells tickets to these own their own yeah, to themselves effectively, and use this system to jack up the prices. Yeah, most people don't realize.

46:41 Speaker 16: I know about scalpers, and I've always thought that these companies are supposed to have safeguards in place stop all of that. Yeah, so I will say that, not that I'm totally surprised, but heck wow.

46:54 Speaker 10: Yeah, it's a dirty, dirty business.

46:57 Speaker 16: And then selling them back to you for triple the costs.

47:00 Speaker 10: So yeah, So here's the story. This is again, this is from Music Business Worldwide dot Com. The Federal Trade Commission has sued Live Nation and its ticketing arm, Ticketmaster, accusing the company of profiting from scalpers operating on its platform. In a complaint filed on Thursday, September eighteenth, and the US District Court for the Central District of California. The FTC accused Ticketmaster of failing to uphold its own ticket purchase limits, in effect allowing scalle Yeah, in effect allowing scalpers to buy up large numbers of tickets and to resell them on the secondary market at markups.

47:41 Speaker 10: So the secondary market, that's these you know, it's them Joe's Tickets dot Com or whatever. Yeah, you know.

47:51 Speaker 16: It only three yeah, yeah, they buy all the tickets, and then if you really want to go, Yeah, the only way to go is to pay those guys.

47:59 Speaker 10: And that's why Ticketmaster limits how many tickets you can buy. It once except except they don't actually do it for themselves. Apparently. The FTC says Ticketmaster is motivated to do this because it makes additional fees on the tickets resale. Ticketmaster can triple dip on fees, collecting fees from one brokers when they purchase the tickets on the primary market, two brokers again when Ticketmaster sells their tickets on Ticketmaster's secondary market, and finally three consumers who purchase tickets from Ticketmaster on its secondary market.

48:37 Speaker 10: Unquote says the complaint. Joining the FTC in the lawsuit are the district attorneys of seven states, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. The complaint alleges that Ticketmaster violated the Bots Act bots. The Bots Act, the twenty sixteen law for forbidding the use of bots to buy tickets in online stores. Live Nation has in the past supported the Bots Act, or at least you know, on the public Publicly, the FTC notes that Live Nation's policy is to allow artists to sell to set ticket purchase limits themselves, but quote, in private, defendants have tacitly worked with these very same scalpers, allowing them to unlawfully purchase millions of dollars in tickets in the primary market, so that defendants can extract more profit for themselves when reselling those tickets on the secondary market.

49:40 Speaker 10: Unquote what ruins the world. The FTC alleges that Ticketmaster has been aware for years that certain ticket buyers have violated the limit and turned a blind eye to the practice. The complaint states that in twenty eighteen, Ticketmaster identified five ticket brokers who control six three hundred forty five Ticketmaster accounts and possessed more than two hundred forty six thousands I'm sorry, two hundred forty six thousand tickets to nearly twenty six hundred events Jesus FTC complaint against Live Nation.

50:16 Speaker 10: Okay, so oh, we have to have the ticket prices up so high, so, the complaint states, quote. In public, defendants maintain that their business model is at odds with brokers that routinely exceed ticket limits. In private, defendants acknowledge that their business model and bottom line benefit from brokers preventing ordinary Americans from purchasing tickets to the shows they want to see at the prices artists set unquote. The FDC also alleges that Ticketmaster is engaged in bait and switch tactics, in which the company displays deceptively low ticket prices to consumers and ends up charging much more at checkout.

50:56 Speaker 10: And by the way, anyone who's ever bought tickets from Ticketmaster knows exactly what that's about. You look at the price of the tickets and you think, Okay, they're going to cost this. I'm going to get two tickets. They're going to cost this. Probably some sort of extra fee involved, so it might be a little bit more, and then you get to check out and it turns out it's like, you know, you thought you were spending two hundred dollars on tickets, You're actually spending over three hundred dollars on tickets with all the fees and everything else.

51:20 Speaker 10: And is this fee and that fee and you know anyway, so it says your Live. Nation announced in twenty twenty three that it was switching to an all in pricing model at its owned venues in the US, under which the final price, including fees, but excluding sales taxes, is shown at the very beginning of the ticket purchase process. CEO Michael Rapino has said that the switch to all in pricing has proven to be a success, and the company has backed efforts to make all in pricing the law. Despite this, the FTC alleges that quote over the last decade, the first price the consumer has seen on Ticketmaster's platform has almost it's never been the price the consumer pays.

52:02 Speaker 10: According to internal Ticketmaster documents, the average percentage of fees charged on tickets ranges from twenty four to forty four percent of the total price from twenty nineteen through twenty twenty four, consumers paid over sixteen point four billion in mandatory fees on ticket purchases from Ticketmaster unquote. That's from the complaint. The lawsuit is separate from the anti trust action which I think we talked about on the show before that the US Department of Justice launched against Ticketmaster and Live Nation in May of twenty twenty four.

52:36 Speaker 10: That lawsuit alleges that the company engaged in quote monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry unquote. The DOJ lawsuit is seeking to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, undoing a year's old agreement that allowed the two to merge despite concerns over the company potentially employing monopoly power in the live entertainment business. Has accused Live Nation of violating the terms of that agreement. In its lawsuit, The FTC says Live Nation slash ticket Master controls quote roughly eighty percent or more of major concert venues, primary ticketing for concerts and a growing share of ticket resales in the secondary market unquote.

53:19 Speaker 10: As of noon on Thursday, Live Nation shares were down three point six percent on the New York Stock Exchange. Trending at around one hundred and sixty three dollars per year. So there you go. So that's the newest. And you know, look, I'm a I'm a free market capitalist, and I think that you know, I'm not into, you know, the idea of the government coming in and controlling pricing for concert tickets, certainly, but I'm also not in favor of you know, these companies being able to blatantly violate the law bet and Slitz baton switch, which is illegal obviously.

53:59 Speaker 10: And look, I mean, even if even if you're someone who takes the position that if you're if you're a true free market I mean, I say free market capitalist, but I say that loosely because I do believe that government has to regulate some things, not to not to get in political because we don't do that on this version of the show. But even if you're someone who thinks that all this is fine, because you don't think that the government should have anything to say about it, legally or otherwise, and the FTC shouldn't be getting into this.

54:28 Speaker 10: Even if you think that, don't you at least want to know as a consumer, don't you want to know why ticket prices are so I just as a consumer, isn't it good to be informed about it?

54:39 Speaker 16: But in the very least, shouldn't I think there's law involved in the fact that they shouldn't be able to violate their own rules, right, like you're not.

54:50 Speaker 10: The whole point of.

54:51 Speaker 16: Having these laws that you can't buy X number of tickets is to stop scalping, is to stop people getting ripped off. But if they make the rules and then they're sending it, selling it to themselves, right, and then selling it to you. Yeah, this whole triple dip thing, I yeah, that's criminal. In my mind's eye, that's criminal.

55:11 Speaker 10: Well, there won't be any criminal penalties, I'm sure, but there might be fines. But I mean Ticketmaster that that's the other thing.

55:17 Speaker 16: In the very least they should have to be it should at least be held accountable to their own rules and regulation.

55:22 Speaker 10: Yeah, absolutely so, so that's the newest wrinkle with that.

55:27 Speaker 16: Remember where else can you get a ticket? It's they have a monopoly on the market, right, It's it's very hard to get tickets to venues outside of.

55:35 Speaker 10: Them, of course, of course, and it is a monopoly absolutely all right, So we're going to close out this hour with one more track from Matt Axxton, who again is going to be at the Rex Theater on September twenty fourth. We're gonna play this great song called Blue Sky Rain, and then we're going to show some love to our amazing sponsors. And then if you are listening live in the in the third hour, if you're listening live on Saturday in the third hour, we've got Lydia ready coming up. She was on the show fairly recently, but she's got a brand new single called The Way We're Rolling, which I really like, so looking forward to having her back.

56:05 Speaker 10: She's gonna be joining us to be a Microsoft teams all the way from the UK. But in the meantime, check this out again. This is another great track from Matt Accent. This is called Blue Sky Rain.

56:43 Speaker 17: There's a blue scary rolling over the plane. There's a blue scary rolling over the plane.

56:59 Speaker 1: Man, my good night, see it coming.

57:08 Speaker 18: It was two sticks when she say I can love you any more? One chance is all I need. Come on, one more, baby, please. I wouldn't never before get you, no matter what I go through, because at one time you were the stars and my sky, blue sky.

57:44 Speaker 17: Ray rolling over the plane, it's a blue sky rolling over the plane, and I good.

57:59 Speaker 1: Now, UH see it coming. It was a big, shall perpeted romance. It was a quick version of the slow down unique the colors. But the picture, okay, I know where I should be a baby. It's nice as a skyy rolling over the plane. There's a blue sky rolling over the plane.

58:40 Speaker 15: I could not see it coming, and I say, carrying me down. So well, nobody will ever.

59:02 Speaker 12: Tell man, watch your man when you're said, I will never let you go, never let you go.

59:16 Speaker 1: I never let you go. I never let you go.

59:27 Speaker 1: I never let you go. Well, I have yet to be a woman who does not play with the strings of my heart.

59:46 Speaker 18: I wish it was not so easy about the peace and and folleyball.

59:54 Speaker 1: But there's a flood. Guy,