Matthew

I was born into a home with music being played all day and all night. My father was Little Joe Hart, a brilliant and obscure flugelhorn player that only did live improvisation. No records. Ever. He was intense and a total jazz purist. His final gig was teaching Jazz  Improvisation  at the University of Montana. His best friend, Cannonball Adderley, got him the job. He didn't have any formal education so they gave him an honorary degree in order to be able to hire him. 
My first jam was with Cannonball and my Dad in our living room. I played the tablas. I was about 2 years old.  The legend is that I blew that room away. I can't say for sure.  But I have playing music my entire life. Now I'm 52, and I thought maybe I could pass a few things along.  

In addition to growing up in a musical home, I attended Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Ma where I majored in Songwriting and Music Business. My principal instrument was electric bass. I'd never played it before school, but I thought I'd get into it. 
And I did. The head of the bass department at the time told me I was the worst student he'd ever taught. I just couldn't bring myself to learn what he wanted me to learn. But I did play well the things that I wanted to learn. So I thought maybe that's my niche, teaching the " bad students " what they actually want to learn. And to try and have some fun while we're at it. 
I continued my songwriting studies in Nashville, showing up regularly at NSAI events and workshops, back when Jason Blume, Steve Seskin and Hugh Prestwood were regularly holding court.  
I recorded a pretty mediocre album in 2009 that you can probably find somewhere on the internet although I hope not. Not much of an advert for my skills you say ? Perhaps not, but I can show you how to use the tricks that all popular songs employ, to make your own songs more memorable and relatable. It doesn't take a number one hit under my belt to share this with you. And you don't need to be writing pop songs to make use of these techniques.