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Scott Matthews

Who? In a time-woven tale of rags to riches, Scott Matthews is England’s newest export on the heels of his award-winning song “Elusive.” From the days of shuffling boxes in a warehouse and teaching arts to local children, to recently sharing stages with the likes of Foo Fighters and Rufus Wainwright, Matthews’ rootsy and passionate pop-rock is slowly tugging at the heartstrings of future fans worldwide. The Sam Remo label issued his full-length debut Passing Stranger earlier this spring, while plans for a Stateside release are slated for early 2008.

What’s the Deal? Passing Stranger does more than the average solo songwriter collection thanks to its intricacies and strong intent. Whether inciting Jeff Buckley likeness (“Elusive”) or summoning the spiced-up Swedish tones of Jos� Gonz�lez (“Dream Song”), Scott Matthews seems to get it right on his debut. He tosses up worldly tastes by integrating tabla taps (thanks to revered percussionist Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari) with rickety front-porch slide guitar and polished string sections, forming a well-bridged gap between the late days of Led Zeppelin and a soul-ridden style all his own.

Fun Fact: Tabla player Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari is a former member of legend Ravi Shankar’s orchestra. He also performed on Ry Cooder’s 1994 Grammy-winning album A Meeting By the River.�

Now Hear This:Scott Matthews – “Elusive” WINDOWS MEDIA | QUICKTIME | REAL

On the Web:Scott Matthews MySpace scottmatthewsmusic.co.uk

Talk: Is Scott Matthews a ‘passing stranger’ or will he stick around?

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