10 Guitarists You've Never Heard Of - Matthew Good

Formerly of the Matthew Good Band, Matthew Good is one of the most popular rock acts to come out of Canada - which is probably why you've never heard of this guy. Born in Coquitlam, British Colombia in 1971, his band's rise to fame came with their first full length, independantly released CD "Last Of The Ghetto Astronauts". Since then, he has won many Juno Awards (for Canadian music) and released some of the most controversial songs and videos from a Canadian artist.

Political messages definitely dominate his musical style. He is an avid supporter of human rights, and while his recent solo work has political underthemes, the quality of the songs are never compromised. He does plenty of charity work, and has even written letters to members of parliament regarding many current issues.

His earlier musical work is the most hard-rocking. The band's second album, Underdogs, contains plenty of great tunes that lean more to the rock side of his sound - check out Everything Is Automatic or Indestructible to understand what I'm saying. The interesting thing behind this album is that it was recorded with $100, 000 US of the bands own money, because Matt didn't like the record label. This shows obvious dedication to both fans and his own musical career. As the records go on, however (Beautiful Midnight, The Audio Of Being) the songs get slower and slower. His career has really morphed itself into a slower, acoustic-oriented alternative style of music, which is still dripping with artistic merit and genius. His latest album (a solo project released 2 years after the band broke up) exemplifies this, but there are still a few songs that break the slow barrier).

Matt has been very elusive about what gear he uses - I've even emailed him personally about this, and haven't gotten a response, and many guitar gear sites don't even list him. However, the Gibson website does have the old Matthew Good Band listed as an artist, and there Matt and his old partner in crime tell Gibson about the gear they use - at the time, an Explorer was the main guitar, and a Les Paul, interestingly wasn't used at all. As seen in recent pictures, Matt now favours ES-335's, and has been seen with a Fender Telecaster. In the music video for Weapon, both himself and the backup band use Fender and Vox amps. On the Avalanche tour, his lead guitar player used a Fender Stratocaster, and his bassist was using a Fender Precision Bass. He uses Gibson acoustics.

Matt has just released another album, White Light Rock And Roll Review, which came out June 15. You can hear songs from the album at matthewgood.org, and click on content/music. The album goes back to his rock and roll roots – with some sarcastic political commentary, such as on North American For Life. Two songs have a country lilt to them, being Empty Road, and a hidden track, Hopeless. It’s shorter than the other albums, but is definitely another great piece of work from Matt. It’s a perfect blend between feel-good guitar-driven rock, and slow, eerie songs, such as Blue Skies Over Bad Lands, where Matt plucked an upright piano’s strings by hand to produce a fantastic, layered effect over the guitar. All in all, it’s a fantastic album, and shows Matt’s ability to change and develop his sound over time.

Comments

[under_d_oath]

yep never heard of him

[~Rock~Guitarist]

nice article, ive never heard of him either

[gregmccormick]

ur obviously not from canada

[G-Rock]

I thought it was 10 guitarists you've never heard of, not just Matt.

[MrLucky77713]

Why am I still getting credit for these? As cool as it would be to say I did all of these, I didn't. The actual columnist needs credit for his work.

NOTE: It's cool to see that so many people dig these articles, but please remember that all of these articles have already been written. I've been getting a lot of requests for writing. However, if you present me with enough information and a good reason for using up my time, I will do articles on people suggested to me. I've got free time, anyway...

-Lucky

[eon_blue56]

heard of him

[xalwaysfallingx]

never heard of him but good article

[siamesedream]

I have heard of every guitarist so far.

[Aka55]

Not only have I heard of every guitarist so far I own their cds and have gone to their shows.

[garagerocker69]

k for all the non-canadian UG columnists out there...."great guitarists you've never heard of" does not mean "canadian guitarisist that canada has had way too much of"

[Kenney333]

im canadian, im not a big fan of the guy, but i dont mind him doing his stuff, my brother hates his guts cause hes very cocky and sure of his opinions.

anyway the interesting fact you left out is that the 100 000$ to make that album, was actually a loan from the bank, with matts house as colateral, had the album not been a financial success he would have been completely broke, thats confidence.

[sultan_d87]

download the song "hello time bomb" or "load me up" and you will like him

[Darth_Qurashi]

Born in Coquitlam, British Colombia in 1971,

You spelled it wrong. It's British Columbia

[EpitaphMan440]

I really can't believe some people have not heard of him, hes huge. Christ I seen his house on MTV Cribs (don't ask WHY I was watching MuchMusic...stupid sister)

[RockerDave666]

I Love Matt Good.

[Backup Guitar]

Okay, I was the one that wrote this, as mrlucky said. I pm'ed zappp about this, but it's still getting messed up.

epitaphman: matt good did MTV cribs? Geez.

[Matty Ramone]

HERD OF HIM!!!!!!!!! "THE ONLY PLACE TO FIND FREEDOM IS IN THE DICTIONARY UNDER F" nice idea but your not trying hard enough

[MrLucky77713]

Well sorry, but one of our guidelines was that their albums had to be readily available (I think major label was the requirement), so it's very possible you HAVE heard of these guys. Don't bitch, you wankers. Let's see your whiny asses compile an article about 10 guitarists who don't get the recognition they deserve. You're all so fucking nit-picky about it.

[JPaul17]

Matthew good was on big shiney tunes 7 or 8 i think, and hes really popular in canada, at least ive been lead to believe since hes all over much music.

[TomD03]

Matt good kicks as*, i've seen him live many times.

[Butterknife]

okay, so far I've heard of every guitarist that hes talked about.

[MiNDspiN]

heard of him...he's pretty good

[dyingforwhat]

Really popular in Canda, I used to be a huge fan.

[coolguy]

he was on big shiny tunes 5, sheesh. you guys should get into some canadian music

[Backup Guitar]

Okay, matt good is NOT all over much music. I rarely, if ever, see his videos on, as mm only plays his videos when they run out of crappy music to play.

Like mrlucky said, quit bitching, wankers.

[Matty Ramone]

dont get me wrong the articles are good better than what I can but just change the title

[AvixK7]

lol, so far, I've heard of all the guitarists mentioned in these articles. matthew Good, is fantastic. (!!!)

[Jimmy Page fan]

all these are are just well known canadian artist that people outside of canada doesn't know about first sam roberts then matt good who next the tragically hip?

[yeller56]

Deftones don't got shit on Avenged Sevenfold.

[guitardude98]

This is stupid......these articles are supposed to be about people you've never heard of. Matthew Good...his name's in his band name! I think we've heard of him. HOw stupid can people be?

[guitarguy8810]

G-Rock:
I thought it was 10 guitarists you've never heard of, not just Matt.

they do a new one every day for 10 days

[guitarguy8810]

guitardude98:
This is stupid......these articles are supposed to be about people you've never heard of. Matthew Good...his name's in his band name! I think we've heard of him. HOw stupid can people be?

dude this article is really good take a hint from mrlucky77713 u try n write 10 articles, its a pain pain in the ass, although i myself have never done it i can only imagine

[will_yeah]

i love him (his music), but i never knew he played guitar too

[weezle]

Awesome. I'm a huge Matt Good fan and I think it's great you're helping him get some publicity.

[Necronomicon]

People haven't heard of Matthew Good Band?? Whoa he's mainstream and always played on the radio... not that great either...

[panthro_NUTZ]

You know who's really good? The guitarist from Rockenstein. I think they opened for Matthew Good when he was in Winnipeg. Rockenstein is so friggin' awesome.

spam deleted.

[SLave2Rock]

why are they all canadian?

[*Arch Dandy*]

good article 5*

[dylan_f1989]

OK why don't we do someone on a band that we know but don't no the members

[Tijmen]

Matthew Good is one of the most popular rock acts to come out of Canada - which is probably why you've never heard of this guy.

What's with all this stuff about Canada. We rule, and we're so much better than those whining americans. *sighs* Just because we're bigger and we dont make as heavy cars, tall buildings and other polluting stuff, doesn't mean the Americans are stronger than us.

[rocket_queen888]

well now I know him

[starbomb13]

well yeah- i've heard of him.IF you're a Canadian( which i am), obviously you'd know him.

[chet91]

oh my how could this many ppl not now of matthew good.

[GuitarGuy77]

yeah sam with sam roberts, oh as for his videos never being on muchmusic, i think lately he's probably been on much more music. anyway, load me up and hello time bomb are kickass songs! and GO CANADA! RUSH RULES!!

[Joe@Disturbed16]

Where are you all from, Matthew Good is pretty well known, you've all probably heard him at one time or another but didn't recognize it, or didn't care, still he's out there and I can hardly believe no one has heard of him.

[Diceman42]

All the canucks know him well. Same with that hoodlum Sam Roberts.

[chaosphere]

yup.. good 'ol Matt good, he's still one of my favorite musicians and guitarists.. and that's pretty good for a guy who worships guitarists like Kai Hansen, Andre Olbrich and John Petrucci

[SunburnedWeapon]

As much as I love Canada, I hate the Canadians that proclaim "we're just so much better than those stupid americans" so crudely. Yea, it's true, but as a Canadian you should be stating it with some tact and even justifying your opinion.

That aside, I think that Matt Good is a great guitarist and songwriter. I'm quite sure that most Canadians have heard of him because MuchMusic played "Weapon" alot when it came out, and I'm glad that he has no desire to really pursue a career in America. Like he stated in his concert, going to America would be that he would be requested to censor his music, and that would take out the appeal. I love the politically charged messages beside some songs, just the great lyrics and song structures which aren't just the generic verse chorus verse. Listen to Matt Good, you'll enjoy it. Unless you're a patriotic American, or a Rebulican, lol.

"And you breathe in and you breathe out for it, ain't it so weird, how it makes you a weapon?"

[AC/DC10]

kool hes from the same city as me

[Coverge]

SunburnedWeapon
wrote:

As much as I love Canada, I hate the Canadians that proclaim "we're just so much better than those stupid americans" so crudely. Yea, it's true, but as a Canadian you should be stating it with some tact and even justifying your opinion.

That aside, I think that Matt Good is a great guitarist and songwriter. I'm quite sure that most Canadians have heard of him because MuchMusic played "Weapon" alot when it came out, and I'm glad that he has no desire to really pursue a career in America. Like he stated in his concert, going to America would be that he would be requested to censor his music, and that would take out the appeal. I love the politically charged messages beside some songs, just the great lyrics and song structures which aren't just the generic verse chorus verse. Listen to Matt Good, you'll enjoy it. Unless you're a patriotic American, or a Rebulican, lol.

"And you breathe in and you breathe out for it, ain't it so weird, how it makes you a weapon?"

well justify nothing. we just are. matt good is awesome