Whether on his own or with his band The Ladies & Gentlemen of the Rodeo, or hosting and performing in Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express, Matt Masters is always busy, even though it’s been a decade since his last album, All Western Winners. He’s honed a really fun show built around a classic country-honky-tonk sound.
Offstage and behind the scenes, he’s had a heck of a difficult time over the years, dealing with loss, dramatic health scares, and difficulties that would cause even the strongest to feel some anxiety and depression. It all culminated with him being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder.
In spite of all the hard times and the subsequent, devastating blow of the COVID pandemic, Matt Masters reinvented himself in admirable fashion, founding Curbside Concerts and building a new model of bringing live music right to people’s homes and neighbourhoods, not only in Calgary, where he lives, but quickly expanding between Ontario and BC, with sights set on further national expansion, and even a move into Australia and beyond.
As busy as he’s been, Matt Masters finally found time to put out a new album, a collection of some of his favourite songs by other writers, called Everybody Loves a Winner, which was produced by Leeroy Stagger (my guest on episode #1).
Music credits:
“Walk a Mile in my Shoes,” “Some Day Soon,” and “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” are from the new Matt Masters album, Everybody Loves a Winner. You can find it on iTunes HERE.