The Matthew Skoller Band

The Matthew Skoller Band

Genres: blues, bluesrock, Chicago Blues, harmonica blues

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About The Matthew Skoller Band

Matthew Skoller - Harmonica and vocals Anthony Palmer - Guitar Felton Crews - Bass and vocals Mark Mack - Drums Sidney James Wingfield - Keyboards Matthew Skoller is one of Chicago's most respected harp blowers and blues band leaders. For the past 20 years he has played in all of Chicago's heaviest showcase venues and toured much of the world with his super tight ensembles. Deeply rooted in the tradition of the Chicago blues elders with whom he worked and studied, Skoller has developed a unique style that conjures the past while being firmly planted in the present. His blues wardrobe, clothes a range of original songs whose subject matter comments on many of the issues and realities of life during this age of technology, information and upheaval. Skoller, known for his fiery and engaging performances combines passionate harp playing and singing with original song writing and prodigious production skills (he has self produced 4 of his own cd's and the critically acclaimed Let's Talk About Love by Lurrie Bell) making him one Chicago's most accomplished blues-based artists. As with many blues performers of his generation, Skoller’s been influenced as much by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and the Allman Brothers as he has by Little Walter , Muddy Waters, Percy Mayfield and other legends of the blues. Skoller’s take on the blues tradition is about letting his own voice come through -- his culture, his experience.
Skoller moved to Chicago in January 1987. His already mature harmonica playing led a number of musicians to take him under their wings. He paid his dues backing up a “who’s who” of creative and passionate musicians, including the legendary Jimmy Rogers, Big Time Sarah, and Deitra Farr. Skoller's emotional, high-energy style caught the ear of veteran bassist/vocalist J.W. Williams who invited Skoller to join his band, the Chi-Town Hustlers. The next year, Skoller became a member of Big Daddy Kinsey and The Kinsey Report, recording and touring with the band throughout the U.S. and Canada. Despite his success working with others, Skoller heard the crying of an inner voice and since 1992 has led his own band. Like a tornado, he's blown through the Chicago blues scene. During the 1996 Democratic convention, Tom Brokaw's NBC Nightly News In-Depth Report featured the Matthew Skoller Band performing live at B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted St. in Chicago. Also in '96, the band was awarded an artist-in residency position at the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida. 1996 also saw the release of the first Matthew Skoller Band CD, Bone to Pick with You, which Vintage Guitar Magazine called "a strong debut." In 1999, the band released Shoulder to the Wind, for which French Blues magazine Soul Bag noted Skoller's "excellence as an instrumentalist, but also as a composer." TapRoot followed in 2003. Tongue 'N Groove Records has just released the fourth Matthew Skoller Band album, These Kind Of Blues!, in January 2005. This album was picked as one of Mojo Magazine’s Top ten blues albums of 2005. It received rave reviews from nearly every blues publication in the business. Skoller's harmonica sound continues to be much in demand. In February 2000, Alligator Records employed him to play harmonica on Koko Taylor's CD, Royal Blue. Skoller’s harmonica is featured on 11 songs on the CD, Knocking At Your Door, from guitarist John Primer. He’s also played on albums by Bernard Allison, Larry Garner, Big Daddy Kinsey, Big Time Sarah, Michael Coleman , Harvey Mandel, among others and has recorded a number of television jingles The Matthew Skoller Band is a highly skilled, highly professional organization, with extensive regional touring experience, gigs at prestigious national venues, and national and international festival appearances. For the last 15 years, The Matthew Skoller Band held a regular gig at Buddy Guy's Legends, perhaps the world’s best-known blues club. This helped them build a large and enthusiastic following throughout Chicago and the Midwest. Skoller and crew had an 8 year run every Sunday at the House of Blues in Chicago and still play the venue on an ongoing basis. Also working with Matthew on an ongoing basis: Lurrie Bell (guitar), Billy Flynn (guitar), Kenny Smith (drums), Charles Mack (bass), Johnny Iguana (keys), Larry Skoller (guitar), Mark Wilson (drums). Other highlights have been performances at at the 2004 Lucerne Blues Festival. The Mawazine World Music Festival in Rabat Morocco in 2006 and again in 2008. Matthew also has performed at numerous festivals and club gigs in England, Italy, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Chile, Holland, France, Normandy and China. June/July 2006 Blues Review The Matthew Skoller Band: His Kind of Blues 10-to-Watch by Amy Long Over the past 25 years, Matthew Skoller has developed a brand of blues that boogies, rocks, and jives in the urban Chicago tradition. Skoller's warm, raspy vocals and succinct harmonica work radiate confidence and maturity without flashy exhibitionism. Today he enjoys a hard-won reputation as one of the foremost harp players in the huge talent pool of the Chicago blues scene... These Kind of Blues! Named one of the Top 10 Blues Albums of 2005 Mojo Magazine, UK ***1/2 "... we'd expect nothing less from an artist with such prodigious songwriting talents. 'These Kind of Blues' vaults Skoller to the upper echelon of the young lions of Chicago blues." -- Jeff Johnson, Chicago Sun-Times "His songs possess a touch of class and a welcome social conscience too often absent from a genre that often relies on references to a long-gone past. Skoller and company deliver Chicago-style tunes worth repeated listenings." -- Chip O'Brien, Blues Revue, June/July 2005 "These Kind of Blues! is a powerful album that needs to be heard... Not since the old days have I heard such passionate, straight-from-the-heart expression in blues lyrics... The songs project a seasoned maturity, a wisdom; they move way beyond the adolescent sexuality and tired heartbreak of too many modern blues songs. You definitely need these kind of blues." -- Niles Frantz, Comin' Home WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio

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