MATT TURK: Washington Arms

Matt Turk

Washington Arms

© 2006 Matt Turk (663445139829)

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Moody, melodic indie rock for all seasons with spectral guitars and iridescent vocals from one of the best in the biz.

notes

“…an artist to be reckoned with.” --All Music Guide

Playing what one astute critic calls “literate tunes with heart and muscle,” Matt Turk exemplifies the consummate musical artist. He’s a veteran performer and eternal idealist who has engaged audiences around the world, both as hard-rocking bandleader and acoustic folk troubadour. Also, few denizens of the limelight have maintained the kind of pertinent, meaningful existence away from the stage as Turk has. A wealth of experience, compounded by a careful observation of the lives around him and that of his own soul-stirrings, informs his work with a hard-to-ignore universality.

Washington Arms, Turk’s new album, emphasizes a talent for songcraft that integrates knowing lyricism into soundscapes that surge, soar and soothe, all graced with unerring vocals that will recall for many the late Jeff Buckley. From the hard-drivin’/hard truth opener “Into Nothing” to rockers like “All Over You,” “Queen of the Set” and “Without Her,” Turk utilizes influences like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam to create songs that fit nicely in the melodic alt-rock camp. Stepping back some, Turk shows a mellower side on “Amanda” and sure summer groover “Silver Ring,” then updates Ten Years After’s anthemic “I’d Love to Change the World,” the album’s sole cover track, for all the right reasons.

Meanwhile, songs from What Gives, Turk’s 2002 debut album, such as the shuffle-funked “Broadway” and reggae-flavored “Bette Says,” are still receiving national radio airplay—the former tune was featured on an episode of CBS-TV’s “Love Monkey” in early 2006—simply underscoring the staying power of this talented singer-songwriter and guitarist’s music. A review on allmusic.com calls What Gives “a huge musical statement” and describes it further as a “smart, professional, highly palatable collection of frosty pop tunes that fall out of his pen effortlessly, enunciated by a voice so AM/FM friendly there is no question the world would be a better place with his material rocking the airwaves.”

These days Turk fronts a high-energy trio featuring Fred Gillen Jr. on bass and Andy LaDue on drums, increasing his audience gig by gig with infectious songs from a remarkable repertoire that stretches back to his 1999 eponymous EP release. Indeed, Turk is the rare musical artist who can entertain and inspire audiences simultaneously.

A number of music fans remember Turk from the early 1990s when he had run at stardom with The Hour, one of the leading proponents of the jam-happy rock sound that grew out of Wetlands, the Manhattan club and center of a scene that helped change the face of popular music.

Formed in 1987 while some of the band members were students (such as Turk, a history and religious studies major) at New York University, the Hour consisted of Turk and most notably Marshall Madow on guitar and vocals, plus the band’s second drummer, Carey Harmon, now with Railroad Earth.

The group’s lineup changed over the years, ending up as a power trio dedicated to tight songwriting before disbanding in 1993. While it lasted, though, the Hour released three albums—Hold Back the Reins, Fricker-Nicker Sessions and Songs of Sweden—and gained a great deal of notoriety as the house band for three summers at the Arrowhead Ranch, a Bill Graham Presents music-heavy hideaway in the Catskill Mountains that regularly attracted the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Phish and the Dave Matthews Band back in the day.

“Most everyone was looking for record deals, but all we cared about was writing and performing the kinds of songs that would express our emotions and connect with people,” says Turk, reflecting on why The Hour remained a regional phenomenon while bands it was sharing stages with, like Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors, rose to national prominence. “Call it naïveté or stunted ambition, but the music mattered more than the business elements.”

Around this time Turk became acquainted with two giants in the music world. The first, legendary producer Phil Ramone, Turk met in the course of studio work as a sideman. “He took an interest in my music and gave me a good afternoon’s worth of tutoring on the craft of songwriting,” remembers Turk, “and my level of seriousness tripled from then on.”

And in June 1992 Turk teamed up with world-famous folk music icon Pete Seeger, who was looking for a guitarist to accompany “The Street Singers,” a roving collective organized to teach folk songs to schoolchildren and others in and around New York City. Once a week Turk was able to delve into the folk canon at Seeger’s elbow, and before long had mastered a sizable songbook of Americana roots music and the kinds of treasured folk songs people used to sing aloud to pass the time.

Seeger’s life-long concern with inequality resonated strongly with Turk, who’d learned similar ideas from his parents while growing up in the Westchester suburbs north of New York City, where the disparity between the haves and have-nots is especially stark. Feeling that something more important was at stake than success as a musician, he put his career on hold for three years to work for God’s Love—We Deliver, a not-for-profit grassroots group that brought meals to homebound AIDS sufferers and their caregivers.

Turk slowly returned to the tuneful arts in 1996 by forming The Dolphin & Shark Ensemble, a sprawling group of pickers and players dedicated to mixing Americana and world beat musical styles in the fashion of a grand experiment. By then he’d also branched off into researching Jewish folk music in an attempt to keep ancient melodies and songs alive. Later on, in partnership with Kevin Hupp, he formed yet another group, Mandolin Caravan, to perform Hebrew songs from Israel, Yemen, Morocco and beyond; their first album, Desert Soul, was released in 2003.

For the past several years Turk has coordinated and hosted the “Circle of Song” tent at the Great Clearwater Music and Arts Festival, an event inaugurated by Pete Seeger in the 1960s that’s held each June on the banks of the Hudson River. Also, he serves as resident musician at Congregation B’nai Jeshrun in New York City, and runs a songwriting project for homeless children through a grant from the Westchester Council for the Arts.

Onstage and off, Matt Turk makes a difference in his world, our world. Whether he’s deep in a groove or leading a sing-along, Turk seems intent on fostering a revelatory art that’s full of excitement, a celebration of spirit. You’ll want to save him a seat at your table.

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  • Washington Arms review
    author: Jersey Beat

    The music here (Washington Arms) is actually very catchy, with well-written melody lines that are hummable (or to have arms waving in the air in an audience situation). His voice is easily matched to this sound. There’s even a cover of Love’s “I’d Love to Change the World”. The chorus for the last cut, “Sky”, can easily stay in your mind well after the CD is over. I’m sure this may have shown up on MTV, when they still played music.

  • all
    author: RObyn

    I just love listening to Matt's music....it the type of music that brings your 'soul' into play - Matt, your voice is beautiful, melodious and the rhythm is spontaneous and delightful. It reminds me of the old days with a 'new' twang! Carry on please. Musicmatch is discontinuing, I hope I'll still be able to hear you on my computer. I have not been able to see you yet, in person, besides of course at the Felds apartment in New York where I truly found you irresistable!! As your voice and music resonates in my mind...Life is Good! Peace, Robyn

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