BIO

Matt North, now based in Nashville after a long tenure in Los Angeles, is an award-winning songwriter with two critically acclaimed releases: Bullies in the Backyard (2022), Above Ground Fools (2017), and a new album out 2026. North grew up in Champaign, Illinois on equal doses of Hee Haw and Soul Train, his great uncle is novelist and Kentucky poet laureate, Jesse Stuart, and his father's family were Scotch-Irish coalminers in Harlan County, Kentucky.

As a songwriter and drummer, he has recorded and performed with Maria McKee of Lone Justice, Peter Case, Blondie Chaplin, Mink Stole, Andy Prieboy, and Stuart Mathis of The Wallflowers.

A chance in 1985 to work backstage at Farm Aid I “injected the music needle in my arm for good, especially standing off-stage watching Bob Dylan play live with Tom Petty.” Entering high school, Matt was hired by the late Mark Rubel of Champaign’s Pogo Studio to work his first of many recording sessions as a drummer, and began playing local gigs drumming with Jay Bennett of Wilco, and also John Coltrane bassist, Rafael Garrett.

While studying drums at The University of North Texas, Matt dropped out - forfeiting his music scholarship after an invitation from University of Illinois jazz band director, John Garvey, to drum for a 1990 summer tour of Russia alongside bassist, Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett, Indigo Girls).

“I always saw singing and writing as what’s expected,” North explains. “Growing up drumming, I remember practicing to albums by The Band so I could sing from the drums like Levon Helm or Stan Lynch with Petty. Then I noticed every Kiss concert was built around Peter Criss singing ‘Beth,’ so, hey…”

North moved to San Francisco in 1994 where he worked as a fact-checker for Mother Jones Magazine, played in garage bands, and wound up roommates with comedians Patton Oswalt and Mitch Hedberg in Haight-Ashbury for some two years. At 26, North was signed as a writer to the William Morris Agency by manager Dave Becky whose roster included Marc Maron, Louis C.K., and Chris Rock. Matt relocated to Los Angeles in 1997, began composing songs, answering “Drummer Wanted” ads, and writing a screenplay, Best Western; the latter won multiple awards, and led to regular work as a story analyst – a skill that deeply shapes his songwriting.

  • In Los Angeles, North produced Rob Kendt's critically acclaimed CD “I’m Not Sentimental” (Ruby Records) and the debut LP from Hail The Size, “I Can’t Die In LA” featuring former Lone Justice lead singer, Maria McKee. As a drummer, Matt has performed onstage and recorded with:

    Maria McKee, Mink Stole, Andy Prieboy,

    Peter Case, Gina Villalobos, Abby Travis, Scot Sax

    Blondie Chaplin, Jesse DeNatale, Paula Kelley

    Rob Kendt, Nicholas Tremulis, Kristian Hoffman

    In 2000, taking the mantle of his greatest influences, Kris Kristofferson and Levon Helm, North earned critical acclaim starring opposite James Woods in the Golden Globe-winner Dirty Pictures directed by Frank Pierson (writer of Cool Hand Luke, A Star Is Born, Dog Day Afternoon) and was soon hired by Larry David as a guest-star on Curb Your Enthusiasm for seven episodes as Jason Alexander’s William Morris agent (ironically Matt himself had been dropped by that same agency two years prior). When Alexander unexpectedly left the show to star in his own NBC sitcom, North was written out of the series. 

    During this time, Matt’s chief focus stayed on creating original music and raising his son who was born with learning differences due to a rare disease. While in Los Angeles, he performed live and recorded with Maria McKee, Peter Case, L.A. punks The Buxotics (fronted by ex Pandoras Rita D’Albert), Andy Prieboy’s “White Trash Wins Lotto,” Mink Stole (of John Waters fame), and Blondie Chaplin (Rolling Stones, Beach Boys).

    A referral by Maria McKee to Grammy-winning producer, Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams), led to session work in Nashville with Kennedy as well as at Welcome To 1979 Studios. After settling into Nashville, North began reigniting his beginner piano skills as well as guitar, and started work on what eventually became three full length records.

    Above Ground Fools, North’s 2017 debut album, formally launched him as a singer and songwriter of great emotional power and artistic depth. A self-produced debut from a veteran session drummer, the record boasted ten North-ern originals that address doomed romance, the death of newsworthy news, male jealousy, legal battles, and other upbeat tales of personal failure…all true and stemming from personal experience. 

    Bullies In The Backyard, North’s sophomore release, featured ten songs written under the cloud of a seven-year lawsuit Matt’s family ultimately won due to violations against his son’s special needs by Nashville Public Schools. The Federal Court verdict set precedents in Tennessee that now benefit families facing similar challenges over their child’s education nationwide. Prior to recording “Bullies” from 2020-22, with no work playing live shows or recording jobs in sight due to the pandemic, Matt started working at Nashville’s Home Depot to support his family and spent the rest of his time tracking songs in his home studio. Not unlike Guy Patterson in the iconic film “That Thing You Do," Matt found himself selling appliances when he would've rather been drumming. Mixed by Grammy-winner Jim Scott (Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Wilco), the record features guest appearances from Jonny Polonsky and Jesse DeNatale. For his debut as well as Bullies in the Backyard, Matt was joined in the studio by his core band of Nashville A-listers:  

    Stuart Mathis (Lucinda Williams, The Wallflowers) - guitars

    Chris Donohue (Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris) - bass

    Michael Webb (Chris Stapleton, John Fogerty) - keyboards


    North’s third album out 2026 will feature ten songs recorded in Matt’s hometown of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois with a murderer’s row lineup of all-CU music veterans track to track. Moreover, the full project was completed exclusively with CU talent ranging from mix and mastering engineers, local recording studios, photography, and graphic design. North says of the community that shaped him, “I always called Champaign-Urbana the ‘Muscle Shoals of the Midwest’ based on its historical volume of output from local studios, bands, and songwriters publishing original material. I can’t think of any equally-sized Midwest college town that matches it. I knew if I formed a band of different artists in a different city, we’d get our own different Champaign sound.”