Biography Matthew Curry

Matthew Curry and The Fury deliver energized blues

and blues rock. At age 16, Matthew is already a veteran

performer, he astonishes audiences with his blazing guitar

playing, original songs, and soulful voice.

Matthew has jammed with blues greats Coco Montoya, Tommy Castro,

Ronnie Baker Brooks, Bernard Allison, and Bryan Lee. Often

referred to as a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton,

Matthew Curry is a triple-charged musician.

Featured Blues Interview - Matthew Curry

The tired old phrase 'playing up a storm' has been tossed around

for decades, but this was flat-out ridiculous.

As 17-year-old phenom Matthew Curry, along with his band The Fury,

tore through a blues-filtered version of Deep Purple's “Maybe I'm

A Leo” at the 28th annual Mississippi Valley Blues Festival at the

stately band shell in Davenport, Iowa's LeClaire Park, gale-force

winds engulfed the assembled masses, sweeping through the park

like a mini-hurricane.

But to his credit, Curry didn't flinch one inch.

Instead, Curry and his band-mates dug their heels in and turned up

the intensity on the stage, matching Mother Nature's fury with some

Fury of their very own.

Then, as if serving up a peace offering to the weather gods, Curry

eased off the throttle a bit and soothed the wind-stricken patrons,

while at the same time fending off the impending storm, with the

down-and-dirty slow blues of Albert Collins’ “Too Many Dirty Dishes.”

Later, as if right on cue, just seconds after Curry and The Fury

stepped off stage after delivering a blistering take of “Voodoo Chile”

as their encore number, the skies opened up and hit Davenport with

more rain in 10 minutes time than the city had seen in quite awhile.

While he may not have had a direct line of communication with the

elements that night, Curry's performance as the opening act at the

Mississippi Valley Blues Festival was one heck of a coming out party

for the young man from Normal, Illinois.

All-in-all, pretty impressive stuff for a young man not yet shed free

of his high school years.

“It’s just been a great experience for me. I was hoping that this would

eventually happen for me, but I didn’t expect it to happen this quick,”

he said. “It’s just great … just mind-boggling.”

Mind-boggling, indeed.

The stories are quickly becoming legendary about how an 11-year-old

Curry was handed a guitar by Ronnie Baker Brooks at a show and how the

youngster climbed on stage and began firing off note after note, much

to the delight of Brooks and everyone else in attendance.

Then, at the ripe old age of 12, Curry had the opportunity to jam with

RBB and Tommy Castro, when the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise Review

made its way to Bloomington, Illinois.

Those not fortunate enough to be in attendance that evening can witness

the fireworks at http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=5252879782162690859&hl=en.

“They were both really nice guys. Nice enough to invite me to sit in

with them on a couple tunes. First, we did an Albert Collins tune called

“Honey Hush.” That's the one that was on YouTube. It was kind of

nerve-wrecking for me, because playing with not one, but two really-great

guitarist is a little intimidating,” laughed Curry. “But everyone played

great and it was a great time. When we started the second song, out of

nowhere, the power in half of

the town in Bloomington went out. People said it was because we used up

all the power playing that one song.”

Word of that guitar tour-de-force quickly reached Curry's school, where

his classmates relayed back to the young guitarist what they had heard

about that night.

“The next day at school I just remember a lot of kids coming up to me

and telling me, 'Oh, my mom and dad were at the show last night,' and

that's pretty cool,” Curry said.

Since then, Curry has proven to be no parlor trick, no flash in the pan.

Entering into Eclipse Studio in Normal last August, Curry and The Fury

(Randy Hoffman, guitar; Greg Neville, drums; Jeff Paxton, bass) emerged

with an outstanding debut album for their efforts – If I Don’t Got You.

Blues fans all across the landscape have taken notice of the budding

superstar, evidenced by an unprecedented three Blues Blast Music Award

nominations (Song of the Year – “Blinded by the Darkness”; New Artist

Debut; Sean Costello Rising Star Award).

While his prowess at burning up-and-down the neck of his guitar is what

Curry has received the lion’s share of recognition for, his well-weathered

vocals also beg for attention – vocal chops that sound as if they’ve been

around for decades, belonging to a much more seasoned – and yes, much

older - singer.

But looking beyond his obvious vocal and guitar playing talents, one of

the most remarkable things about Curry’s initial public offering is, that

save for two songs (Charley Patton’s “High Water Everywhere” and “Soulshine”

by Warren Haynes), all the material on If I Don’t Got You was crafted by

Curry himself.

Even if some of the tunes may contain subject matter that might seem

far-reaching for a teenager still living at home.

“I kind of like to think of it as my own style – well maybe not MY

style – but based off the blues style,” he said. “You know, stuff about

losing a woman and things like that - just experiences I’ve had.”

Curry’s first real taste of music was served up like most children’s – via

his parents.

But in this case, instead of the disposable pop crap that litters the

airwaves and pollutes young minds nowadays, Curry’s first encounter with

music was built on a solid, lasting foundation.

“Well, when I was about four, my dad used to sit around and play his

acoustic guitar in the living room – playing the old bluesy-type like

Skynyrd and ZZ Top and stuff like that,” he said. “And I thought, ‘Man,

I want to play that.’ So he bought me a little guitar and he taught me

and I started playing. And eventually when I got older, he showed me

Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray … really the blues legends. It’s just what

I love. That has always been the music for me.”

Curry took to the guitar like a fish takes to water and very soon, it

was readily apparent that Curry had no desire to be separated from his

instrument.

The high school years can be tough to navigate for most kids, what with

all the changes that their bodies and minds go through as they develop

into young adults and search to find out who they really are, but when

you factor in the desire to play the guitar 24 hours a day, a whole new

set of discipline is required to make it through the public educational

system.

“It kind of is (frustrating) because I want to do it (play the blues)

so bad. I want to tour and see the whole world,” Curry said. “But, I know

I have to go to school. Because I have to have a backup plan if I can’t

do music. But I’ve got one year left of high school and hopefully after

that, I’ll be out on the road.”

If Curry’s experiences as a young bluesman sound similar to those that

a young Kenny Wayne Sheppard went through back in the 90s, it’s because

the duo’s formulative years are very much alike.

They even share a common mentor – New Orleans’ bluesman Bryan Lee.

“Vocally, my main number one influence is Bryan Lee. He’s just the

nicest man I’ve ever met on earth,” Curry said. “He’s toured all over

the world and he knows that he and his band are great, but yet he’s so

humble about it. Me and him and his guitar player Brent all stay in

touch. As far as the blues, I think Bryan Lee is the best blues singer

that I’ve ever heard.”

Aside from his dad, Curry’s list of favorite guitar players runs the

gamut of great pickers.

“There’s just so many, but some of my top ones are Sonny Landreth,

Joe Bonamassa and all of the old guys like Muddy Waters and B.B. King,”

he said. “And even some of the country guys like Roy Clark. They’re some

of my biggest influences. And Warren Haynes is one of my big inspirations

as far as guitar-playing and song-writing. That’s why I decided to cover

“Soulshine” on my album.”

After making such an immediate and impressive splash with If I Don't Got You,

what does Curry have in store to stave off the mythical 'sophomore curse'

with album number two?

“My goals for the next album are to take it to a bigger level than the last

one, with more versatility and with something that when people hear it, they

feel it, too,” he said.

Curry seems to have the strong support system of his family in place,

helping him to keep a handle on what has to have been a pretty whirlwind

time since If I Don’t Got You hit the streets.

And while he’s already climbed to some pretty impressive heights so far,

Curry understands that the trip up the mountain requires just one single

step at a time.

“All I know is, you never stop learning and I’m going to keep learning,”

he said. “I just play and listen … no one’s ever the best, so I’m going to

keep doing the best that I can do and hope for the best.”

While a lot of young adults his age have visions of careers as lawyers,

doctors and ball players in the front of their mind, for Curry, it’s simply

the blues or bust.

“I don’t want to do anything else. This is it. I want to play the blues for

the rest of my life,” he said. “I couldn’t see myself doing anything else

but this.”

After his appearance at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, Curry drove

straight through the night to Champaign, Illinois, where he took the stage

at the Blues, Brews and BBQ Festival at the invitation of his friend

Ronnie Baker Brooks.

But that’s just the beginning of Curry’s busy summer.

“I’m really looking forward to playing the Telluride Festival in Colorado

in the Rocky Mountains,” he said. “There’s supposed to be like 15,000 people

there. We’re going to do that at the end of August. It’ll be super fun.”

Then after that, Curry will once again temporarily set down his guitar and

pick up his math and science books for his senior year of high school.

Even if some of his fellow school-mates might not exactly grasp all the

progress, along with all the buzz that Matthew Curry has generated in the

past 18 months or so.

“Well, it’s hard to say (what his classmates think about his journey so far),

I think some might, but it's hard for kids at my school to know because they

all listen to hip hop,” he laughed.

But regardless of that, the blues highway had better get used to seeing

plenty of road miles from Matthew Curry and The Fury.

“When I’m 30 I’d like to be out on the road, touring somewhere – Europe,

Russia … just out there making music, doing what I’m doing,” he said.

Visit Matthew's website at www.matthewcurry.com

Photos by Bob Kieser © 2012 Blues Blast Magazine

Interviewer Terry Mullins is a journalist and former record store owner

whose personal taste in music is the sonic equivalent of Attention Deficit

Disorder. Works by the Bee Gees, Captain Beefheart, Black Sabbath, Earth,

Wind & Fire and Willie Nelson share equal space with Muddy Waters, The Staples

Singers and R.L. Burnside in his compact disc collection. He's also been

known to spend time hanging out on the street corners of Clarksdale,

Miss., eating copious amounts of barbecued delicacies while listening to

the wonderful sounds of the blues.

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