Matt Coats Band

When you think of soulful blues musicians, you generally envision an older black gentleman who has lived on the rough side of life, sitting on his porch in the Mississippi Delta banging away on his guitar telling stories of hard times, evil women, and cheap liquor. Although that cliché has been broken with the likes of Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey, Joe Bonamassa and Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Just to name a few) even with the color barrier being torn down so many years ago down with soulful guitar players, you would not imagine a young white boy from East Texas barely over the legal drinking age would even have an inkling of heartfelt blues.
Well, let me introduce you to small town Texas born and breed musician, Matt Coats.
Matt is from Queen City, TX, which has a population of fewer than 2,000 folks and is nestled in the piney woods of East Texas. But, do not let his age, nor his geographical environment fool you, he has a big sound when it comes to music.
This past April, Matt released his debut 3 song EP, “No One’s Home”, and the only bad thing about it all, it’s only three songs.
I have listened to these three songs more than once, and I am being brutally honest, I cannot get enough, Matt Coats has the goods.
When the first song “Never Met a Woman” starts, you get a rockabilly feel to it. It has an energetic beat that will have you tapping your toes. It reminds me of something you would hear back in the day in an old juke joint. The crowd hopping and popping to an upbeat tune while having a grand ole time.
Track two, “No One’s Home”, it is a slower tune that has a great mellow melodic tone about it. Matt’s voice is not that of a twenty two-year old, instead, he has that howl and growl in his pipes that feels experienced like he has grit in his belly and spit in his eye, as he has lived a thousand lifetimes and he is here to sing all about it.
Song three, “Run” opens up a can of whip ass, assaulting your ear holes with undeniable guitar riffs that reminisce of an old Stevie Ray Vaughan vibe, meshed with some Jeff Healey.
I cannot get enough of what I have heard from this EP. It has a quality of sound that is soulful, funky, bluesy, heartfelt, raw, real and rocking. The sound of Matt Coats cannot honestly be pinpointed or labeled as one particular style. It’s a whole bunch of badass rolled up with passionate vocals, ear shattering guitar riffs and solos, thumping basslines and heart pounding beats.
If you like music that is not only meant to be heard but, meant to be felt, then, the Matt Coats Trio needs to be in your collection of music. - Benny Henderson Jr.

Those who visit Coach’s and Cowboy’s in Tyler the evening of March 10 will learn something many in Cass County already know about Matt Coats. In addition to being a talented musician, the Queen City native has something to say.
The Matt Coats Trio will headline a live show marking the release of the three-song EP “No One’s Home,” which features music reflecting Coats’ blues and rock influences. The show begins at 8:30 p.m. with a couple of opening acts – including the blues rock band Styrofoam Submarine -- with the Matt Coats Trio expected to play at 10:30.
Attendees will receive a free EP while supplies last -- and the three songs featured run the gamut in terms of both style and influence.
The tune “I Never Met a Woman,” which expands on a B.B. King quote, is described by Coats as, “More of a rockabilly song. It’s not just straight blues.” Meanwhile the title track, “No One’s Home,” has “a slower, heavier feel to it, but it’s blues rock,” Coats said. That one is based on an encounter with a homeless man in Austin. The third song, “Run,” is a fast-paced, loud number. “That’s the one that I’ve been getting the most feedback from,” Coats added.
There are plans for the EP to be released online as well. But that’s just the start -- the Matt Coats Trio is at work on a full album, which is being recorded in Tyler.
That his music is finding a wider audience comes as no surprise. Coats has been working toward this for years, since he was first intrigued by music as a child, listening to his uncle and a friend play guitar. Coats got his first guitar at age eight.
Later he played trumpet in the Queen City Marching Band -- a learning experience he remembers fondly.
“To be honest with you if I could get away with playing trumpet and marching and getting paid to do it, I’d rather do that than play a guitar on stage,” he said. “Marching at Queen City, you always knew everybody was going to do what they were supposed to.”
Ultimately, the guitar offered more different sounds and techniques than the trumpet, “hundreds of thousands of sounds,” Coats said.
Though his influences are varied, he ultimately gravitated toward the blues. While there are different paths to the blues, “Mine was seeing it,” Coats said. “I learned a lot from Blues Fest, anything from running sound to playing guitar. Blues Fest was the influence.”
He and a friend got a chance to work the festival, and Coats was able to watch, hear and meet a number of influential musicians.
Now, he follows in their footsteps, bringing his music to live audiences and recording tracks in the studio. The “No One’s Home” EP sees the light of day in Tyler on March 10, and Coats hopes to hold a release party closer to home at some point as well, perhaps in Texarkana.
And while a firm date hasn’t been set for a release of the full album, which will feature at least 10 songs, it’s on the way.
Coats describes it in a way his fans can no doubt apply to any of his projects, whether live or recorded: “It’s going to sound good.” - John Dilmore