Matt Babineaux & The TBDs
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Matt Babineaux & The TBDs

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2015

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Established on Jan, 2015
Band Americana Folk

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"On The Record: Matt Babineaux"

The term no-frills isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Matt Babineaux illustrates that on his A Place to Fall, a seven-song debut featuring him gently dressing up his singer-songwriter rock with a no-frills approach.

Well-recorded and produced, the record’s subtle approach presents his writing without hogging up the spotlight his words deserve. Many times, there’s more voice than backing content. Yet, this singer-songwriter never takes himself too seriously, employing a loose and breezy approach.

With a nod and a wink, Babineaux breaks the fourth wall here and there, (on the title track he seems to stifle a laugh). On “Three Four Time,” he opens with “I could write a song/To help me with moving on/It’d be simple in rhyme/And in three-four time.” It all translates to an easy-to-listen-to record. There’s a lot of love gone wrong but never what you would call the blues. He’s moving on through songs.

Always mellow and earnest, Babineaux might be the prodigy of John Mayer if he hung with Neil Young and John Denver. While there is some twang, it is not country at all — perhaps a more acoustic alt. rock version of locals Mike Dean or Jaryd Hargrave, who almost exclusively focuses on his love life.

Babineaux also gets help from well-known local talents, such as Sweet Cecilia. On “Eastbound” — with its organ and their harmony/backing vocals, it is likely the biggest song of the CD yet it is still very low key. Jim McGee, a local guitarist whose singer/songwriter, alt. rock style could have served as a blueprint for Babineaux, laid guitar work for much of the record.

Loaded with well-versed lyrics and vintage country textures in an alt rock existence, A Place to Fall is no frills but full of charm. - The Independent


"Alt-Rock gives Babineaux "A Place to Fall""

There’s an unmistakable, entertaining country flavor in Matt Babineaux’s music. But don’t call his band, the TBDs (short for To Be Determined), a country act.

Babineaux prefers a more accurate description that reflects his upbringing with Johnny Cash, Ryan Adams, Avett Brothers and John Mayer.

“This is my elevator pitch – we’re alt-rock with strong country and folk influences,” said Babineaux, a former Lafayette resident who now lives in New Orleans. “I’m afraid, now, when you tell people you’re country, they associate you with pop country.

“I was raised on country music. There’s definitely a lot of country in it. But I don’t want people to get me mixed up with Top 40 country. That’s definitely not what we’re doing.”

Babineaux shows off his alt-rock gumbo on a seven-song, all-original album, “A Place to Fall.” Recorded at Paul Broussard’s Leap Studios in Lafayette, the CD features Babineaux with college friends Marc Stubbs and Michael Legendre, members of the Americana band, Humble Kind, of Baton Rouge.

Jim McGee provided guitar work throughout. The talented, all-female trio Sweet Cecilia sang harmony on the single “Eastbound.” Jacqueline Davis, lead singer with Social Circle, does a duet with Babineaux on “Breaking Down in Beaumont.”

Babineaux is pleased with their contributions and his songwriting, which is influenced by his idol, Hayes Carll. He has written dozens of songs, but said the ones that come quick are the best.

“I know that I’ve got one of my better songs when I sit down, and within an hour, it’s written. The higher-level thinking is just completely shut off and you’re just in that moment.

“ 'Breaking Down in Beaumont,’ I literally wrote in one hour. I think that’s the strongest songwriting on the album. Some took me a lot longer. But at this point, I’ve written dozens and dozens of songs. But the seven I put on the album hit me very quickly. Sometimes I’m sitting on a bus and the lyrics come to me very quickly. I’ll put it down on my phone. When that happens, I know it’s going to be a good one.

“I usually start with one lyric. An idea will come to me and I’ll build the song and chords around that and it fills out.”

A native of Houston, Babineaux lived in Lafayette for three years after graduating from LSU. He’s been in New Orleans for the past year, working in economic development.

Babineaux would like to turn all his cultural experiences along I-10 into a full-time music career.

“I had been playing music all throughout college – weddings, open mics, whatever. But that was for fun. I got out of school and said I want to do something just for me. If I could be a full-time musician, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

“The first step is to get it going. I was tired of my desk job and said ‘Let’s do this.’ I got the album, put the band together and I’m actually going for it now. I’m not ready to quit my day job, but I’m a lot closer.” - The Advertiser (Times of Acadiana)


"106.3 Sessions: Radio Interview with Matt Babineaux"

To listen to Matt's on-air interview with 106.3 Radio Lafayette, follow the attached link! - 106.3 Radio Lafayette


Discography

A Place to Fall - The Debut EP by Matt Babineaux

Photos

Bio

Matt Babineaux is a singer-songwriter based out of New Orleans, LA. His lyrically-driven music is equal parts rock, country, and folk. His backing band, The TBDs (short for "To Be Determineds") are a regular act across south Louisiana. Their debut EP, A Place to Fall is "loaded with well-versed lyrics and vintage country textures in an alt rock existence," and can be heard on their official website, mattbabineaux.com, or anywhere you stream music!

A Matt Babineaux show is always an intimate and interactive event with comical anecdotes peppered in between songs and the occasional open invitation for the audience to request their favorite covers.

Drawing influence from modern acts like Ryan Adams, John Mayer, and the Avett brothers (without ever losing siteof the Cajun-folk artists and Texas songwriters he grew up with), Matt writes vulnerable songs mostly about unsuccessful romances, the promise of an open road, and the struggle to find oneself in an uncertain, dog-eat-dog world. But if you listen closely, there is an unmistakable wit in his lyrics that hints at his underlying hopeful nature.



Band Members