Ard Matthews
The 30thof July 2012 will see Ard Matthews release his debut solo album, FirstOfferings.
Ard Matthews is one of SA’s most respected singer/songwriters. His music is real and his presence on any given stage, surreal.
Ard made name for himself as the frontman of the revolutionary South-African band, Just Jinger. With his deep hitting lyrics and melodic arrangements, he paved the way to the success of their debut album, All Comes Around. This album went on to become one of the biggest selling albums in its genre in SA – of all time . In a year’s time All comes Around reached double platinum status. The following year the band’s second album, Something for now, achieved the same status.
In 2012, Ard made the decision to venture onto a solo path. Ard’s extensive writing process literally took him all over the world – from sailing around the Mafia islands, to an extended trip to India. The album sees Ard draw off a diverse blend of themes and thoughts.
With a healthy dose of life experience and a brand new zest to his tracks, this new album is set to take Ard Matthews on quite the solo adventure.
“This album has been a diary of my life in a way. It is a musical depiction of where I’ve been over the last couple of years and I’m really excited to share it with everybody. I hope that the public are ready to listen to raw, unpretentious, brutally honest music, because that is what this is about ,” Ard says.
According to Ard the general theme is love .He simply puts it, “While trends and fashions come andgo, love always prevails.”
FirstOfferings is an independent release and will be distributed by MESH(Music & Entertainment Solutions Hub.) All tracks were written, produced, recorded and performed by Ard Matthews. Guest artists such as Tumi (and the Volume), John Ellis, Paul Hepker, Theo Crous, rugby great Alistair Hargreaves and big wave surfers Ryan Butcher and Greg Bertish are credited where they appear. The album was mixed in Los Angeles by Bryan Cook (Train, Five for Fighting) and mastered by Hans DeKline.
The live band representing this album is called The Ard Matthews Affair and features Ard on vocals and bass guitar accompanied by an all-star line-up consisting of John Ellis (Tree 63) on guitar and Josh Klynsmith (Gangs of Ballet)on drums.
For those fans amongst us, who cannot handle the anticipation anymore, FirstOfferings can be streamed and is available for download in any format from Ard’s web store:www.ardmatthews.com/store
To catch Mr Matthews live, get yourself to one of his following live shows:
13th July – 5FM / Billabong Pro Music Festival -Jeffrey’s Bay – http://www.5fm.co.za/events/the-5fm-music-festival-the-billabong-pro
22nd July – Moyo – Kirstenbosch Gardens – Cape Town -(Acoustic/Solo) -http://www.moyo.co.za/contact-us.aspx
6th August – Gateway Barnyard Theatre – Durban -http://www.barnyardtheatre.co.za/findus.aspx?vid=4
29th September – Symphonic Rocks – Cape Town – http://symphonicrocks.co.za/
6th October – Symphonic Rocks – Johannesburg – http://symphonicrocks.co.za/
Ard is also socially connectable, and you can follow him on Facebook and twitter:
Twitter:@ardmatthews Hashtag: #FirstOfferings.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ardmatthews
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