Wailing City Spotlight Interview: Matt Gouette

Published February 8, 2024
Interview by Meghan Killimade

You’ve been writing and performing music in our area for a long time – how did you get started in music and how did growing up in this area shape you as a musician/songwriter?

It's just something that came naturally. I love music and always wanted to be a rock star. I used to play the guitar on tennis rackets when I was five or six years old. I convinced my parents to get me a guitar in 1992, took some lessons, learned the basics and went from there. I wrote songs before I could play an instrument. They weren't GOOD, but I was writing them. I'm glad those tapes were erased years ago. As for growing up in the area, I can't say it shaped me in terms of what I do musically. I just do my thing, and however it comes out, there it is. I've always marched to my own drum. But I will say that years ago, a friend mentioned that maybe I should do more original songs and not so many covers. That may have helped me to gain the confidence to just be myself and not try so hard to be another Elliott Smith or Nick Drake. Which WAS my trajectory in the mid-2000s, I cringe to admit.

Wailing City Spotlight: Interview With Bards Of Gungywamp

Published February 1, 2024
Interview by Meghan Killimade

Tell us about the band – who are the members & instrumentation and how did you all come together? 
Craig: It was the end of the winter of 2020. I was coming off of a 100 day sobriety bender. My day 1 of drinking was going to be on St Patrick’s day at the Strange Brew watching friends old and new playing Irish traditionals! It was kind of unbelievable… but then all the bars shut down because of some new outbreak called Covid.

Fast forward two years to the winter of 2022. Covid quarantines were relaxing and I found out the friends were going to try it again. Only this time they wanted me to play the banjo with them... I don’t play the banjo. Hell, I barely play guitar. I attempted to play 5 string banjo in January/ February, but learning new songs and trying to learn fingerpicking at the same time was too much. It was at this point I discovered the existence of the Irish tenor banjo. A four string instrument that is traditionally played with a pick. This seemed like it could be a much easier transition, only one hand would have to learn new tricks. So in the end of February / beginning of March I started to learn the Irish tenor banjo for the shows on St. Patrick's day. That first St. Patrick's was intense. I’m pretty sure we played sitting down, and it was a very stripped down version of one of our normal sets. Although, the main meat of our set was already established by then. It’s wild to look back at where I came from and where I am now after these few years of playing with these guys. They really have inspired me and have completely changed my life.