Joe Matzzie

Joe Matzzie is a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. His songs reflect a love and passion for storytelling with a prosodic sincerity. Growing up in the post-industrial comic book that is Pittsburgh, PA Joe began playing guitar at the age of five. His first performance experience was in the Our Lady of Grace church folk group at the age of ten. An obsessed fan of songs, he would pour over the music of The Beatles, Gordon Lightfoot and John Denver, pondering the meaning of such obtuse lyrics as “She’s got a ticket to ride and she don’t care”.

Moving to New York City after graduation from Duquesne University School of Music, Joe founded the five-piece band Joe Matzzie Beyond Belief and began playing clubs such as The Continental, CBs Gallery and Arlene Grocery. He produced and released the EP The First 20 Minutes and then the full length album It’s All True, in the process founding his own record label U.S.Records and publishing company There’s Been a Publishing.

At the same time his love of acoustic, folk and traditional styles of music led him to the festive world of Renaissance fairs. Joe was a founding member of the group Mince Pye who performed at the New York Renaissance Faire and garnered a huge underground following at such events as the New York City Witches’ Ball. Over the years he has performed in styles as diverse as Renaissance, Medieval, Traditional Celtic, Bluegrass, Gypsy Jazz, Old Time Fiddle Music, Macedonian Gypsy Folk and Hawaiian.

Disillusioned by the process of being a do-it-yourself recording artist, Joe turned away from writing songs after 2001, and turned to composing for film and freelancing as a guitarist. He also assisted other film composers with hardware and software support, music transcription and orchestration. Joe’s compositions have appeared in movies, television, radio, web videos, theater and interactive games.

In 2013 Joe launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fan-fund a new album of songs titled This Box Makes Noise. The album is due out this spring and is a collaboration with producer Brian Packer. It also features Nate Laguzza on drums and Adam Popick on bass. This Box Makes Noise signals Joe’s return to the musical medium that originally captured his imagination and inspired his heart so many years ago.