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Strike up a conversation with Matt Schofield about the guitar and his first heroes, Albert King and Albert Collin, are sure to get a mention. “They mean the world to me,” he confides. “They dictated the path my life has taken.”
While sincerely indebted to those two blues legends, the Manchester, England native is no purist. “Although I’m predominately drawn to blues because I love the feel of it, it was always: I just like music.” That confession explains Schofield’s receptiveness to influences like the jazziness of guitarist Robben Ford and the funk-filled grooves of bands like the Meters.
In a relatively brief career, Schofield, 32, has stamped an impressive imprint on British blues with deftly paced, richly detailed and melodically inventive solos. Soaring from the fret board of his treasured ‘61 Fender Stratocaster, the ingenuity of his playing has enthralled fans and has critics sending superlatives cart wheeling through the international press. For example, the LA Daily News declared that “In Schofield, the UK has produced the best blues guitarist from any country in decades,” while Guitar and Bass magazine ranked him among the “top ten British blues guitarists of all time.”
Schofield was 12 growing up in Fairford, Gloucestershire listening to his father’s blues records and “messing about on guitar and bass a little,” when he saw a video of Albert King, BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughan jamming. “The power and intensity blew me away,” he recalls.
Fresh out of college, Schofield headed for the London music scene with the intention of becoming much more than the next “hot young guitarist.” “I am striving to be a great musician, not just a good guitarist,” he says of that decision. “There’s a big difference.” To that end, he spent seven years honing his craft as a sideman most notably in the bands of harmonica player Lee Sankey and British blues diva Dana Gillespie.
In 2002, in one of those glorious moments of musical serendipity, the Matt Schofield Trio came into being when the group’s Hammond B3 player was forced to substitute left-hand bass on the organ for an absent bass guitarist. A rare blues format, the band’s vibrant, jazzy beat and footloose improvisation was unlike anything else on the block. Four highly acclaimed recordings, two live outings and studio efforts, Siftin’ Through Ashes (2005) and Ear to the Ground (2007), amplified an early buzz into a roar. Last year, with the addition of bass guitar, the trio morphed into the Matt Schofield Band and recorded the outstanding Heads, Tails and Aces.
Schofield has also made some long strides towards becoming an accomplished song writer. Describing what he’s striving to achieve he says, “I want to hear guitar over a killer groove in a great song that goes somewhere and has some kind of life in it.”
Now poised to make the quantum leap to the world stage, Schofield is determined to play a pivotal role in blues music by shaking off its mouldy image and reaching out to a younger audience. Sparks are going to fly! www.mattschofield.net
Ken Wright
