Milwaukee singer-songwriter Jay Matthes has been playing professionally for almost five years. For someone who's still pretty new to the scene, he’s earned a lot of respect. For Matthes, earning the credibility and respect is great for his career, but he keeps his expectations on a music career realistic.
"Ideally I'd love to make a living off of music because it truly is what I love to do," he says. "It's my passion, I love writing music, I love performing. But it's not a thing where either I'm headlining the Marcus Amphitheatre or it's a bust."
Matthes has played across the Midwest and toured in support of acts from Mike Dawes to 10,000 Maniacs. His newest album is called A Drier Place, and he’s currently on a two-month tour in support of it, which includes a short stay in Nashville and several stops later this month in Wisconsin.
He stopped by the Lake Effect performance studio and played a few songs, along with a conversation about his music, songwriting and aspirations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9f_aWydUOY
