There has been a welcome sense of old time music over the last few years, harkening back to the O Brother, Where Art Thou movie with George Clooney. It’s interesting as it’s essentially folk music that draws upon a sound of a day further gone by than that of the familiar tunes of the 1960s. But there is a rich songwriting tradition of classic storytelling embedded there that really carries throughout. Brothers Jacob and Ben Matte have embraced this sound and resurrected a vibe from Smiths Falls. Hear them as they play with some good ol’ straight honesty on Saturday, September 27 from 5-8pm at The Cove Inn! Details and reservations here: web link

Seamus Cowan: I remember when you guys came to me and mentioned that you had a band wanted to try a show. I also remember you were about to get married to a local girl and I found that very endearing! You’ve been brothers forever, but what’s it like now sharing the mic?

I remember that! It was a big family dinner. That local girl and I just celebrated our first wedding anniversary.

As for the brother thing, it’s been a bonding experience. We’ve been known to be a bit shy and this project is our first time not only singing together, but also writing and sharing lyrics with each other. It has helped us get to know each other in a way we may otherwise never have done.

We also didn’t expect to enjoy the business side as much as we do. Every step we take is motivating us to learn more and work harder on things like social media marketing and navigating the music industry as independent musicians.

Q: Your sound pulls from the old time of country, folk, Bluesgrass, more. Who are some of the key artists that have really given you a reason to not only enjoy, but create music?

We grew up on our parents’ music from the sixties and seventies. It definitely shows up in our music, but we also bring an interesting mix of independent interests.

Jacob’s in-laws introduced him to country classics early on - Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Johnny and June Cash, Alan Jackson. He picked up a guitar for the first time in adulthood and that’s the stuff he learned to play on in family jams while discovering modern folk artists like Gregory Alan Isakov.

I wasn’t into it at first, but our interests started to cross over when a professor in my undergrad introduced me to Punch Brothers and the newgrass scene. I was playing heavy, riff-y bass in a rock band at the time but this stuff blew me away. I decided to learn mandolin and worked backwards from there toward guys like Norman Blake and Bill Monroe and all the traditional stuff they drew from. I wanted to be able to play like that, and maybe one day I will. I’m trying anyway!

I think anyone who has ever played an instrument has at some point dreamed about writing songs and having the gumption to perform them. Luckily we had each other to push ourselves into action, but we were still shy. So Jacob started putting music to a friend’s poetry and as we performed those songs more and gained confidence, we just got more and more eager to get our own voices out. The better we get, the more we enjoy it - we’ve written three albums’ worth of songs at this point but we have our original set narrowed down to a dozen favourites, with mixed covers of our influences.

Q: You guys definitely have a quirky sense of humour and enjoy being candid and light onstage. I feel like you can only attain that honesty with someone you know so well. Where does your sense of odd humour come from?

We grew up loving a pretty interesting mix of comedy, starting with a Weird Al DVD and eventually getting obsessed with the dry delivery of Flight of the Conchords and Leslie Nielsen.
We’ve been delighted on our folk and country journey to learn what a great tradition of comedy exists alongside the music. From the Smothers Brothers to the playful classic country duets, it’s a space that doesn’t always take itself too seriously.

We grew up in a bit of an emotionally turbulent environment and it made us a tight-knit crew of brothers (we’re the middle two of four). We’re very close but maybe not the best at sentimental stuff like giving each other compliments or showing appreciation, so we learned to show affection through roasting and competition.

So we baked that roasting into our stage banter. We try to treat the whole show as a performance - not just the songs but the space in between. So most of our banter is pre-planned and scripted. But there’s a game we like to play to keep things fresh for the audience and for ourselves - we each try to reserve one slot in the set list where we bring a surprise “bit” that the other has never heard before but will be forced to play along with.

Q: As you play more and more in the area, I’m sure you are receiving some good responses to your shows. To you, what is the best part of playing your original music live?

In the beginning it just felt great to overcome the fear of sharing something and of embarrassing ourselves on stage. That’s not to say that we haven’t embarrassed ourselves - Jacob certainly does at every show. But that growth in confidence and in musical skill was what first hooked us.

Jump to now - we just did our biggest run of shows so far in August on our Cafe Tour. We tested our limits and did 10 shows in a month while working our day jobs. We were worried we’d be stretched thin by the end but we had a blast. And we realized our favourite part now is connecting with people and seeing new places. We get to make new friends by nerding out on music, learn from other people who are also creating music, and work with small business owners who are pursuing their own dreams.

It’s also just fun to show off music we’re proud of and to make fun of each other.

Q: I know you guys are doing this for pure enjoyment but is there someone you would absolutely love to either work with or perform with? A dream? What’s the next step around the corner for you guys?

What a great question! It’s true that when we first played at The Cove, we had been writing and performing for fun and as a personal challenge. The dream of course is to make a living writing, recording, and performing our original music, but early on we just thought if we could get a few gigs and enjoy ourselves, then that was mission accomplished.

The reception to our first few gigs was way beyond our expectations, and then the gigs kept coming. And the more we play the more we enjoy it. So now we’re working on that bigger dream one small-but-achievable goal at a time. We’ve had a lot of big wins this year already - most recently we released our single “Sweet Sounds of a Hound Dog” produced by David James Allen out in Prince Edward County, and in February we released our self-produced, self-recorded EP.

As for what’s next, meeting other Ontario folk musicians has been inspiring. There are plenty of local musicians that deserve as much recognition as any international artist and we hope to work with them - Jessica Pearson and The East Wind, Campbell Woods, The Barrel Boys and their members’ many projects, The Pairs, David James Allen - we could go on.

We have another single we recorded with David releasing shortly, and we’ll be spending a lot of time in the home studio for the next little while to self-produce some songs as we work our way up to our first full-length album. We’re preparing to work on festival applications for 2026 and are stoked to attend the Folk Music Ontario Conference in Ottawa in October. And of course, continuing to learn new ways to get the word out about our music and gigs! Posted: Sep 22, 2025