THOUGH HE QUIT his job as an electrician almost three years ago, Matt Sever is faithful to his beginnings. The Austin-based artist even renewed his license last year, "in the interest of honest representation," he says.

Honesty abounds on the presentation of his latest release, Long Way Home. Unpretentious melodies showcase Severs softer-side-of-Springsteen delivery. Open arrangements spotlight his vocals and guitar, complemented by bass, percussion, and the occasional piano, mandolin or banjolele ("half ukulele, half banjo, all rock," jokes Sever). Songs range from touching family tributes to the tale of a stripping valedictorian and a medley of Ernest Hemingway novels.

Long Way Home is Sever's fourth CD, and he says that his wife and kids have inspired most of these songs. "Writing-wise, I keep things pretty personal," he

says. "With two small children in the house, there are a lot of first-time experiences. I find that having kids is like re-learning how to be a human being every day."

Raising children is also encouraging Sever to think about his own parents, as evidenced in the stand-out track, "Hammer on the Ladder," written for Sever's father. "The older I get, the more I notice things that I do that remind me of him," he says. In the chorus Sever sings, "Oh, Dad, you carry me," a line he means literally and metaphorically. "Aside from the picture of a father physically carrying a son, I think I carry him around, too, the good and the bad," Sever explains. "The more I realize that, the better I am at beating back my own demons."

Long Way Home has an intimate feel, which Sever says he owes partly to producer Bruce Hughes, who also produced his third album, Made for Working.

"Working with Bruce again helped my comfort factor," he says. "He has such a great ear, and he knew what kind of sounds I was hoping for." Using many of the same players also gave the new album a sense of familiarity.

Like many do-it-yourself artists, Sever has faced his share of challenges. "Every record I've made has been done under a pretty tight money and time budget," he says. "Of course I wish that being a self-employed artist paid a little better but I've definitely learned a lot over the years. The only down side has been that in a culture that moves faster all the time, you're expected to keep this insane pace; I think most of us are hardwired for a slower learning curve." Still, Sever maintains a positive outlook. "I'm glad I work for myself," he says. "I wake up every day thinking how lucky I am to be doing what I love, surrounded by a supportive family, and making any kind of living at all".

Top Ten for 2004

I need no blind adoration to appreciate Long Way Home for the giant leap forward in craft that it is. As far as Matt records go, it's the most nakedly confessional (fudged book reports, a father's life advice, the magic of being in love), stripped down to frame the scrappy beauty of Matt's warmly strained voice, and nearly the most serious, though even the saddest songs get knotted with punch line bungee cords for the quick dips into sorrowful melody and flirtations with loss. Only the best singer-songwriters can carry the troubadour and storyteller torches in tandem, and Matt juggles both with impish acumen. - Terry Sawyer

The songwriters who play Cafe Mundi every Wednesday engage in an exercise; the audience throws out song titles, and by the next week's gig, the writers must perform new songs by their assigned titles... That little musical parlor challenge has become a fruitful addition to Sever's songwriting process. Seven of the 10 songs on his splendidly brooding and hummable new album "Long Way Home" started out with titles tossed up at Mundi, though in most cases they were renamed. read the whole review

MATT THE ELECTRICIAN
Long Way Home (self-released)

Long Way Home Those of us who've only ever seen Matt the Electrician live would expect his recorded material to be Tom Waits-influenced affairs, but Long Way Home is more Grant Lee Phillips than Waits. The rough edges of Sever's gritty voice have been sanded down in the production (not that they needed to be); its muted tones complement the music's mostly mellow vibe nicely. Sever, who abandoned his day job as an electrician to follow his musical muse, is supported by accomplished local players, including Jud Newcomb and Liz Pappademas on his sweetly spunky fourth album. Not deviating from his lean, spare storytelling, Sever turns in 10 nostalgic tales (some of them tall, to be sure), starring a streaking ugly-duckling-turned-swan ("Valedictorian"), lovers who provide just the right cure for each other ("Half Magic"), and slackers who always mean to get around to reading the canon ("I'm Sorry Hemingway"). The best moments on Long Way Home are the ones in which Sever plumbs the darker side of relationships, familial or otherwise. "Hammer on the Ladder" is a father/son song whose intimacy is almost too private to play: "Hold my hand walking down to the ocean. Pick me up and spin me around or the waves will knock me down. Oh Dad, you carry me," Sever sings to his damaged father, who needs to be held up as often as his son. It's deeply affecting, and, one hopes, a daring new direction for this maturing singer-songwriter. - MELANIE HAUPT

The Austin Chronicle Nov. 5, 2004

JULY-AUGUST 2003

Matt Sever, who re-christened himself Matt the Electrician to explain his appearance when going straight to an Austin, Texas, gig from his day job, has an easy manner and a way with a song and an acoustic guitar on his third album, Made for Working... MtE exhibits David Wilcox's breezy sense of humor and Arlo Guthrie's sense of the absurd/cosmic with flashes of Jerry Jeff Walker and Loudon Wainwright III that clearly shows he knows his place in singer/songwriter history.

Part of the fun of Made for Working is picking out the sly musical references that MtE casually drops into his songs. The ostensible title song, "These Boots; begins "These boots are made for workin’ / That's just what they do / one of these days I'm gonna have to buy some new boots.” In "King of the Losers,” he whistles a bluesy "Whistle While You Work" and then tosses off a piece of Steve Miller's "The Joker" as a coda. Elsewhere, there's tap dancing, Dixieland banjo, some searing electric guitar, a singing saw and a solo acoustic spin on Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl." Somehow it all fits together. Matt the Electrician proves singer/songwriters can be funny without being clowns and thoughtful without being overwrought. - BRIAN BAKER

60	Amplifier 37

MATT THE ELECTRICIAN
Made for Working
self-released

Some singer-songwriter types seem to spring into the world fully formed. Their first set of songs captures our imagination from the get-go and they draw comparisons to Dylan, Costello, Waits or Young. Others need a couple of tries to work out the kinks, taking time to grow and find their muse; then they spring their best work on us.

Matt The Electrician is one of the latter. While on two previous discs he's made some fine music, with Made For Working he's reached a peak. His songs have a childlike quality, a youthful sense of humor that in lesser hands might come off as downright silly. But his wordplay is deceptively sly and, like the best tunesmiths, his melodies are remarkably direct and simple.

Tunes such as "Diaryland", "Milo" and "Little Hands" are filled with lyrical wit and the occasional whistle or banjo. On the album's sole cover song, he converts Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" from a bombastic rocker into a pensive folk song. He may have matured, but you get the sense Matt is never really going to grow up. - JIM CALlGIURI

Matt the Electrician
Home Chez Dre

Matt Sever has pulled off a feat that many other singer-songwriters find impossible. The ballcap-wearing, toolbelt-toting tunesmith better known around Austin's coffeehouses and bars as Matt the Electrician has found a band to match the personality of his songs.

The playing on "Home," Matt's second CD following the mostly acoustic "Baseball Song" album, is playful, light-hearted and bright-eyed, almost always complementing the compositions. Songs like "I'm Not Romeo," a whimsical love song that finds Sever's heart dangling loosely from his sleeve, sound perfectly tender and melancholic thanks to backing by bassist Tom Pearson and Jon Greene. Meanwhile, guitarist Jake Zuckerman helps add ambience to the artier fare, like the statically-charged gem "Radio."

With producer John Croslin also helping out, "Home" not surprisingly offers a Reivers-Iike clarity and adventurousness, while lyrically and vocally recalling old David Garza tracks. All the help hasn't hobbled Matt's charm as a singer and lyricist. Lines like, "The road is my demon lover, and she knows how to rock me like no other," from the touring epic "The Road," sound all the more colorful. This electrician has plugged into a great outlet. - Chris Riemenschneider

MATT THE ELECTRICIAN
Baseball Song
Chez Dre

Matt Sever really is a regular blue-collar type of guy. An electrician by day and a singer-songwriter at night, he'd been knocking around the Austin scene for a couple years when he struck up a friendship with up-and-coming young singer-songwriter Ana Egge. Like almost everyone else who has heard him, Egge was impressed with Matt's simple yet inspiring songs and stories, and introduced him to drummer/producer Dave Sanger of asleep at The Wheel.

Sanger, who performs both those duties on Baseball Song, has captured the innocence of Sever’s music, giving it just enough of a foundation to keep it interesting while retaining its charming glow. Sever’s lyrics capture everyday feelings and situations with a naive, straightforward gracefuIness.

The title track is sure to hit home with true baseball fans: "There's nothing better than sitting out in center field/It's noon and you're drunk like it's midnight/Eleven runs down and there's no one around/ And we're doing the wave, just the two of us." The tune displays a love for the game and a delightful way of viewing life in a way that no else has quite expressed before in song. Most of Baseball Song is similarly direct and entertaining, an impressive debut that makes Matt The Electrician a songwriter to watch. - JIM CALIGIURI

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1998 PAGE 105

Matt The Electrician
Baseball Song

Well, what can you say about a guy who writes a song about baseball and turns it into a love song for his girl? He's obviously a helluva smart guy. George Will would be proud, too. Do one about football and he'll have his butt covered for both seasons.

Man The Electrician is the brainchild of Matt Sever, an Austin-based singer/songwriter and, yes, an electrician. Like all good DIY’ers, he knows it pays to have a good day job to support the music habit. While his voice is a little soft and sensitive he's no navel gazer. If the aforementioned title track doesn't prove it, then check out "Food," which boasts some of the funniest lines on the album but again turns out to be a love song for his girl. This dude's got his racket down. If Tim Allen were a folk-rocker he'd be Man Sever.

Sever is no one trick pony, though. There's no gimmick behind songs like "Life As It Should Be” and "I Remember," just raw, naked emotion. Still, he can't be sensitive for too long so it's on to the "clown shoes and rubber nose" in "Too Late To Change." Handyman by day and hilarious singer/songwriter by night, Matt The Electrician is plugged into one hot socket.

Chez Dre Records
644 NW 17th Street
Corvallis, OR 97330
541-757-1702
Email: chezdre@aol.com
Booking/Info: 512-797-3003

32 Performing Songwriter - May 1999