Today, Reckless Son—the moniker of New York-based musician Matt Butler—releases his much-anticipated self-titled debut album. Listen/share HERE and watch the lyric video for new album track “Just One” HERE.
“Every time I walk into a jail or a prison, I feel afraid. I feel silly for even presuming I have the power to make a difference. But what helps me walk through the fear is the thought that if just one person gets something out of the gig, if just one person connects, feels seen, feels heard, feels a little less alone, then it’s worth it,” Butler explains of “Just One.”
Leading up to the release, Butler shared the album tracks “St. Christopher’s Inn” and “Been Gone So Long.”
The next day, Butler will be performing the entirety of his solo show Reckless Son for the incarcerated men of the Chesterfield County Jail in Virginia, followed by a workshop and talkback that will be live streamed on Facebook and other social media platforms. Watch a video the inmates have shared via TikTok in anticipation of the forthcoming visit.
Butler recently sat down with NPR’s “Morning Edition” for an extended conversation. Listen to the interview HERE and read more HERE. Listen to Butler’s recent performance on nationally syndicated “Live Wire Radio” HERE.
Butler has performed everywhere from Ohio’s Chillicothe Correctional Institution to Utah’s Gunnison Prison and the New York City Department of Corrections facilities on Riker’s Island. Having performed over 150 concerts in jails and prisons across the country, Butler shares the songs he writes along the way and the stories of the people who inspired them. More than just a show, Reckless Son acts as a calling, service, and pledge to “bring healing through the arts to those behind the walls,” Butler says.
“I've never been the kind of writer who just sits down and writes a love song,” Butler says. “I’ve always been drawn to deeper, darker, more intense subject matter.”
“Reckless Son wasn’t written for the incarcerated. It was written for those who haven’t had the privilege of meeting these people and hearing their stories for themselves,” he explains. “The show is as faithful a rendering of the truth of my experience as I can offer. The people in jail know their own story already. Reckless Son is more about getting that story heard.”
