New Jersey's best kept secret is about to make some noise. Over the past few years, The Matt O'Ree Band has done what most area bands do. They've played their shows, developed their sound, released their records and very quietly built a local fan base in the process.
What makes this band different from all the others is that their local fan base includes Bruce Springsteen, David Bryan and John Popper (all of whom have volunteered to perform on the band's last album several years ago) which broke the band globally. Bruce Springsteen contributed vocals and lead guitar on O'Ree's song "Black Boots" and David Bryan from Bon Jovi co-wrote and produced the album's second single and played on numerous other songs on the record.
Matt's talent was finally recognized globally when he got the nod to join rock legends Bon Jovi as one of their touring guitarists on a stadium tour a few years ago. When some of your biggest contributors and supports have sold a collective 240 million units, you know you might be on the right track. LOL...
Matt has also been recognized by the industry as a great guitar player. He won a guitar contest hosted by BB King and John Mayer through Guitar Center and Guitar World Magazine. Matt beat out over 4,000 guitar players in that competition to win him the grand prize, multiple guitars and an endorsement from Gibson guitars, shopping sprees with Guitar Center and a car from Scion. This major accomplishment really sparked his career and the momentum for the future of the band.
“It was one of those moments when after all those years of slugging it out, I felt like I finally got someplace,” O’Ree said of Guitarmageddon. “It was a great moment. It was like, wow, I finally accomplished something. Getting to meet B.B. King was fantastic!” And with that honor came another notable occurrence. O’Ree, who owns over 30 guitars, received an endorsement of world class Gibson guitars, makers of the Les Paul model, Matt’s guitar of choice.
Growing up on influencers ranging from Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rory Gallagher, ZZ Top, Robin Trower, Joe Walsh and Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Matt O'Ree Band has taken all these diverse elements and forged a new iron.
Matt's writing is inspired from many life experiences and years of study from the ones who have written the book on how to play real guitar rock music. Not as a photocopy, but in a new light that hasn't been seen in quite some time. Now is the time for real music and real musicianship to make a resurrection.
