Matt and Shannon Heaton

Matt and Shannon Heaton

Guitarist-singer Matt Heaton and Irish flute player-singer Shannon Heaton have been playing music together since 1992, although the two did not begin to focus their creative energies on their duo until 2003. Since then, they have released four albums. Their latest is a collection of traditional love songs and tunes entitled Lovers Well.

Kathy Sands-Boehmer recently posed questions to Matt and Shannon.

Matt and Shannon Heaton are two of the most innovative and creative musicians in the Boston Irish music scene. They can be seen and heard all around the area and have cultivated quite a loyal following of fans. More information can be found at www.mattandshannonheaton.com.

You’ve been reviewed in Sing Out! magazine as combining “lilt and contemporary sensibility.” For me, that’s a perfect description of what you do with your music. Do you feel that it’s a fair assessment of your own little niche of traditional yet modern Irish music?

MATT: Who are we to argue! Seriously though, we do try to strike a balance. We respect the Irish tradition, and have been quite immersed in it for a while, but we’re both Americans, and pretending otherwise seems phony. We don’t go out of our way to “Americanize” our music; but if influences of other things creep in, we don’t shun them either.

Do you recall the first time that you knew you were destined to play music for a living? Was there one magical moment or was it just the fact that you worked hard at your music and it was a given that you’d be playing it, not just for yourself and your own enjoyment, but for others?

MATT: I always assumed I would do it. My father is a musician, and I think from an early age I saw that it was doable. One moment of confirmation I had was years ago, I decided that the income was too dicey, and I thought I’d take a part time job. I got a job at a bagel store. I did the training, worked a shift or two, it was fine. Dull, but fine. Then came the day when they posted the schedule for the next week, and I was supposed to be in at 5:30 am for three days to open. I realized then & there that I didn’t respond well to having a boss! So despite the obvious difficulties, the musician’s life suits me. And of course, the bonus is that I share that life with Shannon.

Matt, has the bouzouki always been used in Irish music or is that a fairly recent development? Many people are more familiar with it as a mainstay of Greek music. . . .

MATT: It’s a fairly recent development. The “Irish Bouzouki” is basically a very big mandolin: flat back & four sets of strings. This gives it more low end & sustain. It really doesn’t closely resemble the Greek bouzouki.

Have you had opportunities to play in Ireland? If so, do you have any cool anecdotes about your shows there?

MATT: We have, in a few different settings. One of the weirdest was actually not our gig. We went to see a concert in the town of Tulla. A lot of our friends were going, and we got a ride with our buddy Pat. After the show, everyone went to the pub across the street — except Pat, as he had a long standing feud with the owner. Out of solidarity, we went with him to the “other pub” and played some lovely tunes, really memorable stuff. The oldest barman in the world, 3 piece suit and took about 15 minutes to pour a pint. After we finished, we assumed we could get a lift back home with someone from the other pub. Trouble was, the other pub was locked in (they close the doors so no one new can come in) and we couldn’t get a hold of anyone. We didn’t have an Irish cell phone, and were basically stuck in this tiny town with no clue how to get back. We found a phone booth, which was good, since it started raining. We called a cab, and when he arrived, turns out the driver was the box player we had been playing with all week, so it worked out ok. It was a memorable night. . . .

Shannon, you have had a fascinating life with many adventures abroad where you very clearly absorbed many of the rich folk traditions you witnessed. Can you think of one pivotal point in which you felt inspired to take what you experienced and put your own creativity into action by transforming it into something totally new?

SHANNON: What a sweet question! When I was eight years old, I organized a neighborhood recital called “Sounds of P Street.” It was an evening of music from our very diverse neighborhood in Nsukka, Nigeria, and featured me on recorder, Patrick Nwoza on the melotone, Ejiofor with an unaccompanied Igbo song, Hugette Brasine on piano, and Wolfgang Bosse on trumpet.

For my part, I played the Nigerian National Anthem (on the recorder), into some Mozart piece, into some improvised business. Organizing this concert (and my own part of it) was a very direct way of assimilating all the things that were happening in my life. Music has always felt like a fun and manageable project, where other things can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming!

Like many of us, Kathy Sands-Boehmer wears many hats. An editor by profession, she also operates Harbortown Music and books artists for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, Massachusetts. In her spare time, Kathy can be found at local music haunts all over New England. This and many previous Q & A interviews with performing artists are archived at www.meandthee.org/blogtxp/. This and future ones also will be archived here on AcousticMusicScene.com.