Matthew Carefully Leads Pack of Upstaters On the Move

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Upstate New York is not limited to its references in anti-Soda tax ads and its abundance of farms offering up goods at Green Market. There is a budding music scene, and while it may be a slower paced, more tightly knit and networked community of artists, concerned with the lives of their fans (who double as friends) over the fastest route to Pitchfork, this makes it all the better.

Going to college in Saratoga Springs as a music lover allows for its gripes. It is three hours north of the city and home to the oldest horse racing track in the country, which means bigger acts make it to Albany and smaller bands sometimes follow suit, but compared to New York City, your show cravings could hardly be considered fulfilled. As wallowing so often does, it took almost all four years of school to realize what had been there the whole time: artists with a sound and community decidedly their own — and amen to that.

A prime example of this would be Phantogram, who recently signed to Barsuk, were featured on NPR and will be on tour with The XX in June. That’s the beauty of blowing up, however, which doesn’t come without putting in the proper time back home. And what a treat when that home includes Caffè Lena, the country’s oldest continuously operating coffee house (it’s celebrating its 50th anniversary this year) and site of performances by the likes of Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie and Emmylou Harris, to name a few.

Last night, it featured a local staple in his own right, Matthew Loiacono. Now performing solo under the moniker Matthew Carefully, he earned his capital region cred in fan favorite Kamikaze Hearts, though I’ve always preferred to think of him as the friendly guy with the fro who I often ran into at the coffee shop. He is the quintessential Upstate performer, developing a loyal and enthusiastic fan base with local performances, his encouragement of fellow artists and a weekly email that goes well beyond personalized press release.

“The Weekly Wahhh,” which is faithfully delivered to followers’ inboxes every Wednesday, became a testament to the positive power still to be found in the internet when used as it should be: a vehicle for community building (which these days is too often confused as a synonym for marketing). As part of the weekly email, Matthew offers a song or video of new or previously unreleased material, meaning that after 70 some odd weeks, the well was justifiably running dry. Since the material was a thank you to subscribers, why not take that a step further and allow them to become a part of the actual creative process? Hence the note issued last fall via the “Wahhh” calling for fans to send in their “feelings, ideas, sounds, lyrics, thoughts, pictures, challenges, or whatever they’d like” for Matthew to translate into song.

And the ideas certainly came, with the abundance and skill to allow Matthew material enough for a complete album. As the songs were revealed each week, along with their inspiration, it became clear that something groundbreaking was at work. This was not some jealous mob eager to earn credit (or capital) for their suggestions; it was a group of people brought closer together by their connection to these songs — the ultimate goal of music realized on a tangible level. And the resulting record is as refreshing as the concept behind it, full of Matthew’s takes on ideas that range from “a description of things Rick Moody could see from his desk” to Poughkeepsie… and its status as muse.

It is an eclectic mix of songs worthy of a listen, even if just to prove to one’s self that music isn’t solely the stuff of blog fodder, though it’d be difficult not to find yourself hooked on the tunes in their own right. Community Balloon is proof that the rest of the world still cares about each other — and its homegrown talent — even if Brooklyn doesn’t (remember kids, exploiting your friends’ musical efforts for the purpose of scene points doesn’t count as support). The album is officially released June 1st on Collar City, but you can get a sneak peak (and order a copy of your own) here.