The late Matt Long was a phenomenon. As lead singer and guitarist with Catfish and The Revenant Ones he was held by many as the potential breakthrough artist of British Blues. He had won many awards in the Blues communities, notably he was named Instrumentalist of the Year two years running in the UK Blues Awards. When he died, of cancer at the ridiculous age of 29, the outpouring of grief in the Blues community was remarkable for its spontaneity and honestness.
After his diagnosis, a number of benefit concerts were held, the proceeds going to raise funds for treatment not available on the NHS, featuring a great many of the artists featured on the album. These concerts raised over £100k. Following his death, a musician friend of the Long family, Dudley Ross (who has a close connection with Josh Smith, Joe Bonamassa's second guitarist) suggested approaching Matt's idol Joe Bonamassa to see if he would play a guitar solo on one of Matt's original songs. Joe had met Matt several times and had sent messages of support for the benefit gigs, and the Longs were delighted when he agreed. It then occurred to Matt's mum that it might be worth expanding this from a single track to an EP or. maybe an album by asking some of the artists who had been kind enough to support Matt at the benefit gigs if they would also like to take one of Matt's original songs and make it their own for the project. She was overwhelmed when every one of them agreed, and the album quickly became a double vinyl.
The sheer range of artists contributing to this album, all of whom have a history with Matt, is breathtaking. Joe Bonamassa and Walter Trout on two tracks, which both retain Matt’s vocal. Elles Bailey, Paul Jones, The Cinelli Brothers, Blue Nation, Sean Webster, When Rivers Meet, Brave Rival, Will Wilde, Zac Schulze, Alice Armstrong, Dom Martin, Chantel McGregor, Katie Bradley and his best friend from music college who is now a vocalist with metal band Avantasia, Adrienne Cowan. There are also guitar solos from two of Matt’s guitar tutors from the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Nic Meier (Jeff Beck Band) and Nat Martin (Toyah, Robert Fripp).
All the songs – bar the title track – were written by Matt and a number feature Matt’s vocals or guitar.
The opening track on the album ‘Broken Man’ has Matt’s vocals and a guitar solo from Joe Bonamassa, Joe being an old friend of the Long family through his connections with Paul Long who was Producer on the Paul Jones Blues Show on BBC Radio.
Matt had a long friendship and musical history with Alice Armstrong (who also designed the cover artwork), working together as a duo and also playing in her band. Her version of ‘Archangel’, which Matt wrote for his grandmother, is deeply emotional and highly charged – the video features many candid moments of Matt.
Matt had a great love for the Blues as well as Metal, and the songs he wrote reflected his tastes. However, one of the things that sets this album apart – and in many ways makes it more playable repeatedly – is that every artist has brought something of themselves to the music, finding new ways to bring out the quality of the songwriting – and Matt was a superb songwriter, equalling his prowess as a guitarist, vocalist and charismatic frontman. For example, Dom Martin takes ‘So’, originally envisaged as a metal number, and plays it as a solo acoustic number with all the emphasis on Long’s words – as far as possible from the original vision and chilling in its depth and meaning.
Unlike most tribute albums, this one actually bears up to multiple listens. The range of music holds together because of the quality of the songs, and the performances are excellent throughout. Losing Matt at such a young age is awful but the whole album is a genuine tribute to his talent as well as the way he was thought of in the community.
The album is available for presale here or at https://linktr.ee/MattLongTributeAlbum
All profits will go to Royal Surrey Hospital Cancer Centre
A tribute show is coming up on Sun 17 May at the Harlingtonin Fleet, featuring a number of the artists who appear on the album.
