Matthew Stevens and the Many Meanings of Sound
For guitarist and composer Matthew Stevens, instrumental music is not a fixed statement but an invitation. It leaves room for listeners to bring themselves into the experience, carrying their own memories, moods, and interpretations into the music. That philosophy lies at the heart of Matthew Stevens, the Grammy-winning musician’s new self-titled release, a richly textured collection that feels both deeply personal and deliberately open-ended.
“Instrumental music always does that for me,” Stevens says. “Its ability to meet you where you are at any moment in your day or your life and serve as an empty vessel for whatever you’d like to put into it at that moment is pretty transportative and wonderful.”
That notion of the “empty vessel” may be the key to understanding the album. Rather than directing listeners toward a specific narrative, Stevens creates environments. Some pieces move with a buoyant, almost playful energy; others linger in quieter, more contemplative spaces. The result is a recording that rewards repeated listening because it never seems to mean quite the same thing twice.
Released through Candid Records, the self-titled album arrives after two decades of musical growth and exploration. Stevens approaches the project as something of a mid-career statement. Yet there is little sense of grandiosity. Instead, the record unfolds naturally, balancing acoustic and electric textures, original compositions and carefully chosen interpretations, all connected by Stevens’ understated sense of musical storytelling.
His journey to this point began far from the jazz clubs and recording studios where he now works.
Stevens grew up in Toronto in a household where music was a constant presence. His mother taught ballet, while his father was a schoolteacher and devoted music fan whose record collection became an early source of inspiration. Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, and countless others drifted through the family home.
“There was lots of music in the house,” Stevens recalls. “It was the central part of our household.”
Like many future musicians, his first lessons were not on the instrument that would define his career. He studied piano as a child and eventually struck a bargain with his parents: if he stayed committed through sixth grade, he would receive a guitar as a graduation gift. That instrument changed everything.
At first, Stevens simply wanted to play the music he loved—Nirvana, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Hendrix. Just as important was the communal aspect of music. He wanted to join bands, rehearse with friends, and become part of a creative world larger than himself.
That desire quickly became reality. By his early teens, he was playing Toronto venues with local groups and participating in the city’s thriving Battle of the Bands scene. Looking back, he remembers standing onstage at Toronto’s famed Opera House and realizing that music was not merely an interest but a calling.
“I’m just going to do this,” he remembers thinking. “This is clearly the only thing there is for me to do.”
Toronto also provided access to a vibrant community of professional musicians whose influence extended beyond technique. Stevens cites the city’s jazz scene, along with fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois, as important influences in shaping how he thinks about music and sound.
Eventually, that path led south. After an unexpected scholarship opportunity at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Stevens worked aboard a Carnival cruise ship to earn money before heading to the United States to continue his studies. The experience broadened both his musical and personal horizons, setting the stage for the diverse career that followed.
That diversity is reflected throughout Matthew Stevens. The album features a cast of collaborators that includes longtime friends, mentors, and admired contemporaries. Stevens speaks warmly of percussionist Eric Doob, whom he describes as family, along with co-producer Josh Johnson and a circle of musicians whose contributions grew organically from friendship and mutual respect.
The music itself mirrors those relationships. Nothing feels forced. Some tracks carry a jaunty confidence and forward momentum; others settle into reflective terrain, allowing melodies and textures to breathe. At moments, the album evokes the sophisticated instrumental soundtracks that once accompanied the finest television dramas of the 1970s. Certain passages call to mind the understated cool of Columbo—music that creates atmosphere without stating itself, softly drawing the listener deeper into the scene.
For Stevens, music remains a language uniquely suited to expressing things that resist verbal explanation.
“As an instrumentalist,” he says, “there’s always been the ability to articulate something that I don’t have the words for.”
That sentiment resonates throughout the album. The compositions feel less like declarations than conversations—sometimes searching, sometimes playful, often mysterious. They suggest emotions without naming them and leave enough space for listeners to discover their own meanings.
Perhaps that is what makes Matthew Stevens so compelling. In an era that often prizes certainty and instant interpretation, Stevens embraces ambiguity. His music trusts listeners to complete the journey themselves. The vessel may be empty when the record begins, but by the end it is filled with whatever each listener has chosen to bring along.
Find more details and information here: https://www.mattstevensmusic.com
Matthew Stevens photo was taken by Graham Tolbert.
Brian D’Ambrosio is the author of Troubadour Truths, Truth, Songs, and the Long Way Home. He may be reached at dambrosiobrian@hotmail.com