The Songwriting Journey with Matt Kilough: Denver, the South, Nashville and Influences

In this reflective conversation, singer-songwriter Matt Killough shares about his transition from living in Denver to returning to the South and how it ignited his songwriting process.

Matt, who currently lives in Nashville, has family ties in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The podcast discusses influences for his first album, including traditional American roots music and British folk artists. The focus is heavily on his storytelling approach to songwriting and how his Southern heritage played a role in his first album's creation. Matt also opens up about his struggle with performance anxiety and how it contrasts with his passion for writing and recording music. In closing, the host compares Matt's struggles to themes shown in the series 'Ted Lasso' as they discuss the power of belief and confidence in their respective fields.

00:10 Introduction and Background

01:36 Meeting Matt Killough: A Journey Through Music

02:47 The 30A Songwriters Festival Experience

05:56 Exploring Musical Influences and Inspirations

12:19 The Making of the First Album

18:11 Deep Dive into Song Lyrics and Stories

26:26 Facing Challenges and Future Aspirations

34:02 Reflections on Ted Lasso and Personal Growth

37:04 Closing Remarks and Performance

You gotta

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understand too, coming from Denver, back

to the South, I mean, when I left for

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Denver, I'd been living in Atlanta and

Athens, which weren't, they're not exactly

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small towns, at least not anymore,

and, it had been a long time since I had

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actually lived in the rural, South or been

and spent any time in the rural South.

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It was all school for me, and then

I left and went out West, and that

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return, you know, sort of to the

Southeast, and all the culture.

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All those things that you think you

hate, you don't realize how much

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you miss them until you move away.

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Coming back really, helped

the songwriting process.

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It was, it was magic for me.

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Jason English (Host): Today, we're

spending time with Matt Kilo, who

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currently lives in Nashville, but

can claim Florida, Georgia, and

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Alabama as part of his heritage.

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Matt is a great example of why I wanted to

do this podcast to meet interesting people

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who have fascinating stories to tell.

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I hope you find that's the case

in my conversation with him.

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Since speaking with him at the 38th

Songwriters Festival in Florida,

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Matt was recognized by Nashville

scene as one of 10 artists to watch.

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It's recognition well deserved,

and I'm sure there will be more

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in the coming months and years.

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We covered a bunch of

topics, including sources of

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inspiration for his first album.

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And just wait until you hear some

of that, as well as his borderline

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obsession with British folk artists.

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It's not every day you meet someone

from the Deep South who can also

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go deep on someone like Nick Drake.

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Grateful that Matt played some songs

too, including Birds of Crenshaw County,

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off that first album, which we hear

a lot about, but also an unreleased

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tune called Poor Prometheus, a nod to

Matt's interest in Greek mythology.

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If you enjoy the episode, please give

Matt a follow on Instagram and Spotify.

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His last name is spelled K

I L L O U G H let's dive in.

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I'm talking with Matt Killough

down here at the 30A Songwriter

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Music Festival in Florida.

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Matt, thanks for your time.

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Matthew Killough: time.

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Ah, very welcome.

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Glad to be here.

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Jason English (Host): Is this

your first year playing at the

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Matthew Killough: This is, yeah.

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Never, never been down

here for this before.

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Jason English (Host): But

you've been to the area, right?

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Matthew Killough: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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We, uh, like I say, my hometown's

only about a, maybe two and

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a half hour drive from here.

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So we were down here all the time.

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My mom learned to water ski in the bay,

and my dad used to come down here all

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the time, water skiing with his buddies.

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Our families, used to spend a

lot of time, you know, three,

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four trips a year probably.

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That's

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Jason English (Host):

Yeah, it's a nice area.

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Today's not so much, but,

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Matthew Killough: yeah,

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Jason English (Host):

This festival is crazy.

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We were here last year just, as

fans and, it's just different.

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Cause there's what, like

30 venues, 175 artists.

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How did you get involved?

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Matthew Killough: To be honest,

I wasn't that familiar with it,

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but my best friend's parents live

down here now and they've been

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pushing me to do it for years.

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And, , and this year

they, his father sent.

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Sent some of my music and an album review

to the guys that organized the thing

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and they essentially said they'd take

me if I applied, he forwarded me that

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email and, essentially put it in my lap

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Jason English (Host): (laughing)

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know,

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Matthew Killough: I couldn't,

couldn't turn him down on that

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after he did all the leg work,

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,

Jason English (Host): That's amazing

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Matthew Killough: I'm glad I did it,

like it's, it's been great thus far.

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Jason English (Host): it.

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The number of artists that are down

here, is really good I guess do you plan

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to make connections, like I say, with

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Matthew Killough: you know, as

much as we can, like you say, with

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the weather and everything else.

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And then today I've been kind of tied up.

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But it's funny, I know the

guy that's playing after me

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at the Hilton, Tim Easton.

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He's a Nashville guy.

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Um, and I've I've run into

him several times around town.

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And, I know some other

folks that are down here.

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You know, I feel, I feel like half the

people that are here probably living

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in Nashville and in some capacity,

but, yeah, much as I can, I'd

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like to, and we'll definitely be

out, out and about more tomorrow.

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Have some more free time.

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Your

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Jason English (Host): Your backstory,

can you just give us some headlines,

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you know, where you're from?

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It sounds like you live in Nashville now.

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Matthew Killough: I was born in,

Tallahassee, Florida, but my, my parents

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at the time were living in Bainbridge,

Georgia, which is a tiny little town,

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sort of in the Southwest corner, right

near the Alabama and Florida borders.

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My dad and my mom were both from

South Alabama and he moved over.

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To Bainbridge to take a coaching

job and, he's a teacher, till

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he retired a few years back.

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I went to high school in Bainbridge,

went to a small college, there, and

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then, then went up to UGA after that

and, , graduated, , lived in Athens for

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a while, lived in Atlanta, went to Emory

for grad school, was there for about

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three, three and a half years, and then

after that I moved to Denver and I was in

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Denver for 12, And I moved to Nashville

in '18, , and I've been there ever since.

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Most of my family, almost all of them

are from, Alabama, either Silicoga.

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Talladega area or South Alabama

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So,

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Jason English (Host): how

long have you been into music?

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Did that start pretty, early?

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Matthew Killough: well,

always loved music.

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I didn't really pick up a guitar until

my middle brother brought one home.

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I think they had one sitting

in the band room at the high

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school that nobody was using.

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One of Ben's friends had said, Hey,

you know, you should start playing.

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He brought it home, tried it

for a little while, and just

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didn't, didn't pick it up again.

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But I kept messing around with it.

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Kind of grew from there really slowly.

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High school, I played here and there, but

I was mostly into electric stuff like most

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kids are, you know, it's rock and roll.

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College, I really started getting

more into the acoustic stuff.

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I was a big Led Zeppelin fan and it's

those kind of British folk tunes,

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you know, those acoustic numbers,

uh, and the altered tunings between

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the really big heavy songs that

Jimmy Page does that, captivated me.

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And when I heard him playing that

kind of stuff, it's like, man, I

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have to know how he's doing this.

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And it took me forever to figure out

that it wasn't in standard tuning.

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So I was trying to make it

work and it just wouldn't.

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And it was so frustrating.

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But, from there, it's like,

you know, you just start.

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Kind of getting into the other British

folk guys, Bert Yanch and, early John

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Martin and, some of those guys, Nic Jones

has been a big one for me here lately,

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and Roy Harper and, guys like that, Robin

Williamson from Incredible String Band.

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I don't know if you've

ever listened to his early

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Jason English (Host): Oh, wow.

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Matthew Killough: but, uh, blew my mind.

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He plays in this weird C minor tuning.

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It sounds so witchy.

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It's, it's very, uh, very

strange, but I don't know.

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That's the stuff that really kind

of made me want to put down an

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electric and pick up an acoustic.

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And I sort of haven't been back really.

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Jason English (Host): Are you

familiar with Nick Drake at all?

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Matthew Killough: Dude.

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Love him, found out about

him in college, Pink Moon

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was on a car commercial,

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Jason English (Host): then, yeah,

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Matthew Killough: and yeah, he had this

huge resurgence, and, then he was on, I

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went to watch Garden State when I was in

grad school with a girlfriend of mine,

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and they had a Nick Drake song, there

too, and so it's just always kind of

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away by what he was doing.

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Um, nobody else sounds like that,

you know, and he uses more open

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tunings than anybody I've ever seen.

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Every song he does is in a different

tuning, I can't imagine sitting there

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watching him live because most of

the show would have been him turning

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pegs, you know, but, um, but he's

great and I've tried to mess around

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with some of his stuff and it is.

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Endlessly frustrating like he's a

virtuoso, and I don't I don't even

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know I wouldn't know where to start

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Jason English (Host): I don't know if

I've even heard someone try to cover him

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Matthew Killough: if you get on

YouTube There's English guys that do

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it like they can play it note for note.

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There's a guy from Indiana Josh Turner.

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I think is his name he Has played

more, , Nick Drake songs, covered

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more on YouTube than anybody I've seen.

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And he plays them note for note.

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I think he was a music major, in college.

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But, it's not easy.

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It's really not.

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There's another guy.

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Chris Brain is his name, and he's from

Leeds area, I think, and he sounds,

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similar, in a way, to Nick Drake on

some of the stuff that he does, and he's

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covered a lot of Nick Drake stuff, you

know, just on YouTube, but, yeah, you

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should check those out if you haven't seen

them, it's, uh, it's crazy to see it in

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Jason English (Host): out if you haven't

seen them, tell me about Athens, obviously

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thats a famous hub to see it in person.

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Well, it's funny, what kind

of influence did that have

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Matthew Killough: well, it's funny, when

I When I first showed up there, all I

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cared about was post punk, you know?

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I mean, I was kind of in the moment

and Zeppelin and the Stones and, there

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was this Zeppelin cover band called

Zoso and they may still be around.

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I tried to catch them in Denver

one time and it sold out.

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You know, uh, that far away.

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I couldn't believe it, but in the

Southeast they had a dedicated

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following and I was there for every

show they played, no matter what,

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even if I was alone, I was going,

then there was a cover band when

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I was there called sticky fingers.

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That was a pretty good stones cover band.

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But, uh, other than that, though,

I was on, I, I roomed with a guy

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from my hometown that first summer,

and he had a fairly extensive.

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Cable plan and he had VH1 classic

and at the time they were playing old

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school like post punk bands like split

ends and some of the stuff from The

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Cure, Suzie and the Banshees you know

stuff like that and I Would sit on the

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couch all day and watch that stuff.

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At the time You know old B 52s

and REM and all that stuff living

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there was almost Almost cliche,

but now, if I find a jukebox, a

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lot of times that's what I put on.

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But, uh, yeah, I wish

I'd had more time there.

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I, had this kind of life pivot,

this changing moment, where I

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was sitting in this Kaplan class

trying to get ready for the MCAT.

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And It was right across the

street from the Georgia theater.

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And I saw these people lining up

for these shows day after day.

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And I was just absolutely despondent,

you know, like, what am I doing here?

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And it made me so sad.

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And I finally, the end of the summer,

right as I was getting ready to take the

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test, I burn out and I got over it and

I had to call my parents and say, look.

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I'm sorry, I don't think I can do this.

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And they were very patient,

alright, we understand, you know.

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But you gotta, you gotta come up with

something else, because there's three

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kids coming behind you that we have to, we

have to help, that was kind of that, one

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of those moments I wanted to, you know,

to physician assistant school instead.

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It probably salvaged my sanity,

kept me from going off the

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Jason English (Host): off the deep

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Matthew Killough: Uh, and allowed.

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Time for music, because, you're talking

about eight years of med school at least.

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I don't know if I'd have, uh, I

don't know if I'd have had any

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music left in me if I'd done that.

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Jason English (Host): That's a

lot, tell us about your album

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Matthew Killough: Man, that's,

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Jason English (Host): the

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Matthew Killough: the thing about first

albums is, you know, they say you have

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your entire life to write your first one.

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You know, you've got years and years and

years, and it's Sort of a compilation

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of everything that you've done up to

that point and you just pick what you

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want You know, whatever fits I guess

It's that second one that gets you,

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you know where you're on a timetable.

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It's like, all right Well, can you

really come up with other material or

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pick some material that you have before,

you know Have you got enough left?

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For me it was that album is a

combination of songs that I wrote when

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I was in Denver, which just a couple

of them, weren't many of those left.

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And then, songs that I wrote, when

I first, moved to, Nashville and,

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my sister and her husband live near

Talladega, they live in Pell city.

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Her husband,

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My brother in law, Zach, he worked

on a hunting preserve and like a clay

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course, you know, so every time I

went down there to see him, I would

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spend all day out there with him.

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It was so much fun.

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Just, even if he was doing maintenance

stuff or whatever, and occasionally

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they'd let me get out and shoot

and, there were people that he

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worked with that were a lot of fun.

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I went fishing with them several times

a lot of those interactions and that

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setting really fed into, the album and it

became, kind of a origin story, I guess,

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with, my family and, where we were.

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Where we had lived and, all that stuff,

how my parents were brought up and

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what I had been through and all that.

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And it just came together really

well, those, you know, times visiting

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them, in Sylacauga and Talladega.

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Really sort of cemented

the whole thing for me.

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And there's, old cemeteries.

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We went off in the woods.

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I mean, this place, and he

had to ask around about it.

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It was so overgrown.

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It was off the side of the road.

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You can't see any of it, but

after, hacking through all this

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vegetation and everything else, you

get to these old stones, you know,

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they're only about that tall and.

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you know, really small.

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But yeah, there's people with my

last name, buried back in the woods.

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This used to be a cemetery and,

it's just stuff like that, all

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that sort of in a new light for me,

really brought it to the forefront

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and it made it, made it easy, man.

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It came, all of it came

together really well,

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Jason English (Host):

And it's called, uh, Oslo

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Matthew Killough: Siloam, yeah.

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And yeah, Siloam is a Siloam Baptist

Church, or like they say down there,

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they say Siloam, but um, Siloam Baptist

Church, which is in South Alabama, and

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there's a cemetery there with a bunch

of, my relatives buried, in it, and so

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it's kind of an important spot for us.

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My dad always talked about it, it's

just, my great grandfather was the one or

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great, great grandfather was the one to

move from central Alabama, you know, sort

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of hill country down to south Alabama.

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We think it was because he was

farming and the land was cheaper,

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but you know, uh, all bets are off.

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Like there's, there's no telling.

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Jason English (Host): you know, you

said it's pretty easy to come together,

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was the songwriting the easy part

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Matthew Killough: Well, to be honest,

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You gotta

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understand too, coming from Denver, back

to the South, I mean, when I left for

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Denver, I'd been living in Atlanta and

Athens, which weren't, they're not exactly

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small towns, at least not anymore,

and, it had been a long time since I had

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actually lived in the rural, South or been

and spent any time in the rural South.

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It was all school for me, and then

I left and went out West, and that

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return, you know, sort of to the

Southeast, and all the culture.

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All those things that you think you

hate, you don't realize how much

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you miss them until you move away.

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Coming back really, helped

the songwriting process.

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It was, it was magic for me.

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The other thing about moving, back

to the Southeast and Nashville in

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particular is that you are hit.

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With all this traditional music, you

know, as soon as you hit city limits.

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And, when I moved there, I

was more traditional country.

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I mean, that was what we

were listening to out West.

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And they had a good scene

for that, in Denver.

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But when I was in the process of moving

to Nashville, I started doing more finger

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style stuff, you know, listening to.

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Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark and

some of Steve Earle's stuff and, Willis

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Allen Ramsey who was a big inspiration

for me on this particular album.

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That album was supposed to be my

Willis Allen Ramsey album and it

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came out way too hillbilly for that.

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But, it made me want to play.

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more involved guitar instead of just,

sitting up there strumming three

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chords and the truth like you do with

traditional country a lot of the time.

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I started turning a corner there and then

the longer I've been in Nashville, the

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more I've sort of gotten away from that

and kind of come in full circle and headed

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back towards these British folk guys

and open tunings and all that, that I, I

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liked so much when I was in, in school,

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So yeah, it's been a, it's been a

neat trip, all things considered.

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I'm

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Jason English (Host): I got to say,

Matt, when I first connected with

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you a few weeks ago and listening to

your songs and this album, I was so

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excited to meet you because on one

hand, your, your voice is familiar for

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some reason, and the melodies and the

tunes are familiar, but it's so unique.

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It's like you're this

like combination of Jimmy

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Matthew Killough: I

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Jason English (Host): Dwight Yoakam,

you know, and like whoever, I

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mean, it's just, it's so different.

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Yeah.

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I mean, it, it really, it really is.

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And I, what I'd like to do is, spend a

couple of minutes on some of these songs.

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Matthew Killough: of

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Jason English (Host): I've got

some of the lyrics and, we'll

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start with the opening track.

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It's called birds of Crenshaw County.

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I'm going to read a few of the lyrics

and if you could just expand on, the

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backstory and whatnot, I think maybe it's,

it's part of this, origin story that

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you mentioned too, about your family.

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These are, these are incredible lines.

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So it's birds of Crenshaw

County and it goes like this.

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Me and Hazel Carver Jenkins

barreling down a County road.

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Towards the beaver pond grocery

living fast and flying low

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and Hazel's cradling a pistol.

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She's looking like a bird of prey

in a town full of buzzards spinning

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around waiting on judgment day.

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And it gets better.

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Actually, the next verse is, I've

listened to this so many times.

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I'm like, where in the

world does this come from?

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The old man and his lady were

living in a room around the back

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around the 4th of every July.

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They made all the money they could stack.

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On Black Cats and Roman Candles,

folks raining fire all over town,

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people here in Crenshaw County love

to see a pretty thing burn out.

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Matthew Killough: Yeah,

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Jason English (Host):

in the world does that

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Matthew Killough: all right.

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So, um, so Crenshaw County, if you

drive down here from Nashville, you

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go through there and, let's see, Lou

Verne is, I think maybe the county seat.

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I'm not sure.

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Brantley,

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and then Brundage is in there too.

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But, um, tiny little area,

not, not a whole lot going on.

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Really small little towns, but that's

where, my great grandparents essentially

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and my great great grandparents set up

and they have a little house, not far

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from Lou Verne that's still standing.

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It's condemned, but they still

own the land and everything there.

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That was their, stomping ground.

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And my great uncle Homer was his name.

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, he.

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Jason English (Host): had this little

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Matthew Killough: general store, and it

was called a Beaver Pond Grocery and it's,

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I could not tell you exactly where it was.

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I know it's since been taken down.

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When I was a kid, some of my earliest

memories walking in this place he and

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My great aunt both chewed tobacco,

and they had spittoons in the house.

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And there was always a space heater

on full blast around Christmastime,

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and they'd have football on TV.

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But they lived, like, in a Their house

was essentially attached to the store.

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Like, it was part of the store,

and so they just lived in the back.

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And they always gave me Firecrackers.

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Like, that was the thing they'd

send me home with, you know.

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A lot of that, comes from, from them.

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Now, the part about the buzzards.

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My hometown, Bainbridge,, over

the past several years, I guess,

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has become a buzzard roost.

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And I don't know why.

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These things, I had a video on my

phone, I should have saved it the

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last time I was home for Christmas.

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I mean, they fly around in clouds, and

if anything, anything is dead, anywhere

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in town, you can pinpoint exactly where,

because these things, I mean, just

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in droves, and there's a water tower.

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And you can pass by the water tower on

the bypass or whatever and look up and

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they're all perched completely surrounding

this thing and they're just sitting

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there, you know, and I thought, you know,

it's like they're passing judgment on

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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Seriously.

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But,

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Matthew Killough: uh, but that's, you

know, and some of that small town people

385

to, can, can be a little judgy sometimes,

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Jason English (Host): so who, who's Hazel?

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Matthew Killough: you know,

I honestly just made her up.

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Hey, yeah, I don't know why, but

I always loved the name Hazel.

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And, I'm big on rhyme and

meter, and making sure everything

390

matches or trying to anyway.

391

And Hazel Carver Jenkins just made sense,

but yeah, the whole thing is about.

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You know, like I say, an

attempted robbery and, the actual,

393

the robbery never happened.

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,

Jason English (Host): yeah, it's, it was like, it's like a Bonnie and Clyde sort

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Matthew Killough: exactly right.

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Yeah, and it just sort of

came together that way.

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But, uh, but yeah, I think I had the,

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to,

399

think I

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I

401

had the riff first.

402

And if you listen to Willis Allen

Ramsey's only done one album and

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it's legendary, especially among.

404

The Americana crowd.

405

You talk to anybody, Kelly Willis,

any of these other folks, around

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here, and bring up his name, they

will have plenty to tell you.

407

There's a song he does called Satin

Sheets, which Waylon Jennings ended

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up covering, you know, uh, a bunch of

the stuff from his album, that album,

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bunch of those songs got covered.

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I think almost every song on

there, Anyway, I think the riff,

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comes from listening to Satin

Sheets, because he plays that in

412

Open G and I always loved, Open G.

413

So, but yeah, I had the riff first

and then, just started writing

414

down the story as it came to

415

me.

416

Jason English (Host): I

mean, it's incredible.

417

Matthew Killough: Well, thank

you, it was fun to write, that

418

wasn't one of the difficult ones

419

Yeah.

420

Jason English (Host): What

about, is it Calcimine

421

Matthew Killough: So calcimine is, it's

sort of a type of, uh, like whitewash.

422

That used to be used a lot more often.

423

Nowadays, we don't use it because we

have latex paints, a lot tougher, but.

424

I, the first house we lived in,

my roommate and I in Nashville,

425

East Nashville, had a dirt

cellar, down below the house.

426

And I had a motorcycle and I would

keep the motorcycle down in the

427

dirt cellar and I'd work out down

there sometimes and stuff like that.

428

So I spent a lot of time down there

and they had buckets of paint,

429

you know, just spare paint sitting

up, on these shelves on the wall.

430

And one of them.

431

The shade of it was called calcimine blue,

and so I looked it up, found out, oh,

432

calcimine is this pale color, blue, it's

like whitewash, but it's like sky blue,

433

and the living room was painted that

color in that house, and it's just

434

sort of sitting there in that house.

435

Day after day, on my days off, like

trying to write, and that color was always

436

there, that just sort of materialized.

437

Jason English (Host): So these, stories

from your, kind of the family heritage,

438

are you trying to convey a meaning?

439

Is there a, is there a lesson here

or are they just kind of stories that

440

Matthew Killough: not really.

441

I just, uh, like you say, especially

back then, just loved telling a good

442

story, I was never one of those people.

443

A lot of my favorite bands, the

post punk bands and a lot of

444

the English folk guys, they wrote

445

Some of them in these abstract

terms and I'm sure you've

446

heard the quote before that

447

the

448

the best poetry is You know open

to interpretation, you know by

449

the reader and I'm paraphrasing

450

Right.

451

I wanted to write more like that man,

but I was just so linear, you know,

452

and So stories just made sense to me,

like it just, that's the direction I

453

ended up sort of getting pushed in.

454

But,

455

Jason English (Host): getting.

456

What's the story behind Calcimine Blue,

457

Matthew Killough: man, that's an,

I think that's an ex girlfriend

458

song, , and that was, was, it

wasn't really much of a relationship.

459

It was an infatuation, really,

that, I tried desperately to date

460

this girl for three weeks or so.

461

It just didn't work out.

462

And, this is really nobody's fault,

but it took me forever to get over that.

463

She was just, I just knew she

was the one, she was the fish

464

that got away, the big one.

465

And, for years it bothered me.

466

And I blame myself, but then

eventually, you know how things fade,

467

and you almost begin to miss that.

468

It's like, oh, all this, these

terrible feelings and all that

469

is as crazy as that may seem.

470

It's like as soon as they start

to fade, you begin to, wait

471

a minute, where'd that go?

472

And, um, that's sort of what that one

is about, when you're just sort of

473

left, you're not hurting anymore, not

really, not like you were by any means.

474

But you're just sort of drained and you

know, you kind of feel sort of empty

475

and diminished and and that one That's,

that's more along, I guess that's,

476

that's what I was going for there.

477

Jason English (Host): So this first album,

you made a comment earlier about it.

478

You have like a whole life to sort of

put the first album together and then the

479

next one may be a bit more challenging.

480

Are you working on another album?

481

Matthew Killough: man, I,

that's, this will be the third

482

gig I've played all year.

483

Like this year was supposed to

be slated, as the writing year.

484

Because I really wanted to put out

another album within a year of when

485

the first one got released, you know,

and try and try and keep that momentum

486

and set a precedent for myself,

a goal of just, you know, always

487

writing and always being productive.

488

But, I went down a huge rabbit

hole with the whole English

489

folk thing, and that was fun.

490

It really was.

491

I loved it.

492

Um, and it led to a lot of, guitar

parts, uh, being figured out and

493

things like that, a lot of melodies,

but not a whole lot of, lyrics.

494

I've sort of come to realize you

can sit around and noodle on a

495

guitar and you'll find things

that you like, and that's great.

496

But I think, and I didn't

understand this until now.

497

You have to be living, you know, in

order to have things to write about.

498

You gotta get out into the world and

experience things, and it's tough

499

to sit at home and make up songs.

500

I'm almost never happy with

them when that happens.

501

That's why the first one, was so much

easier was because I had something

502

to write about, when you just post

up in your house, all right, well,

503

I'm just gonna, I'm gonna write

a whole album, that got tougher.

504

I did get better at being

abstract though, and, you know,

505

writing more sort of like in a.

506

Poetry style, which I'm, I'm happy about,

507

Jason English (Host): How

do you get to that point?

508

Matthew Killough: Desperation, I think,

you know, not having stories to tell.

509

It's like, there went my

crutch, all right, I've told almost

510

every story I got, worth telling.

511

And we all say that the truth is

you have that conversation with

512

somebody else and they'll bring up.

513

Three stories that you've never

utilized that are totally worth

514

telling and you don't even think

about it But there's got to be in for

515

me a lot of times like an emotional

attachment there something like that

516

Some sort of watermark, you

know so that I remember.

517

Okay.

518

Yeah, that was that was a rough time

Or that was a great time or whatever

519

So, you know, we all have

material that we can use

520

You know, it's just it doesn't always

show up on your doorstep, you know

521

That's where couch time comes in.

522

Like you just kind of have to

sit there and think, which is not

523

the most pleasant thing in the

524

in the world

525

Jason English (Host): Well,

you've mentioned a few

526

different genres that you've.

527

If you experimented with or have been

into, we're at a festival, if you had

528

Car Blanche to put together an evening

lineup at a festival with four or

529

five acts, what would that look like?

530

Matthew Killough: man.

531

I don't.

532

Well, to lead.

533

You gotta have Radiohead

in there somewhere.

534

That is contrary to, to, you know,

the style of music I play and,

535

uh, everything we've talked about.

536

They are my favorite

band of my generation.

537

You know, my living years, I listen to

more of their stuff than anybody else.

538

And it's always fascinated me.

539

And they're one of those, one of

those bands that I feel like you

540

sort of have to, it's almost like a

project when they release a new album.

541

It's almost like homework.

542

Like you, you know, for me anyway,

I have to bring it home and I

543

got to live with it for a while.

544

And sort of try and make sense of it.

545

Some of them are more

user friendly than others.

546

They'd have to be in there somewhere.

547

And I would love, God, I'd love

to have seen Nick Drake just once.

548

You know what I mean?

549

, that would have been great.

550

You know, Nic Jones is still around,

but he had this terrible car accident

551

back in the early eighties and he

has never been able to quite play the

552

guitar the way that he, he did, before.

553

If you could get pre 80s, late 60s,

mid 70s Nic Jones, then, uh, It's funny

554

too, they have, they have recordings

555

1974 in the UK that they've posted

on YouTube, and you can actually

556

hear the guy, uh, from back then.

557

They don't have him live

in a video or anything, but

558

Jason English (Host):

Who's who's closing it out?

559

Is it Radiohead or is it

560

Matthew Killough: Oh, yeah, I mean,

Radiohead's definitely, um, they're

561

the headliner, like I say, because you

can't, you don't want, you don't want

562

Radiohead playing and then putting a

folk act up there, that'd be a real

563

problem, nobody's gonna follow those guys.

564

What else?

565

There's a band called the Chameleons

that I really liked, , they were from

566

the post punk group from Manchester,

back in the 80s, and, sort of

567

along the lines of, Interpol or Joy

Division or something like that.

568

Jason English (Host): That's good.

569

Alright.

570

Matthew Killough: I was gonna

say, so you got two folk acts

571

and you got two Rock acts and,

572

Jason English (Host): That's good.

573

Matthew Killough: happy.

574

Probably not, but,

575

Jason English (Host): So,

a couple more questions.

576

in terms of where you're at in your

career and your aspirations, do you

577

think about, hey I want to be known.

578

As an artist that is blank, you know, like

do you do you consciously want to have

579

intention around that or is it like hey?

580

I just want to make good music that I

like and then if people like it, so be it

581

Matthew Killough: that's, you kind

of summed it up right there, man.

582

Considering how anxious I was about

even coming down for this thing.

583

Like, can you imagine me on the road?

584

You know, I would die.

585

I would never make it.

586

I'd be a head case.

587

I already am.

588

So it would just make it worse.

589

It'd be a downward spiral.

590

I wouldn't mind, touring

the UK at some point.

591

Cause that's where so many

of my influences come from.

592

And they love a lot of American

roots music, country blues, and story

593

songs like are on that album, and

traditional country even, but, That

594

and the Southeast are all I really care

to, I feel like I've seen most of the

595

country in one capacity or another,

it's mostly, getting this stuff out of

596

my system and, and putting it down.

597

The recording is important because I

just, I want a record of that, you know.

598

Jason English (Host): Where do

you think the anxiety comes from?.

599

Matthew Killough: Man,

600

I've never, I've never

done well under pressure.

601

I was a kicker in high

school and, can you imagine?

602

Jason English (Host):

you're a field goal kicker?

603

Awful.

604

Matthew Killough: yeah, yeah, terrible.

605

I was the worst, maybe, in Decatur

County history, they, when I

606

was a sophomore, the guy that we

had, I didn't even play football.

607

I was a baseball guy.

608

And, um, they said, hey, look, we

know your dad taught you how to

609

punt, you know, when you were a kid.

610

Dad was a punter and a quarterback

and, like we want you to punt, but

611

we want you to learn how to kick.

612

And so it's like, I was a sophomore.

613

I was like, alright man, I'll do

614

Jason English (Host): there's no pressure

615

Matthew Killough: Yeah, I was going to say

I'll do the best I can, but I don't know.

616

They sent me to camp at Auburn.

617

You know, I kicked on at Jordan Hare.

618

You know, on the field and everything.

619

I actually made it to

the finals of the thing.

620

But, learned a lot in

a short amount of time.

621

And I loved it.

622

It was a lot of fun.

623

But, kicking in an empty stadium

versus kicking in a full stadium.

624

Two different things.

625

When you got 11 guys coming

at you, that's awful.

626

And a crowd full of people watching.

627

So, I don't know.

628

That was, that was my first inkling

that maybe I'm not the guy, that

629

likes to be in front of a crowd.

630

For me, the writing and the recording

was always, what I enjoyed the most.

631

That's where all the payoff was.

632

The live performances,

they always just made me.

633

Curl up into a little ball, you know?

634

So, uh, and I've gotten

better, you know, at it.

635

But, uh, but it's never easy.

636

It's never easy.

637

Jason English (Host):

Just in to wrap things up.

638

So the, inspiration for this

podcast has a lot to do with music,

639

but it's also about, Ted Lasso and

the mindset, positivity, curiosity.

640

He deals with some anxiousness,

with his, panic attacks.

641

You've seen the show.

642

What, what are some of your takeaways

from either the show itself, certain

643

character, what, what are some

of the themes for you personally?

644

Matthew Killough: Uh, I don't know.

645

I wish I could have been on his team.

646

I wish I had a coach like that.

647

You know what I mean?

648

Uh, I've never known a coach like that.

649

I'll tell you that much.

650

Jason English (Host):

What about the character

651

Matthew Killough: well, to be honest,

he's just, he's so encouraging.

652

You know, everything has a silver

lining, and that's the way it's always,

653

uh, It's always been with that guy.

654

It seemed like through the series, there's

always Something we can take away from

655

this some some positive aspect, you know,

or learning experience So we can get and

656

uh,

657

you know, and that's that's a great thing.

658

Like I say

659

My dad was more of a John

Wayne guy, you know, like,

660

you

661

know, which classic Southern coach

and that has its advantages too.

662

They fire you up, you know, it's more

about, like some of these old Southern

663

preachers, they yell and they scream

and it gets you, it gets you excited

664

You know, or Kirby Smart like you

see him doing Locker room speeches,

665

you know, it's like no wonder

666

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

667

Seriously.

668

Matthew Killough: this, this

dude's, uh, inspiring people, but,

669

um, but I always like Danny Rojas.

670

Danny, Danny Rojas is

671

Jason English (Host): my favorite.

672

Yeah.

673

Matthew Killough: I mean,

how, how could he not be?

674

He's endless positivity, he's got

tons of energy, he is youth, and

675

he's also a really hard worker, , and

well mannered and, you know, uh, knows

676

who he is, knows where he comes from.

677

I mean, he's the perfect guy.

678

You want that dude on your team, you know.

679

Jason English (Host): Well, for, this

conversation, I think what's relevant

680

to me that what comes to mind is,

it's kind of cheesy, but the whole

681

believe sign, you know, above the

door, yes, there's tactics in soccer.

682

There's probably tactics with music,

you know, how do you write lyrics?

683

How do you, how do you, you know,

strum a guitar there's technical

684

aspects that you need to know.

685

But.

686

When it comes down to it, it's actually

self confidence, it's belief, it's,

687

and I see this in the corporate

world, do you agree with that?

688

Matthew Killough: Absolutely.

689

, I, just from a point of, uh, point of,

um, Vulnerability have never, you know,

690

uh, that's, that's one of the things

that always plagued me, you know, like

691

say being in pressure situations and

things like that, if you are confident

692

with a certain song or whatever,

overwhelmingly, uh, you know, most of

693

the time, anyway, you, you're going

to play that well, no matter what.

694

And, if you're not, Man, it's crazy what

your mind can do, how it can work against

695

you and, so I think that's everything.

696

I agree,

697

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

698

Well, for what it's worth, you

should have every reason to believe.

699

Matthew Killough: I sure appreciate

700

Jason English (Host): I mean, seriously,

you said something on Instagram and I

701

commented, I'm like, I think you're going

to own this festival because you have

702

such a unique, voice and perspective.

703

And I'd love if you played a couple songs.

704

Are you cool with that?

705

Matthew Killough: sure, man

706

Jason English (Host): All right.

707

All right.

708

Let's do it.