Search - Matt Hires :: Live from the Hotel Cafe Ep

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paygenie | California, USA | 10/08/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded at the famous Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, the sound quality is less than perfect, but Matt Hires' voice and songwriting talents are so clear that you'll forget you're listening to a "live" album. You'll in fact be glad you are, as what you get here is an intimate performance beaming with the sort of rare and raw talent that's hard to find in today's music industry.



"Live from the Hotel Cafe" features a lone man on a stage with a guitar. The tunes, all written by the 22-year-old Floridian, are folksy, melodic, and catchy without being kitschy or obnoxious as so many young artists these days are. Hires' lyrics are simple -- odes to sweethearts and meditations on love. Both his performance and personality come through as unpretentious.



What distinguishes Hires from being a cliche (oh no, you say, it's yet another young guy with a guitar and shaggy hair) is his vocal talent and smooth guitar playing skills. His voice bleeds rich emotion and dimension (think: James Blunt), and is reminiscent of John Ondrasik (better known as Five for Fighting) and Counting Crows' lead singer Adam Durwitz. The tie, vest, and fedora he wears on the album's back cover (the hat being a signature style) suggests a classy touch of the old-fashioned. His music is just that -- an escape from today's raunchiness and shallow ditties being played over and over on FM radio.



Be one of the first to know about this new talent! The EP -- a four-track CD in a cardboard sleeve -- is available on Amazon for $5.98, and a digital copy of the album is available for less than $3! For more Matt Hires, sign up for his e-mail updates through his MySpace page and get a FREE mp3 track, "Turn the Page."

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