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Matt Laurence is a Nashville-based guitarist and producer who blends pop and R&B with a musician’s ear and a producer’s mindset.
Matt moved to Nashville in 2016 and became a go-to guitarist in the scene, performing with artists like The War and Treaty, Tiera Kennedy, Dre Scot, Wyn Starks, Sarah Reeves, Amythyst Kiah, and many others. His work has taken him to legendary stages like Austin City Limits, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Troubadour. His playing has been heard behind both emerging voices and established acts alike.
Beyond being a hired gun, Matt is a producer, session musician, and mixer who helps artists shape their sound from the first demo to a finished record. Matt brings a unique perspective shaped by years as a sideman, which he’s also shared with hundreds of guitar students worldwide. His music leans into the groove-forward energy of R&B/pop, often collaborating with Nashville’s strongest hidden-gem vocalists/writers.
Around 2008, I was playing Guitar Hero for multiple hours a day, and I figured it would be more useful and fun to learn real guitar, haha. So many guitarists have inspired me in the last 20 years, ranging from guys like B.B. King and Buddy Guy to David T. Walker and Cornell Dupree, to George Benson/Norman Brown to Hendrix to John Mayer.
Success is a moving target, so just keep going. Music isn't as deep as I used to think it was. Vibrato is everything for leads; the major scale is king (it teaches you all of the modes). Play whatever you want, just land somewhere nice!
I get excited about playing when I'm learning/finding a new way to express or use something that feels "old" to me - same trick but new sound. I've always been inspired by the tone of things, and I spend a lot of time nowadays trying different sounds. I think I'm in the minority of working guitarists nowadays who're still bringing their whole rig to every single gig, but I have "my sound" that I like. I have the most fun on gigs when I know my rig sounds really good.
I'm sooo picky with my pedals, so these are meaningful endorsements:
1) Boss GE-7 - This is the catch-all pedal; you can make any guitar or rig sound like anything else.
2) Mad Professor Royal Blue Overdrive - I love the OD sounds that I get out of it, it's touch-responsive and also cleans up nicely.
3) LPD Eighty7 Deluxe - This is the most responsive/dynamic distortion pedal that I've ever played, Marshall sound in a box. It's the super heavy '80s thing on the first channel and the cleaner/mid-forward pop-punk thing on the 2nd channel.
Honorable mention: Eventide H90. It does so many things so well and is the best sounding multi-FX to me, and helps me get a variety of "staple" sounds and also "weird" sounds. It's an extension of what I do now, but I did so many gigs before I had any FX at all.
My #1 would be to go and see both local live music AND big shows where music is executed at the highest level. Loud music can change people. Real music is something that "happens" and changes the room when it happens. But if you can't afford to spend any money, just listen to more music. If I listen to any great music, something will usually grab me about it: it could be an amazing guitar recording, the sound of someone's voice, the way the record is mixed, or the way an instrument is layered on top of something else, or just a YouTube video of someone playing. I think I'm more easily inspired than I used to be. I used to only listen to guitar players when I was younger, but now anything could inspire me.
Nowadays, I don't know if I really have an answer to be honest, I love and appreciate so many artists and musicians. To me, I see musicians as artists too. I've followed tons of session musicians through their trail of album credits, and a lot of times they're the "sound" behind the music for "X artist". What would Queen have sounded like without Brian May? What would Michael Jackson sound like without Quincy? What would Justin Timberlake have sounded like without Timbaland?
But who were my favorite artists 10 years ago? Bill Withers, B.B. King, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Mayer, Eric Gales, D'Angelo, Al Green, Spyro Gyra, Soulive, Anthony Hamilton, Saadiq, Frank Sinatra, Steve Wonder to name a few
Not a riff per se, but for some reason I always play a Dmaj7 first ???? 4 3 2 in A
I'd say my 1971 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, because it's got a great story. I had joined a corporate band when I moved here, and I had never owned a guitar with humbuckers. I was looking for a Gibson SG, and my dad and I remembered that his best friend Martin had shown us one at a party one time. My dad goes to his house to see the guitar, and he pulls out this old Goldtop! "Martin, where's the SG?" He was a keyboard player, and he had no idea about guitars, but said that the gold guitar was the guitar he'd gotten in the trade. Evidently, he had loaned somebody $1,000 back in 1991, and he was never repaid. He never played it, so the guitar sat in his house for 25 years untouched. That guitar was the first "nice" guitar I ever had, and it's taught me how to play different corners of music that were essential for me to learn as a hired gun. I've taken this guitar all around the US, and I've learned so much from it. Martin passed away a couple of years ago, so it's definitely important to me.
Honestly, gear-wise, I'm very fulfilled. Maybe saving up for a house so I can turn half of it into a studio, haha. I've been thinking about upgrading to a bigger UA Apollo interface, and getting a Jazzmaster has been on my mind for a long time. I've also been highly interested in starting a collection of these newer mini-amp heads that they're making now. I think it would be cool to get a variety of flavors at a smaller price.
I use Rattlesnake Cables for all of my pedalboard patches and for the cables running back to my amp. I have two paths on my board: one for the front of the amp and the other for the FX loop going back to my Rivera amp. I also have the Rattlesnake buffer right before the signal goes back to the amp. The FX loop gives me the headroom on my reverb/delays when my amp is cranked. I love my Rattlesnake cables because I know they're made with durability/care. I know I can trust them, and I won't have to worry about them.
I reached a point where cable failure wasn't an option anymore: you can't troubleshoot your pedalboard in front of tons of people, and Rattlesnake cables give me security in knowing that everything will be solid. They also sound great - I maintain all the dynamic range, attack, and top end from my guitar that I started with. Most of my pedalboard is made up of the flex patch cables with pancakes and some right angles thrown in. I also use them on my travel pedalboard.
Do you have to be a famous musician to be featured? No. Do you have to be a professional musician to be featured? No. Do you have passion about playing and gear -- oh and a verified Rattlesnake Cable Company cable user. Yes!
All you need to do is contact us and we'll direct you to our submission form. If your submission is approved, it will be in the queue to be showcased!
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