Matt Schofield

Matt Schofield (born 21 August 1977, Manchester, England) is an English blues guitarist and singer. His band, the Matt Schofield Trio, play their own material, a blend of blues, funk and jazz, as well as covers of blues classics such as Albert Collins' "Lights Are On, But Nobody's Home".

Schofield is regarded as one of the most distinctive and innovative British blues guitarists, and has been rated in the top ten of British blues guitarists by Guitar & Bass Magazine. Schofield's prowess has taken his band to twelve countries, seen him playing with musicians including Buddy Guy and Robben Ford, and brought a note in the Penguin Book of Blues Recordings as one of only two living British artists to gain the maximum four-star rating. In addition, he has been admitted to the British Blues Awards Hall of Fame.

Influences

Schofield's guitar playing is often likened to that of Robben Ford in its melodic and fluid style, and jazzy lines.

Schofield has been influenced by B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King, Muddy Waters, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Albert Collins, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, and Tomo Fujita.

Career

Recordings Schofield has recorded five studio albums and four live albums. The first of the live discs, The Trio, Live was recorded at the Bishop's Blues club at The Half Moon, Bishop's Stortford in 2004 and, funded and released by Richard Pavitt on his Nugene record label, gave the band their first breakthrough. for this album, and released Live from the Archive, recorded in 2007 in the Netherlands. Schofield won the British Blues Guitarist and Jonny Henderson won the British Keyboard Player award, and they both won these awards in 2011, too. Guitarinstructor.com, a part of the Hal Leonard organisation, has this album as No 5 in their top 10 albums of 2011, while Mojo magazine picked it as No 1 of Blues albums in 2011.

In 2012, Schofield made available a third live album Ten From The Road, consisting of material performed live in November 2011 by Schofield with Henderson & Hayes.

He released his fifth studio album, called Far As I Can See, in February 2014.

Schofield has played guitar for a number of Dana Gillespie's albums, including Back to the Blues (1998), Experienced (2000), Songs of Love (2001), Staying Power (2002), These Blue Nights (2006), and Live With the London Blues Band (2007), and with The Lee Sankey Group's My Day Is Just Beginning (2000) and She's Not Alone (EP) (2000). He has also played guitar on Dino Baptiste's Two Timing Lover Boy (1999), The Lester Butler Tribute Band's So Lowdown Tour (2002), Earl Green's A Different Picture (2005), The Backbones' New Road Sessions Vol. 1 (2006), JL Fulks' On Down the Road (2016), and Federico Luiu's Walkin' The Blues. He co-produced Ian Siegal's Meat & Potatoes (2005) and produced Siegal's At The North Sea Jazz Festival (DVD) (2006), Swagger (2007), and Broadside (2009). Schofield appears on the compilation albums Mustique Blues Festival (1999, 2000, 2004), Basil´s Bar Blues (2003), and The Six Sessions (2010).

Band Schofield performs with an organ trio (guitar, organ, and drums). on 22 October 2009, the band reverted to a trio. In June 2010, Kevin Hayes, replaced Evan Jenkins in the band. The 2012 Europe Tour, the trio was back with its original formation, with Matt Schofield, Evan Jenkins and Jonny Henderson.

Endorsements and gear Boutique amplifier company Two-Rock developed the Schofield Signature amplifier for him. According to Schofield, the amplifier is "simply the best amplifier I've ever plugged into, and I'm honoured it carries my name".

Japanese effects pedal company Free The Tone developed the MS SOV SPECIAL overdrive pedal for him and released it as a limited edition product in 2013. A full production version, the MS SOV MS-2V, was later released in 2014.

Discography 2004: The Trio, Live (NUG601) 2005: Live at the Jazz Café (NUG503) 2005: Siftin' Thru' Ashes (NUG501) 2007: Ear to the Ground 2007: Live from the Archive 2009: Heads, Tails & Aces 2010:Live From The Archive 2011: Anything But Time 2012: Ten From The Road 2014: Far As I Can See 2025: Many Moons / Vol.1