1994: First Live Performance
Matt had heard about a local folk society that had something called an open mic night (uncommon at the time) where anyone could come and play songs to an audience. He convinced a reluctant Nick to play there. Their intention was to play a song together; The Alarm's Absolute Reality. But after practicing on the night of the show, they could not pull it together. They decided to go anyway and play some solo original songs. Nick managed one song. Matt somehow made it through three. They both caught the performance bug.
However, it would be another year before they sought out other open mic nights.
Matt wrote one new song this year based off the title of a poem written by a friend, Because You're The One.
1995-1998: On Tape and Open Mic
For three years, Matt was borrowing Nick's four track recorder trying to record and refine his self-penned songs. In May, he finally produced a five song cassette aptly titled, Learning To Crawl.
In the fall, Nick and Matt started playing regularly at various coffeehouses on open 'mic' nights. They travelled throughout Metro Detroit looking for new and interesting places to play. Some venues were better than others. It was challenging to play to patrons who were not necessarily there to listen to amateur musicians of varying quality. Mostly, they performed separately, Matt playing original material and Nick focusing mainly on covering his favorite artists.
1995 was a productive songwriting year as Matt wrote Acceptance, Clockwork, Lend an Ear, Grave, and happenstance. He also wrote the initial version of There Is So Much To Live For and song that inspired Nick to write These Are The Things I Want To Share With You that October.
1996 saw Matt create Relativity, Inside The Oyster, the initial version of As You Are, and the lost song You Are My Friend.
In 1997 he wrote SM and the definitive version of There Is So Much To Live For
1999: Residency and Exile
Nick and Matt became regulars at one particular venue, B.C. Beans. They became friendly with the owner who asked Matt if he was interested in hosting the night. Matt and Nick agreed to a monthly hosting gig. At the same time, Matt's wife was pregnant with their first child. As the winter became spring and the due date approached, Matt hung up his guitar. For the moment.
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