About
Come and join multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Matthew Smithies as he takes you on a tongue-in-cheek tour of some the legends of rock, rhythm and blues, featuring music by Ray Charles, BB King, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton and more!
One of New Zealand’s finest musical exports, Matthew has had a busy career performing all around the world in many prestigious theatres, clubs and cruise ships.
At an early age, Matthew caught his inspiration from being immersed in the music of soul and R&B greats and sought to pursue his musical career upon discovering his mothers old rusty guitar stashed away amongst other sonic treasures in their family home. Fast forward a few years of driving his parents and neighbours crazy with all night practise sessions, Matthew graduated from the New Zealand School of Music has continued to feed his passion for learning and performing by honing his craft on a plethora of instruments including the guitar, voice, saxophone, harmonica, banjo and flute.
In addition to regularly performing on board luxury cruise ships, Matthew leads a his own jazz and soul big band (The Mess Around Band) and can be occasionally caught performing across Australia and NZ.