We were lucky to catch up with Matt McCallie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Matt, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Music was never a choice; it has always been a core of my existence. Though my first memories were not musical, I do remember that within the first couple years of my life I felt a kismet. Listening to records was not enough for me, as my mother observed that while at a very early age, I was inclined to participate and correctly tapped complex rhythms on the floor in time with the music. Without being taught what to do I instinctively sang harmony parts. Music was as natural for me as most basic human functions.

Third grade got me started formally playing violin in school and I found a passion at which I excelled. Within a couple years I would listen to the classical music station on the radio during the car ride home and would play back the melodies on violin hours later from memory.

Transitioning raw talent into something more required effort in later years and I remained internally driven enough to teach myself guitar. Building from my knowledge of violin, I completed a level one guitar book overnight while in middle school. To be able to sing and play guitar was an extremely powerful goal but I had no teachers available to guide me. This learning was mostly done on my own, figuring out by listening to my favorite artists repeatedly to mentally transcribe their arpeggiations and voicings. My formal training in music only came from what was offered in school so my understanding of harmonic progressions was limited to intuition.

The next major transition for me was when my parents decided to take me out of public school after my freshman year in favor of a private school. The new school had no orchestra, so my life changed from planning to become a professional violinist to struggling to find a new musical identity. Fortunately, the new school had a very special choir director who led his classes from guitar instead of piano. The success and coolness of his teaching was inspiring, and I felt encouraged and needing to switch my focus from violin to singing while accompanying myself on guitar.

During my final three years at this high school the choir teacher never gave me any guitar lessons, but I did take private voice lessons that gave me the one-on-one instruction I needed to pinpoint my weaknesses and advance my skills. While a young teen I started playing paying gigs as a solo singer/guitar player and was often performing songs I had penned on my own. On occasion, I was also still playing violin for house parties, school events, at bluegrass festivals and other random opportunities.

Acting became an even bigger interest for a few years during high school and college but after a failed audition for Juilliard I realized that I didn’t want to spend my life pretending to be other people. At that time, I was a music major at a private college in Illinois, disappointed that the repertoire was almost entirely restricted to classical music. My appreciation for the rigor of the program was satisfying but I was only in choir, not finding enough opportunities to use my developing skills as a singer/guitar player, and I still didn’t know how to accomplish one of my latest interests. My appreciation for jazz was newly blossoming and I wanted to be able to sit down with a Real Book and perform songs from the Great American Songbook. Unfortunately, I could not find any teachers across two neighboring states able to provide me the instruction I desired so I knew I needed to seek a different path.

I auditioned for Berklee College of Music as a guitar player like my high school choir teacher, but I was rejected, being told that they would not accept me because I should have had years of private lessons to be a valid candidate. Desperate for the education I knew only Berklee could provide, I booked time at a local recording studio and sang a few songs while playing guitar. My hail Mary was to get in as a vocalist and this time, it worked.

During these early to middle years of college studies, becoming a successful singer/songwriter was my professional goal and I was absorbing as much of the exceptional education as possible. Sometimes my teachers would miss class because they had a gig with Michael Jackson, Shania Twain, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Nine Inch Nails, or other superstars. The knowledge and experience they imparted was everything I wanted, and I was fortunate to have developed my skills prior to attending Berklee to a level ready to impart their training. With some of my professors I was making such an impression that they were hiring me for studio sessions to perform on original songs they were shopping. One of my songwriting professors complained to me that it took him a couple days to realize a song he had stuck in his head all weekend was one I had written and performed in his class. Things were mostly going well.

But problems arose physically with some major health concerns that significantly affected my voice. Simultaneously, I fell in love and married someone who convinced me to drop out of Berklee College of Music mid-semester to move across the country where she would become my manager and help me grow my solo career from Los Angeles, CA. This journey was one of the worst mistakes of my life propelling me into bankruptcy and divorce, leaving no choice but to live in my parents’ basement.

During those two tough years of legal and financial struggles, I worked between three music stores trying to fill out my schedule as a private lesson teacher. I also taught a violin class at a private school and gigged as a singer and guitar player for other artists, as a soloist, and with other small ensembles. I was navigating my vocal issues and had developed professional level chops for sure, but I was poor and lost hope in becoming a singer/songwriter.

My professional focus changed to becoming a full time, licensed public school teacher because years of teaching proved I was a very capable mentor with a sense of purpose, and I knew of no other way to potentially earn a living. I took classes mornings and nights around my teaching schedule of forty-four students a week at local colleges that would transfer back to Berklee so I could return to the college with a new degree focus, music education. It took a couple years to make it possible to return to Boston, but it was an important move and led to completing two music degrees and a variety of teaching experiences in multiple states.

What many might find odd is that my parents disapproved of my plan of action. They did not want me to pursue what I saw as the security of public-school teaching, which appealed to me since I could finally earn far more than I was teaching privately. They wanted me to move to Nashville and wait tables until I finally “made it” as a musician. But at Berklee, I talked to too many very familiar with the scene there and it sounded anything but promising to become one of thousands with the same dream. Additionally, I was very into rock and jazz with no interest in what was the world’s most country focused music scene.

My return to Berklee was very focused and instead of trying to study everything available like before, I wanted to complete my degree quickly so I could get into the job field and start my career as a licensed educator. While there, I was still struggling vocally and discovered a vocal therapist nearby. The progress from studying with him was so amazing that I continued taking courses at Berklee that were going to transfer to Colorado where I was going to teach and study at a university while earning a master’s degree since Berklee had no further degrees available at the time. It was worth staying in Boston for several months of intensive vocal therapy that helped me defeat years of dysphonia and gave me tools that took my abilities to places I previously only imagined.

Life again did not go as planned and after only a few more years of teaching, I found myself unemployed. The family farm outside of St. Louis again became my only refuge. I sang and played in R&B, country, rock, and funk bands, was performing at open mics six nights a week, performing with an African choir, singing, and playing guitar with some local big bands, and playing violin in pit orchestra gigs as a ringer for local high school and college orchestras. At this time, my goal again returned to becoming a solo artist, but gigging was not making a living, so I had to diversify my skillset. It became necessary to fall back on and further develop other aspects of my musical training like composition, arranging, accompanying, and playing other instruments I had learned while becoming a teacher like piano and drum set.

Just a couple months after I filed my first L.L.C. as The Matt McCallie Orchestra, my health again took a drastic turn that forever changed my life. I became crippled and again had to improvise and shift my focus. My family and I thought I might still have a chance at making a living with music, so I continued developing what became the second largest professional orchestra in St. Louis, MO.

Ten years later and my health continues to make performing increasingly difficult. Only thanks to a service dog who now hauls my equipment am I able to still perform live at all. My goal with the orchestra became finding well-paying gigs for others and the responsibility of trying to help dozens of musicians feed their families overcame my own aspirations. The expenses of such a large orchestra are far greater than its earnings. While the reputation of the orchestra’s professionalism, client reviews, and live performance quality have earned some respectable titles, it has never come close to creating a legitimate full-time income for anyone, not even the director, me, who has never been paid due to the costs of running the business.

Musicians were affected by the pandemic as much as anyone, with many losing their careers. While a resounding surge has occurred in the amount of interest in live music since the shuttering ended, the music industry is also suffering from labor shortages, inflation, and supply chain issues. Doing business is no easier than it was pre-pandemic and while live music is indeed still in demand, I don’t see the challenges being sustainable for much longer for my orchestra. This orchestra still requires every minute of my time and still has bookings a year and a half in advance, so the commitment is ongoing. But the amount of focus and funding I can continue to donate has to decrease. I don’t know what is next but since I still have no income, it is scary. Perhaps I will be able to return my focus to original music and finally record a studio album.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the C.E.O. and director of the second largest professional orchestra in St. Louis, MO. The Matt McCallie Orchestra is the most diverse live band in the area covering over two thousand songs. We provide live bands with up to around one hundred musicians that play the latest Top 40 hits, big band jazz, Motown classics, country, classic rock, oldies, and nearly every popular style dating back to the greatest classical composers.

Clients get to customize our services using almost any budget to choose the instrumentation, duration of the performance, musical genres, and other aspects that we modify differently for every single performance. Each show is in a different location using different instruments and musicians performing different songs. We never provide the same show twice since everything is always customized to the needs of each event.

Some of our most popular options are a soloist who can sing while self-accompanying on guitar or piano. This is popular for all types of events. For wedding ceremonies our St. Louis String Quartet consists of two violins, viola and cello and performs traditional classical music from Andrea Bocelli and Mozart, country songs by artists like Taylor Swift and Shania Twain, classic rock by Queen and Led Zeppelin, jazz by Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, and Top 40 by Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran.

Our bands range from rock duos to jazz combos, high energy dance bands and augmented jazz orchestra big bands. It is amazing to hear popular music reimagined for a large orchestra that includes a lead vocalist, choir, rhythm section, winds, strings, auxiliary percussion and more. When we play songs like the Johnny Cash classic, Ring of Fire, we add more than just a couple trumpets to the band. Footloose has a strings section and Interstate Love song has a big band instrumentation.

One of the reasons there are few bands that do this is that there isn’t sheet music available. The closest things one might be able to buy are for concert or marching bands that rarely include transcriptions for guitar solos, lead vocal parts, and other things the average band would need. To create what doesn’t exist requires not only skills in transcription and arranging, but tremendous amounts of time. It can take months to complete the custom arrangement of even one song.

Another unique service we offer our clients is our ability to custom write arrangements of their favorite songs, which is a very popular option. Clients get to choose what instruments we use and can even customize aspects like the key signature, tempo, and length. Some even have us medley smooth transitions from one song into another. While the costs can rival the rates of hiring an entire ensemble, this is an incredibly unique one-time occurrence that makes for an incomparable gift at special events like weddings and birthday parties.

Like most bands, we also have multiple sound systems so we can provide an acoustic ensemble for small gatherings, compact P/As for officiants during weddings or smaller bands, to large systems to entertain a stadium. We also have multiple effects lighting packages with everything from pocket sized LEDs, larger moving head gobos that have built in microphones and dance to the music as our band plays, to wireless room up-lighting to make a venue look even more high class.

Not only do we offer far more musical variety than our competitors we do so with consistent authenticity and quality. Our clients expect the utmost professionalism and reliability and we have earned this reputation through years of working to deserve our wonderful reviews and awards. Instead of focusing on the artistry of our craft, we are here to serve and do our utmost to adapt to the needs of others.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Asking what society can do to help artists like us thrive is a wonderful question. The answer is simple, to support live music. The main way is to hire musicians for gatherings that could use entertainment, and to choose singers and instrumentalists instead of DJs.

While some DJs charge less than bands, especially larger bands, playing recorded music cannot substitute for the skills and experience live talent can provide. Every live performance, no matter how accurate and similar each concert, is a unique experience between the music, the performers, and the audience. The moment can be recorded but never fully recreated. Variables like how much sleep people had, the temperature and humidity affecting the instruments, the wildly differing acoustics from one venue to another and other aspects make it impossible for everything to be precisely the same again. Live performances are always special, one-off events. And the energy of being in the same room with a blazing trumpet player, a passionate vocalist, melodic drummer, and other skilled performers literally interacts with the human body in ways a recording cannot.

A struggle for most people hiring entertainment is that they’ve never done it before and have no idea what to expect in terms of the services they will receive, how long musicians can play, what instrumentation they might like, what the different options will cost, or how to tell if they are going to enjoy the product. I always suggest doing homework that goes beyond picking your favorite songs. Try listening to as many samples of a band’s sound as possible in multiple venues to ensure you are not hearing a studio recording so you get a better impression of how they might sound in your space. Compare their sound to that of other bands. Make sure they offer all the services you want like an extra microphone for speeches or effects lighting, and ensure they have the experience and skillset your event requires.

An example of needing to match musicians’ skills is that most bar bands have no idea what is involved in traditional wedding ceremonies and receptions. Even many wedding coordinators don’t know the difference between a prelude and a processional. Some bands may have never entertained fundraisers that require adapting to very specific schedules. Most bands are focused more on their art than they are at making the most of your event so read, listen, and ask questions to make sure you are getting what you need.

And while for many clients this is the most limiting factor, make sure you budget enough to remunerate the services you desire. While clients want to make sure they avoid hidden fees, entertainers also need to know in advance if you have expectations for unplanned situations like using their instruments, microphones, or other equipment. Make sure you have discussed well in advance all the logistics for their setup, soundcheck, tuning, breaks and teardown as small adjustments can make huge changes to what a bandleader might have to pay their crew.

If you want a larger band, be prepared to pay more. If you want more than just a couple hours of music, make sure you can afford it and that your musicians can play for that long. This is especially crucial for musicians whose body is their instrument like a singer, or for wind players whose embouchures could fade too early.

Communication is key to getting what you want so present informed questions and work with the artists. Musicians who have been gigging for years have likely entertained all types of audiences for many different types of events covering a variety of genres in totally different venues. Their experience can guide you to helping them sound their best and to make the most of your event.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I have had the privilege of studying under many accomplished musicians. One of my professors was the brother of the famous folk musician, James Taylor, named Livingston. One of my favorite things that he said was that he did not expect us all to agree with everything he would teach, but there was one statement he made that I found almost ubiquitous.

What he explained was that musicians have tried doing other things, but we usually struggle, falter, transition when we attempt to have careers outside of music. His belief was that musicians are musicians because we cannot help but be musicians. Being a musician is the thing we always feel like we should be doing instead of whatever temporary status is blocking our true path.

My personal experience is that I have had to take jobs that made me miserable including hard outdoor labor like shoveling snow at 3:am for a neighborhood, working on rooftops in over hundred-degree heat, collecting and transporting trash and food waste at a summer camp, demolitions of garbage, mucking stalls, mowing yards, swamps and cesspools, gardening, and digging ditches by hand in rocky terrain. I even did a lot of odd jobs as a mechanic working on everything from rock crawler buggies to hill climbing racing motorcycles to Class 8 semi tractors. During those jobs I still had to have a guitar or violin nearby because when I wasn’t working, playing music was what I was most compelled to do. Music is not a choice it is a calling.

Contact Info:

• Website: mattmccallieorchestra.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/MattMcCallieOrchestra
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/matt-mccallie-m-m-e-2645b937
• Twitter: twitter.com/McCallieOrch
• Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCknX-q6rRIjdEB6M5XMYXJg
• Other: myspace.com/mattmccallieorchestra

Image Credits
All photography by Matt McCallie.