We recently connected with Matt Woods and have shared our conversation below.
Matt, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Learning my craft is what anchors me. There are lots of up in this business, but even more downs. When things are difficult, I focus on the reason I got started in the first place; to be the best guitar player and musician I can be. When you look at things through that lens, even the most difficult gigs, long drives and time away from family become part of the process. Anyone who is great at anything had to fall in love with, or at least come to terms with the process. Just do the work, without necessarily expecting any reward from it. Even though I am at a phase in my life where I don’t get to spend as much time with my instrument as I want, I like to think that I am always constantly trying to improve. Learning how to practice without the instrument. Thinking about how to make certain sounds or flesh out musical ideas without a guitar present. That way, I can maximize the time I actually get to spend with my instrument! Keeping your focus on your craft, especially when surrounded by other life challenges and distractions can make all the difference in the long run.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Matt Woods (its not just a clever stage name) and I am a musician based in central Iowa. I have been playing music professionally for about 23 years. I am primarily a guitar player, although I also write songs and produce other peoples music on occasion. The music that is closest to my heart is traditional American roots music. Everything from early delta blues to urban electric blues, folk and gospel music. My guitar and songwriting style draws from and is closely related to this traditional music. I am proud of the fact that I have stuck around a difficult business for so long and that I have recorded seven of my own albums and played guitar on countless other recordings for various Midwest based roots musicians. I am also proud to be part of the roots music community. I have met so many great people and even played with and become friends with some of my biggest musical heroes, which is truly humbling. I am endlessly fascinated with guitar and strive to have a well rounded approach the instrument and be the absolute best player I can be.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
In recent years, it seems that society has gotten used to getting things for free. Especially music. This obviously, (or maybe not so obviously) has a crippling effect on those that try to make a living with music. To me, the most important thing people can do to support musical artists is pay for music! Buy records or CDs or digital downloads directly from artists. Attend shows, pay cover charges and tip heavily. There is a good chance the musician you are enjoying listening to has worked very hard to be in the position to entertain you. Without that support, eventually it will not be finantially feasable for most artists to make music.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
When I started out, the internet was in it’s infancy. The idea of learning beginner guitar with something like YouTube is mind blowing to me. Young people have a huge advantage in that regard. That being said, I was lucky in a lot of ways to have to learn the hard way. It helped me train my ear, because there was no videos to watch. You had to listen and use your ears, which has served my very well in countless situations. When I was starting out, I did a fair amount of picking the brains of older, more experienced players. Sitting down and talking with them about their approached to the instrument. However, in retrospect, I wish I would have done that even more. Really sought out even more great players to talk to. It is nice now that many top level professionals offer one-on-one online lessons. That is certainly something I wish I had access to earlier. Not being limited by geography is a tremendous resource. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mattwoodsmusic.com
- Instagram: mattwoodsrootsmusic
- Facebook: mattwoodsrootsmusic