Matt Mitchell Music Co. brings latest ‘Shoulder Season’ album to Spokane with release party at Zola

If you’re out and about downtown Friday night, don’t be surprised if you see a maroon 1991 Toyota Coaster bus parked outside Zola as the live music bar is hosting a release party for Matt Mitchell Music Co.’s newest album “Shoulder Season.”

Matt Mitchell, the frontman of the Americana project Matt Mitchell Music Co., returns to his hometown to prove that his soulful sound and authentic lyrism is only evolving as displayed in an album he described as being, “earnestly psychedelic and sardonic.”

At the age of 5, Mitchell was introduced to the piano and would be inseparable from it throughout his high school days while the records of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Simon and Garfunkel played around-the-clock. He comes from a family without any serious musicians, apart from a great uncle that had a band in Wallace who once had a man drive up from Spokane to try out to join the band but ultimately decided not to go with him.

“That guy was Bing Crosby, who went on to have probably a bigger career than my great uncle,” Mitchell said with a laugh.

Shortly after high school, Mitchell was thrown into the frying pan of his own musical journey as he played keys for the foot-stomping folk band Ten Mile Tide based out of San Francisco.

“I had about 12 days notice before my first tour and it was a 10-week national tour. So I just flew to the Bay and then at the time we had a tour bus and yeah, I just took off,” Mitchell said. “It was a trial by fire.”

Between tours with Ten Mile Tide, Mitchell would return to Spokane where he would slowly work away at getting a degree in visual communication and design with a minor in computer programming.

After 12 years of being a front-end developer and technical project manager, Mitchell made the leap to pursue music full time in 2022.

“Coming out of the pandemic, I had a couple close friends pass away unexpectedly, and I think that combined with sort of the changes going on in the world and personal changes, I just got a little, I guess fatalistic about things and just wanted to do only what I wanted to do,” Mitchell explained.

Nowadays, Mitchell is living his dream, playing keys in North Lake Tahoe for the Americana/roots rock band Dead Winter Carpenters and traveling around the Pacific Northwest in his groovy imported Japanese bus.

His latest original work released on Sept. 26, “Shoulder Season,” was the product of a weeklong retreat last year spent at a cabin at Priest Lake, where Mitchell teamed up with a group of talented musicians, who happen to be some of his best friends, he said.

“It’s an interesting mixture of whimsical, lighthearted, clever and funny songs, and then some more heartfelt and serious ones,” he said, “I really enjoy how the album flows.”

The playful side of the album can be capsulated in the second track “Bobbie Time,” which is about a friend’s cat, Bobbie, who would join them on tours and would leave them waiting around for the feline’s return before rolling to the next destination, poking fun at the cat’s punctuality. The other side of the coin for the album can be found later in the album with the track “It Could Be Worse,” which Mitchell co-wrote with his childhood best-friend Adam Robison about one’s body being a vehicle until it breaks down, he described.

Local audiences will be able to witness the Americana aficionado firsthand while sipping cocktails as Mitchell and his backing band make their way to Zola on Friday night. Mitchell is looking forward to performing in the intimate venue, where his sincerity will be palpable.

“I’d rather play for 25 people that are listening than 150 that are halfway listening and socializing,” Mitchell said.

Before Mitchell takes the stage at the rustic bar, he’ll be introduced by his decadelong friend, opening act Karli Fairbanks, whose fingerprints are all over Spokane’s growing music scene after being the former co-owner of renowned music venues the Barlett and Lucky You Lounge.

After Mitchell plays his final cord on Friday night, audience members will pay their bar bill, thank the staff and undoubtably flock to Mitchell’s social media so they can be on the ball for future projects.

Fortunately for fans, the grind for Mitchell hardly rests.

“I’ve been getting faster on my recording projects, but typically I’m already pretty deep on the next one by the time one comes out,” Mitchell said.