“Straight from seasons 5 and 6 of American Idol and over 200 million TV sets worldwide, Matt Buckstein and his band have put together a show with a vengeance. The 6-foot-4 bass-baritone lights the fuse and the band explodes. They're ready, willing and MORE than able to rock your event in 2008!" An Interview With Matt Buckstein Click Here for shortened, press release version He stands in his flannel, checkered robe taking his bacon out of the microwave while the Eggos pop up from the toaster behind him. “Cooking is one thing you’ll never find on my resume” Matt Buckstein says with a chuckle. He makes his way out to his deck with his plate and glass of OJ to enjoy breakfast on his porch swing. “Singing the way I sing was unexpected for a lot of people who knew me, but it came so easily. And a wise man once said ‘If the shoe fits…’ so I just started writing and singing the way I felt most comfortable. I never figured that I’d actually one day be watched by 200 million people at one time.” He’s talking, of course, about his time spent in the American Idol competition. After three years of trying his hand at the cultural phenomenon, Matt eventually rose to the Top 40 out of 110,000 contestants in Season 6. His crowning moment in the competition came in Season 5 when he and his group (consisting of Michael Evans, aka Bishop Stylze and Garet Lane Johnson, aka The turkey-singing cowboy from Wyoming) were brought back to perform on the American Idol Finale. This was the first time in AI history that a cut group of guys was asked to sing on the Finale. “I’d love to go back and take one more whack at it. Even after living through that stress for three years, I’d do it again. But they say I’ve made it too far. I guess I’ve proven myself, but it’s a shame that America didn’t get a chance to vote. I just haven’t seen anyone quite like me on the show yet…” In a competition of mostly higher-pitched, tenor-and-above vocalists of all styles, Matt holds the title as the first bass-baritone to ever rattle a few speaker screws on the American Idol main stage. “If it wasn’t me to make it, I hope a good bass singer will come along someday and really bring it home; AI could use a little variety that way.” Interestingly enough, Matt’s range actually extends even beyond bass-baritone with what he likes to call “tenor moments.” His vocal style is unmistakably country, but he still manages to effectively pull off genres that are far from the country arena. With his local band, who have named themselves “The Hired Guns”, he tackles everything from modern country to rock to blues to even reggae. “Evolution is happening in music everyday.” Matt proclaims. “I want to be a part of it. Experimentation and thinking outside of the box is how history is made.” He may doff a traditional cowboy hat and boots at every show, but there is a soulful, sobering quality that Matt brings to every song that is completely unique and distinctly “Buckstein.” Born and raised in Colorado, for much of his young adult life Matt was convinced that he should be an actor. He left Colorado immediately after high school to attend California State University of Fullerton to train as an actor and then eventually moved to LA to make a reach for the silver screen. Even though he never trained as a singer at CSUF, they still recruited him for the musical Chess as one of the only students who could hit the commanding bass notes of the Russian KGB character, Molokov. His time spent in LA out of college was brief for two reasons. 1) As a country boy at heart, Matt found himself constantly at odds with the LA lifestyle and 2) after getting a taste of a singing career with American Idol, his focus as a performer quickly shifted. He has since moved back home to Colorado (what he sometimes describes as a “lily pad to Nashville”) to be closer to his family and use his new-found publicity to start a music career for himself. Without question, Matt Buckstein has both the talent and the drive to make his career a prosperous one. Most people who get a chance to really hear Matt in his element don’t ask “if” he’ll ever make it, but “when.” Home :: Meet The Band :: Picture The Band :: Hear The Band :: See The Band :: Contact The Band