Matt Lenny profile picture

Matt Lenny

Classic rock for the smarter boys and girls...

About Me

After years in the Chicago and New York indie rock underground, Matt Lenny finally stumbled on a sound all his own. Somewhere between Tom Petty and Radiohead, his sound is at once familiar and deeply personal. Whether singing about the ins and outs of lost love or exploring the outer limits of the blues, Matt’s music is driven by his unique guitar style and indelible sense of melody.

Matt Lenny’s debut album, The Waiting Room, started off as an acoustic project. Written in his New York apartment, the songs reflected Matt’s newfound love affair with the sounds of classic Americana. After years of playing leads on electric guitar, he found that getting back to the basic blues and country riffs allowed him to focus on the storytelling nature of his songs. “Writing these songs was a really great experience for me because I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anybody. I just wanted to tell a good story and have a good melody."

Matt brought his new songs back to Chicago, reuniting with friends to make the record he had always wanted. Recorded by Blaise Barton (Liz Phair, Bob Dylan) and Neal Ostrovsky (The Webb Brothers, The Bon Mots), The Waiting Room features some of Chicago’s top rock and country musicians, including pedal steel whiz Brian Wilkie from The Hoyle Brothers and organist Ig from Oh My God.

Matt’s distinctive voice artfully delivers pop anthems sprinkled with classic rock and country. The Waiting Room is a wide-ranging, inviting album, from the up-tempo groove of the opening track to the string drenched nostalgia of the last.


Matt currently lives and performs in New York City and can also be found on tour as guitarist with Chicago art rock maniacs, Oh My God .

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/5/2005
Band Website: mattlenny.com
Influences: Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Ryan Adams, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, The Raconteurs, T. Rex, Wilco, Hank Williams, Spoon, Willie Nelson, Andrew Bird, Eric Clapton (Cream & Derek and The Dominos), Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Stevie Wonder, Freddie King, Gnarls Barkley, John Mayer (yeah, I said it...), U2, Josh Ritter, Neil Young, The New Pornographers, The Rolling Stones
Sounds Like: Classic American Rock N’ Roll.
Record Label: Seaway Records
Type of Label: None

My Blog

More MP3s / Harmony vocals...

So I know that I’m always ludicrously behind the times, but I only just now realized that I could post 6 songs on myspace instead of 4. How long has this been going on? WTF?!sigh...the modern ...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:55:00 PST

Back in Brooklyn, back onstage.

It's official. I'm back in Brooklyn. i moved in with my good friend Bucky and, after finally getting our stove working in the new place and going to the grocery store for some staples, I feel as tho...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:12:00 PST

Coming home! / Homecoming show!

After more than 4 months in the hospital and recovering at my parents' house in Oklahoma, I will finally be returning to New York City on Saturday, January 26th. I am, to say the least, excited about...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:46:00 PST

Van Crash in Ohio

Before telling the story for those who don't know, I just want to give many, many thanks to all of you who have already called or written with your support and sympathy. It's meant the world to me. ...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:56:00 PST

Oh My God...

Yes, it is indeed true. I am sitting in a tour van with none other than Oh My God. If you haven't heard them (us?) yet, then you are definitely missing out. I've been a huge fan for many years and ...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Sun, 03 Jun 2007 01:23:00 PST

Spoke too soon...

Did I say something about the sun?My bad.Seriously, I love blizzards in March. Makes me feel all cabin-fevery. And you know how great that is...-M
Posted by Matt Lenny on Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:42:00 PST

Spring!

Spring is in the air! Seriously, how nice is it to walk outside without 200 extra lbs of synthetic skin to protect you from the cold? Nice, I say. And I'm sticking to it!Anywho, New York is coming ...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Tue, 13 Mar 2007 09:31:00 PST

New website/new gig!

Hey all,For those of you who don't know, I've moved myself back to New York and am now residing in the lovely land of brooks otherwise known as Brooklyn. It's been a crazy adjustment moving back, but...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:20:00 PST

CD Available at CDBaby.com/mattlenny

Hey everybody,I'm very happy to announce that my CD is now available at CDBaby.com! Just go to the following address and you can purchase copies for all of your friends, relatives, and even that cute...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:02:00 PST

Chicago CD Release Show Cancelled...

Long story short: the Hideout double-booked the night of Dec 1st and guess who got bumped. Yup. Yours truly. So, as of right now, there is no CD release show planned for Chicago for 2006. I may or...
Posted by Matt Lenny on Tue, 21 Nov 2006 07:35:00 PST