Today we’d like to introduce you to Truth of The Matter.
Hello Truth of The Matter, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Truth of the Matter has been a Knoxville staple since 2017. Over the years, we have had several members cycle in and out of the group. However, Michael Blevins, Jacob Fine, & Matthew Smith have always dedicated their musical talents to the band.
We started out of SoKnox Studios/Digitrax Entertainment with the help of our amazing friend & producer Frank Sheadrick. He has always been a supportive voice and helpful ear, providing advice from his experience in touring, songwriting, and producing. We started out rehearsing at SoKnox, eventually working our way to playing shows at Hard Rock Cafe, Open Chord, Tennessee Valley Fair, and many more amazing venues.
We are also the first-ever Barley’s Battle of the Band winners; we are honored to have competed in that event with some of Knoxville’s best talent. Since 2017, we’ve taken a few breaks. However, in September of 2021, the band returned from a hiatus and started from where we left off, just with a few lineup changes.
We added keyboardist, Oz Morse, and bassist, Griffen Watts. Since then we’ve established our setlist and are slated to release our first single, “New Way Out,” this year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Everyone coming together musically has never been an issue, but finding the best schedule for everyone has always been a challenge.
With everyone holding a full-time job, along with school and one in the military, it’s been hard but we work our way through it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What sets us apart is our mix of different genres. The truth of the Matter implements a core, hard rock sound, but builds on that with strong funk, jazz, rap, punk, & metal elements.
We all come from different backgrounds, which means we all grew up listening to different music. Jacob listens to metal acts, such as Tremonti. Matthew & Michael listen to rap acts, such as MF Doom & Kendrick, Griffen listens to alternative acts, such as Third Eye Blind, and Oz listens to various jazz and funk artists, such as Graham Central Station.
If you come to one of our live shows, there will be a song for you. When we release our single, “New Way Out,” you’ll hear the influences.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Musically, we see the industry reinvigorating rock elements, such as electric guitars and live drums, mixed with the rap aesthetic, which has already started to happen with, for example, Juice Wrld.
On the business side, we believe more independent artists will experience an exponential amount of charting and monetary advancement.
There will always be record label artists, for sure, but due to technology allowing more affordable home studio builds, more people have the ability to record and put their work out there.
Pricing:
- Open a show ($50)
- 2-hour show ($200)
- 3-hour show ($350)
Contact Info:
- Email: truthofthematterband@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/truthofthemattertn?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Image Credits
Jaden Hamilton, Jackson Smothers, Cagney Copeland, and Cameron Keeney
