MATT BUTLER’S RECKLESS SON NAMED ONE OF SPIN’S ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
SET TO PLAY APAP / NYC IN JANUARY 2024
“Butler has played Reckless Son at the locked world’s equivalents of Madison Square Garden - venues including Rikers Island and San Quentin. He’s doing something special for the American arts.”
(New York, NY – December 19, 2023) - Reckless Son, written and performed by singer songwriter Matt Butler, was inspired by his experiences performing over 100 concerts in jails and prisons across the country. It's a story of hope that speaks to recovery from trauma and substance abuse, the healing power of storytelling, and what it means to discover a deeper sense of purpose in life through service to others. Filled with personal history, lessons learned from those behind the walls and Americana songs influenced by Woody Guthrie and Townes Van Zandt, Reckless Son is more than just a show. It's a calling.
Reckless Son, directed by Richard Hoehler, was developed in part by the HB Studio Artist Residency program and was workshopped in Oregon State Penitentiary, The Theater Workshop at Otisville State Prison, and the Chesterfield County Jail.
This past week, SPIN named Reckless Son one of the Albums of the Year and named Butler one of their Artists of the Year for 2023.
“While setting into a couple of Oregon prisons to witness [Butler] workshop this down-and-out song cycle, seeking feedback from prisoners as he did so, I came to know many of the lyrics along with the moods explored so genuinely on this album,” describes SPIN’s Matt Thompson.
“Each is a sketch of life gone awry–of “track marks and Jesus Christ tattoos,” of mothers burnt by junkie sons, of last-refuge shelters, of going home from a stretch with a stigma, of believing your suicide would be a kindness to your loved one. And judging by how I saw prisoners taking it in and talking after, it’s on the mark. Special work.”
“Reckless Son wasn’t written for the incarcerated,” adds Butler. “It was written for those who haven’t had the privilege of meeting these people and hearing their stories for themselves. The show is as faithful a rendering of the truth of my experience as I can offer. The people in jail know their own story already. Reckless Son is more about getting that story heard.”
In addition to jails, prisons, and correctional facilities, Butler still performs at universities, high schools, and retreat centers. He has been an artist in residence at HB Studio in Manhattan and he has been featured on NPR Morning Edition, PBS, the Blue Situation, and in the San Franciso Examiner and the Richmond Times Dispatch.
Butler is set to kick off 2024 by performing at APAP in New York City, the world's premier gathering of the performing arts presenting, booking, and touring industry and the annual members conference of the Association of Performing Arts Profession. His official showcases are on January 12 and 13. More details below.
January 11: Don’t Tell Mama – New York, NY (7:30pm)
January 12: Gibson Suite - New York Hilton Midtown (8:20pm)
January 13: Gibson Suite - New York Hilton Midtown (6:10pm)
