“I dread answering the question ‘what kind of music do you play’ every time it’s asked.” Says Matt Stell & the Crashers’ front man Matt Stell. “Every time someone asks me, I just end up telling them that we’re kinda like 30 of my favorite bands and proceed to recommend songs and YouTube clips to them.” Matt Stell & the Crashers’ love for all kinds of music runs deep and they draw from many different sources for inspiration. Somewhere between Country, Americana, Blues, Soul, Folk, Gospel and Rock and Roll you’ll find MS&C. Geographically situated between the traditional homes of these and other styles of music, it makes sense that MS&C would learn from and study under these traditions in order to craft a sound that’s all their own. Evidence of this can be found on their upcoming release, Vestibule Blues. Stell—who wrote or co-wrote every track on the album—covered a lot of ground in terms of mood and subject matter. “There are songs about everything from crimes of passion and retribution, to high school scenes most people can relate to, to funerals, to the peculiar ways that men and women sometimes carry on, etc. The record definitely goes to some different places, and that’s the way I like it. I usually get bored with repetition.” Matt Stell & the Crashers are headquartered in Morrilton in Central Arkansas, Stell’s hometown. The Crashers include Conway Arkansas’ Darren Barry on guitar, Camden, AR/Baton Rouge, LA/Owasso, OK’s Josh Rogers playing drums, and West Plains, MO’s Joey Rowlett on bass. Together this energetic four-piece outfit tours the South and Midwest with their own brand of Southern music. MS&C have played hundreds shows in the 2½ years they’ve been together, and shared the stage with the likes of Randy Rogers, Stoney LaRue, Wade Bowen, Eli Young Band, Chris Knight, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, John D. Hale Band, Bart Crow Band, Mark McKinney, No Justice, Reckless Kelly, Paul Thorn, Ryan Bingham, Johnny Cooper, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Eric Church, along with many others. They’ve made fans and friends along the way, and this year promises to bring on even more of the same. “There’s nothing like writing a song that means something to a stranger,” Matt says, smiling. “And there’s nothing like playing those songs with your friends to strangers and then making friends out of them.”