SZLACHETKA (pronounced SLA-HET-KA) draws your gaze back to a simpler time when music was less about stylized production and more about its experiential nature. His songwriting finds inspiration in the threads that connect us, weaving a tapestry of familiar moments that pay homage to the past while leaning into a future that promises both wonder and grace. Now based in Nashville, Matthew Szlachetka grew up in New England and began his career as the frontman for the acclaimed roots-rock band, The Northstar Session, with whom he recorded five albums and appeared in the second season of NBC’s “Parenthood”. After nearly a decade of touring he left the band and struck out on his own, releasing his first solo album in 2014, Waits for a Storm to Find. SZLACHETKA’s sophomore album (produced by Grammy winning producer David Bianco), Heart of my Hometown released in early 2018.
SZLACHETKA is a prolific songwriter who relishes the creative interplay of collaborative writing and the serendipitous connections that materialize on the road. In the last year alone he has collaborated with Kevin Savigar (Rod Stewart, Kelsea Ballerini), Adam Wright (Alan Jackson, Lee Ann Womack), Mando Saenz (Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, Eli Young Band, Whiskey Myers, Kim Richey, Wade Bowen), Jeff Silbar (Wind Beneath My Wings), Wyatt Durrette (Zac Brown Band), Scott Underwood (TRAIN), Jamie Kent, Jamie Wyatt, Austin Hanks (Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top), Katelyn Clampett, Matt Brown, Andrew Leahey and Paul Freeman.
Young Heart, Old Soul, the upcoming third album from roots-rock singer/songwriter SZLACHETKA, unfolds like the soundtrack to a cross-country road trip. Filled with heartland hooks, folk melodies, and searing electric guitar, these songs draw a line between Los Angeles – where SZLACHETKA lived for years, soaking up the warm harmonies and jangling riffs of the city's folk-rock icons – and his new home in Nashville, TN, the epicenter of modern-day Americana.
For the past half-decade, he's been building his audience show-by-show, touring for more than 200 days a year while earning praise from outlets like Rolling Stone Country, who hailed his catalog of "road-dog roots-rockers and Americana ballads." Young Heart, Old Soul finds him in transit once again, writing songs about a country torn apart by politics yet united by a common spirit. Produced by Scott Underwood, the Grammy-winning co-founder of Train, and largely recorded at Nashville's legendary Blackbird Studios, Young Heart, Old Soul offers its own version of amplified Americana music. Unlike the two albums that came before it, though, Young Heart, Old Soul is also a record about home – the homes we leave behind, the homes we temporarily visit, and the homes we build with others. Maybe that's why these 11 songs feel so grounded. After all, SZLACHETKA – whose self-made success includes high-profile shows alongside Brandi Carlile, Mike Campbell, and Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr and Benji Shanks; regular appearances on SiriusXM's Tom Petty Radio; and his own DittyTV program, Vinyl Recipes, which combines his love for music, cooking, and cocktails – isn't running anymore. Instead, he's finally arrived.
