Matthew Solberg (born October 26, 1981 in Kansas City, Kansas) is a singer/songwriter and guitarist. He uses a fingerstyle method of guitar-playing in many of his songs.
Solberg first started to play the guitar when he was about 14 years old and living in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was raised; however, he quickly gave up on the guitar after only a few lessons. It was around this time that he also gave up playing the clarinet, which was the first instrument he had learned how to play and which he had been playing for about 5 years. At the age of 17 and heavily into classic rock, Solberg felt inspired to dig out his dad’s guitar after listening to “Working Man” by Rush one day. He soon became obsessed with the guitar and used the Internet to teach himself how to play.
Solberg did not seriously consider being a songwriter and solo artist until sometime in 2006. It was around this time that he adopted a finger-picking style of guitar-playing. Within about a year, he played his first shows in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was living at the time. Over the next few years, Solberg played almost exclusively by finger-picking, although he now also has many songs that he plays with a pick, mainly for strumming purposes.
Solberg credits his influences to a countless number of artists. He says that his biggest influences are probably Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Paul Simon, The Beatles, and Daniel Johnston.
Solberg currently resides in the Nashville, Tennessee area and has a day job as a pension actuary. In 2009, he independently released his first album, a 7-song EP entitled I Am a Fool, and he appeared as a guest guitarist on Clap for Daylight’s debut album, Break Even. He is currently working on his first full-length album and plans to release it as of December 1, 2010.
*NOTE: You may have come to this website in search of information on the Matthew Solberg who has been/is currently involved in the following bands: From Monument to Masses, The Mass, and Turks. Please note that this website concerns a different Matthew Solberg altogether. Thanks.
