The Matthew Kush Band is based out of Raleigh, NC. Matthew's influences range from The Counting Crowes, Metallica, Jery Lee Lewis, Skid Row, to Scott Joplin. Playing in Country, Funk and Pop/Rock bands that end upside down as a keyboardist led Matthew to try his own project. "We have more potential than any other band I have played with because I know we won't ever stop pushing the envelope" Matthew states. Their debut album hit the shelves in December of 2006. They are looking forward to their next album already, after having a successful release of "Relentless". A very fitting title.
Matthew's first love for music started as a teen when his chorus teacher took him under his wing and suggested that he take piano lessons. After singing in short musicals, Matthew was chosen to perform in the off-broadway production of Evita, touring around Europe. By the time he was 16, Matthew had taught himself the electric guitar, reciting solos by Dave Mustang and Kirk Hammett. Going on to College at Elon University to play baseball, Matthew still found himself at the end of the day at the piano. Matthew pursued his passion and graduated with a degree in Classical music performance. Throughout the process Matthew was always writing and joined his first band "Spredelectric". From there, he auditioned as a keyboard player for many bands, and joined the John Dupree Band in 2000. After a successful run, and an inch away from a record deal, the JDB broke up. Thereafter, the dream began, with a band called Moxie McCoy. A female led band willing to write and record and give it a chance. Matthew wrote songs for this band and took charge hoping it would lead to something big. On their way, going through 3 or 4 different singers, Matthew decided to go to Los Angeles to push the dream as a back-up keyboard player. Los Angeles played a huge roll in allowing Matthew to find his voice. "I got out there, and played open mics when there wasn't anything else to do except wait for the phone calls. I had little money, and met average musicians that were signed to record deals. This inspired me. I jammed with 'names' in the music business- some were great, some not so great. I started performing my own songs, and decided that I needed to pursue this." Unwilling to sacrifice the necessary means for living led Matthew back to NC. "They wanted me to pay my dues, and by that time, I felt that I had already payed my dues." The decision to go back to NC for Matthew enabled him to save the money for the recording process for his first CD.