MATT NAKOA BAND

Presented by The Antonia and Vladimir Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund.

“On the ivories, (think of) a hot-handed phenom who can go from Chopin to beer-drenched
honky-tonk in one set… On guitar, a Jack Johnson-esque singer-songwriter… between his piano
chops, charismatic stage presence, and heartfelt originals on guitar… he drops jaws.” – The
Boston Globe

MATT NAKOA is an internationally touring singer/songwriter, recently appearing at The
WhiteHouse, throughout India, and regularly with folk icon Tom Rush. Growing up on a small
goat farm in rural NY State, Matt discovered music as a means of teenage escape and trained
to be a concert pianist. Matt was ultimately accepted as a vocalist to Berklee College of Music
where he studied alongside soon-to-be Grammy winners St. Vincent and Esperanza Spalding
among others. After school, Matt landed in NYC’s vibrant piano bar scene. There he quickly
became a star performer at Manhattan’s famous Brandy’s Piano Bar, with lines waiting outside
the door each Saturday night. As if illustrating two sides of himself, Matt’s first album, Light In
The Dark (2012), is a sweeping pop opus, while A Dozen Other Loves (2014) explores an
intimate acoustic palette. Across the board his song craft has garnered awards, including a win
at Kerrville Folk Festival’s prestigious New Folk Competition. Though not easily pinned down,
“In sum,” as a recent review put it, “Matt Nakoa is a musical adept, one of those well kept
secrets you just can’t help but celebrate: intimate and genuine, soulful and bittersweet, a rich
poetic songbook sung in praise to a complicated, emotionally present world.”