Sioux City’s Mat D. & The Profane Saints Hit Number One On Roots Rock Charts

Call it Roots Rock. Call it Classic Country. Call it Hard Luck Americana. Whatever you want to label their music, Mat D. and the Profane Saints are showing America what we've known for a long time in this region. Great music knows no boundaries.

The Profane Saints have released seven critically acclaimed albums since 2006, but their most recent, 'Holyoke', released March 4, 2014 is their best in my opinion. I've been fortunate to watch and listen to Mat D. work at his craft and these new songs for a number of years after first seeing him open for John Hiatt at the Sioux Falls Orpehum Theatre. I'll never forget that night as literally during the first song of Mat's, the three people I was with all turned to me and asked at the same time "who's this guy?" I had no idea at that time I was seeing a man that would write some of the best lyrics I've heard in decades.

From the opening riffs of 'Half Mile Holler' through one of my favorite tracks on the album 'Saw Mill Road' (which he actually did a live acoustic version on the air with me at JazzFest several summers ago in Yankton Trail Park) through 'Roadhouse Shrine' (which I could definitely hear in a Quentin Tarantino movie!) every song on 'Holyoke' is a hit and it looks like their growing fan base agrees as 'Holyoke' has been #1 on Amazon's Roots Rock New Release charts since its release!

If you're a classic rock and blues fan like I am, you'll hear a little Lynyrd Skynyrd and Steve Earle in the songs. If you're a classic country fan, and I mean the stuff I grew up on like Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, you'll hear some of that in the music as well. But again, when it's this good, you don't need to label it, just enjoy it.

We're fortunate enough to be able to include Mat D. and the Profane Saints among the fantastic local and regional musicians around Sioux Falls. They're an incredible band playing all original music (but to hear Mat's powerful pipes on one of his heroes songs (John Prine) 'Angel From Montgomery', is a real treat as well.

Mat D. and the Profane Saints had a sold out CD Release Party here in Sioux Falls at Old Skoolz earlier this month and will hold another in Sioux City Saturday (March 22) at Vangarde Arts. Tickets still available for just $7.

They will hopefully be doing more shows around the region in the coming months (we've had them at both RibFest and JazzFest over the past few years and are hoping to have them back at JazzFest this summer) Plus they will be back on the White Wall Sessions this season too.

Get to a show and get to know the name Mat D. and the Profane Saints. Music from the Heartland of America.