Think about some of the realest and most revealing conversations you’ve had. They might’ve taken place over a cup of coffee, a few cigarettes, or a couple of drinks. For Matt Maeson, these exchanges tend to begin behind a microphone. Standing alone under a solitary spotlight with a guitar in hand, he lays thoughts bare, discloses secrets, shares truths, and leaves every last emotion on the stage—as if he’s speaking directly to each member of the audience.
Now, the multiplatinum singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist connects with unparalleled intimacy and stark honesty on his first-ever live record, That’s My Cue: A Solo Experience.
“When you strip back all of the production, you’re listening to just the guitar and the lyrics,” he says. “You can home in on what the songs are about more without any distractions. I love the full production, but I wanted to do this record so you could really hear my words.”
His words have consistently resonated with audiences since his emergence out of Norfolk, VA in 2015. Following a quiet grind, he shined on 2019’s history-making Bank on the Funeral. The album housed his platinum-certified singles “Cringe” and “Hallucinogenics” [feat. Lana Del Rey], which both reached #1 at Alternative and enshrined him as “the first ever male solo artist to log two #1 Alternative hits from a full-length debut LP.” 2022 saw him maintain this momentum with Never Had To Leave. Garnering widespread acclaim, American Songwriter applauded the latter as “an eclectically powerful 12-track account of life as Maeson sees it.” Meanwhile, he also asserted himself as a versatile presence, collaborating with everyone from Gryffin and Illenium to Chelsea Cutler and receiving an invite to open up Zach Bryan’s massive arena tour.
Matt always harbored a natural inclination for performing acoustic though. In high school, he took the stage for the first time during an open mic at Chic-Fil-A in Richmond, VA. “I won free Chic-Fil-A for a year, so big stakes,” he laughs. Shortly after, he found himself playing for prison audiences as part of his parents’ ministry Life On The Verge. He adds, “It’s really how I cut my teeth. They’re the hungriest crowds, because some of the inmates haven’t seen live music in decades. Those gigs were always fun.”
In this spirit, he opted to embark on a solo acoustic tour across Europe during 2022 under the moniker of That’s My Cue. Galvanized by the response, he brought the tour to North America, selling out gigs coast-to-coast throughout 2023 and 2024.
Along the way, he decided to record thirty shows and assemble what would become That’s My Cue: A Solo Experience.
“The whole goal was to make a live record that really feels live,” he goes on. “There’s crowd noise, and there are little flaws. It feels like something you’d experience at a show. We wanted it to be real, and I think we accomplished that.”
You can hear it in the simultaneously chilling and comforting live renditions of staples such as “Hallucinogenics,” “Cringe,” “Grave Digger,” and “Cut Deep.” Among many standouts, he opened the shows with the previously unreleased “That’s My Cue.” Matt’s vulnerable delivery weights heavy on lightly strummed chords as he exhales, “At least I still got my wife, my dog, and my full head of hair.” Reaching an inflection point met with cheers, feeling overflows on the proclamation, “I’m not the problem. No, the problem’s you, and I look for your approval in every Goddamn thing I do…and that’s my cue.”
“When I wrote it, I was having a lot of internal arguments about what I wanted my career to look like,” he admits. “The song was born out of looking at how I had begun to base my self-worth on the impact of my music. I was so obsessed with success that it became a measurement of how I was living my life. On tour, I’d get this constant rush of validation. It stopped with the Pandemic, so I had to sit with myself and reevaluate things. I started every night with ‘That’s My Cue’. I’m basically saying, ‘My career has changed me and how I view myself. However, I’ve still got to get up on stage and do my job, regardless. That’s my cue’.”
Tracing an emotional arc through 20 live tracks, the record concludes with an upbeat and undeniable performance of “Legacy.” He hollers, stomps, screams, and strums his guitar with gleeful abandon, going on to assure, “It’s not too late to pick up the pieces.”
“I love finishing on a big note,” he grins. “It follows on the heels of some very deep songs and stories. ‘Legacy’ gets the whole crowd singing, ‘Whoop whoop!’ It sends people out the door feeling victorious and hopeful.”
In his music, Matt’s carrying on the kind of conversation that inspires when you need it the most.
“This record is definitely for the fans,” he leaves off. “So many listeners have gravitated to the stripped-down versions of the songs, because they relate to the context and lyrics. I wanted to share this music in the most real and authentic way. I’m excited to see what happens next.”
