Matt grew up in a small town in Kent County just outside of Detroit, Michigan and as a result, spent many of his early years steeped in Motown. From there Matt started playing guitar as a teenager, being inspired by the sounds of the Grunge era as well as the classic rock and roll of Led Zeppelin, Rush, and the Beatles that was pervasive in Detroit Rock City radio. Late in his high school career Matt spent a year with his high school jazz band which provided him a greater appreciation of music and broaden his horizons to players like John Scofield and Eric Kransno. Throughout his college years, Matt was a member of a alternative rock act in Windsor named Foreign Film Star, recording a number of albums and touring Ontario.

After school, Matt spent the next 10 years working in local top 40 acts throughout Essex and Kent county, playing a number of different instruments, before finally learning to play guitar with a drawl and landing with Snakebite. From here on out it's nothing but cowboy boots and cluster-pluckin'!