The Elvis Costello & Beatles DNA in Matt Fisher’s Songs & Voice
The Piney Pickers are worth a listen - Matt's voice and songwriting are a gift.
Matt Fisher was the second artist I discovered using my Yutori Scout AI agent (here was the first: https://www.unsignedsongs.com/p/midmajor-major-label-sound-major). Interestingly, I first stumbled onto an older iteration of Matt’s music through a previous project called Matt Fisher and the Telephone Junkies:
I loved the songs on that profile and was disappointed to learn the band had dissolved. As Matt later told me, “A band is like a marriage between multiple people.” Lord knows a marriage to one person is hard enough.
I was delighted to discover Matt had launched a newer project:
The Piney Pickers, a more Americana-rooted collection of songs, slightly country leaning, but every bit as enjoyable as his earlier work. The Piney Pickers, active since roughly December 2025, take their name as a hat tip to the Pine Barrens region of Southern New Jersey, where Matt grew up. I’m told “Piney” is the sort of mildly derogatory nickname locals might use to tease someone from that area.
Matt Fisher is a guitarist and songwriter with a surprisingly storied musical history. One of his earliest major appearances came at age 17 on MTV’s Made, performing with one of his first bands, The SlyCaps, which he modestly describes as “a confusing blend of funk, rock and a bit of ska.”
You can still hear those early recordings here:
I had the privilege of interviewing Matt by phone, and after spending time with his catalog, one influence becomes impossible to ignore: Elvis Costello. That isn’t a criticism or a knockoff comparison. Matt has his own identity entirely. But you cannot hear songs from his Smile Mafia or Telephone Junkies era without occasionally catching the Elvis Costello DNA in his phrasing and vocal sensibility.
Matt readily acknowledges the influence:
“Everything I do is influenced by Elvis Costello and the Beatles.”
The Beatles influence may surprise listeners less familiar with their deeper catalog, particularly their country and Americana leanings. Doubt the Beatles had a country vein? Listen to “Two Of Us” from Let It Be. How is that not a country song?
Matt told me he always viewed country music as something for “old people.”
Then he laughed at himself:
“Now that I am an ‘old person….’ Alright… I had a gig where we played a more classic country setup. My voice sounded pretty good over that kind of music. Even Elvis Costello made a country album.”
The turning point came through his friend Josh Werner, whom Matt credits as something of a country music guru. Werner brought Matt to a bluegrass festival, an experience that changed his perspective entirely.
Matt described being stunned not only by the musicians onstage, but by the audience. The people attending were shredding just as hard as the players performing. The whole thing was humbling and exciting in equal measure.
Later, playing country gigs with Josh Werner near his hometown pushed Matt further toward the sound that would eventually become The Piney Pickers.
According to Matt:
“It’s a little bit more ‘America’ style than my previous bands. What I like about the word ‘Americana’ is it’s a little bit more expansive. The Beatles were very country oriented. They even covered Buck Owens’s ‘Act Naturally.’”
Matt also pointed me toward another example: acclaimed mandolin player and bluegrass virtuoso Chris Thile has argued that “I’ve Just Seen a Face” is essentially a bluegrass song. Once you hear it through that lens, it’s hard to unhear.
And then there’s Elvis Costello. Matt noted that Costello’s country album, and particularly his cover of “A Good Year for the Roses,” helped open his ears to hear differently the country and roots music that had always been around him.
Suddenly, The Piney Pickers make a little more sense.
Before The Piney Pickers, Matt launched Smile Mafia in the early 2020s, an alt-rock project whose recordings later carried over into Matt Fisher and the Telephone Junkies. One standout track from that period is “Shooting Daggers,” showcasing not only Matt’s vocals but some genuinely impressive guitar work:
Later came Matt Fisher and the Telephone Junkies. One track I particularly like from that project:
Jessica Jessica
“Jessica Jessica” opens with a gorgeous, memorable, slightly intimidating guitar riff that stresses me out simply imagining playing it while simultaneously singing. Lyrically, Matt croons:
“Jessica Jessica dance with me easy. We don’t need no troubled hearts…”
Listen once and the melody hangs around for days, which is exactly what great songs are supposed to do. Elegant, gentle, and unmistakably his.
Matt is such an accomplished guitarist that I suspect his songwriting often begins with the instrument itself. Some writers start with lyrics. Others build both simultaneously. My impression is that Matt’s command of guitar opens melodic doors many songwriters simply never discover.
I asked what themes show up repeatedly in his writing.
“I’m pretty narrow — themes tended to be more about the fear of what’s ahead, when I was younger at least. And now that I’m older, they’re more about the fear of what’s behind me… and the fear of what’s ahead. My songwriting attempts to help me learn more about my feelings and the thoughts in my head — my wicked mind. Mental health is becoming a bigger theme.”
Then he offered perhaps the wisest thing said during our conversation:
“Even the things that are legitimately scary that we should be worried about are not improved by panicking about them.”
That philosophy bleeds into his newest material.
I asked which song from The Piney Pickers was his personal favorite.
“My Wicked Mind …is the first song I ever self-recorded where I played all the instruments. That song isn’t really ‘a band.’ It’s mostly me playing everything. Though my friend Joshua played pedal steel on it. My Wicked Mind is the one that turned out much better than I expected.”
The Piney Pickers also give Matt something increasingly rare: freedom.
“As much as I love having a band, I can show up alone and get these songs across.”
To hear what he means, watch the solo performance pinned atop the band’s Instagram profile:
“It’s just me and a guitar.”
“What I like about this genre, it’s about the song. Not necessarily about how the band looks.”
Longtime Matt Fisher listeners need not worry: The Piney Pickers still feature Matt’s lead guitar solos. And thankfully so, because the man can absolutely shred. The solos serve the songs in the most elegant way, arriving exactly when the music calls for them, and never a moment sooner.
Then, with another dose of self-awareness:
“I’m getting too old to play that loud anymore.”
Matt is married and has two dependents: a dog named Dele (pronounced like the deli sandwich), named after a Tottenham Hotspur player, and a cat named Piglet.
Check out The Piney Pickers. Though the project has released only six songs, they’ve already built an Instagram following of roughly 2,777 followers, remarkable for a band barely six months into releasing music.
My favorite track?
“What Ever Happened To Me.”
It’s a coming-of-age song for anyone who has crossed the strange border between adolescence and adulthood:
“Put on the Beatles and cry myself to sleep
Cause I’ll never wake up in 1963
Getting nostalgic for when I was 17
Back in the days when I knew everything”
CHORUS:
“How did I get this way?
Is the way things are going to be?
Is this the way things will stay?
Whatever happened to me?”
You can check it out on Spotify:
And a live version that really showcases the Beatles-esque chord movement underneath the song:
I discovered Matt Fisher through an AI scout. But after digging through decades of projects, bands, reinventions, and influences, what struck me most is this: some musicians simply keep writing because they have to. Matt Fisher sounds like one of those people. And we should all be thankful songwriters like him still exist.