Krissy Matthews Band
It was 1995, Krissy was 3 years old and his father invited him on stage to play along to Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison.
This marked the beginning of the story of the British Norwegian Krissy Matthews. Today he is 28 years old and has earned a reputation as one of the most unique guitarists of the 21st century, having amassed a wealth of experience that most musicians can only dream of.
At the age of 12, Krissy was personally invited by John Mayall to play two songs together on two consecutive nights at the Notodden Blues Festival in Norway. The opening act was Peter Green & Friends. A few years later, Krissy was the last person to perform live on stage in the United Kingdom alongside the late Jeff Healey, shortly after receiving advice for the industry from the King of Blues, BB King.
Not a bad start for someone so young!
Since then, he has appeared three times on national Norwegian breakfast television, recorded a live session for the BBC Radio 2 Paul Jones Blues Show at the Maida Vale Studios (London), and was featured on Nicky Horne's Friday Night Rock Show for Vintage TV. He has recorded and released several albums and has constantly performed and toured in clubs, festivals, schools, and nursing homes around the world!
In 2015, Krissy joined the iconic German Hamburg Blues Band as a permanent member, where he still accompanies legendary artists like Chris Farlowe, Arthur Brown, and Maggie Bell every evening. Previous guitarists he replaced were Clem Clempson (Humble Pie / Colosseum) and Miller Anderson (Keef Hartley / Spencer Davis).
He has performed over 1000 concerts in the UK, China, Russia, and Europe. Iconic venues such as Museumsplatz (Bonn, DE), Tanzbrunnen (Cologne, DE), Freak Valley (Siegen, DE), Ronnie Scotts (London, UK), The Cavern (Liverpool, UK), Loreley Amthitheater (Loreley, DE), Zwarte Cross (Lichtenvoorde, NL), Festa Avante (Lisbon, PO), and headlining one of the most renowned German festivals, Burg Herzberg in 2018 in front of 20,000 people along with The Herzburg Blues All Stars are just some of the highlights.
In March 2019, he was invited to perform with his trio at the very well-known “Rockpalast Festival” of WDR.
A knight’s accolade and a dream for any musician! This is set to be released in spring 2023 as a live CD/DVD package through MIG Music.
However, the release has been delayed due to the effects of the Covid19 pandemic.
Krissy and his band have already shared billing with big names like Toto, Gregg Allman, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Satriani, Beth Hart, Jimmie Vaughan, Steven Seagal, Clawfinger, and Los Lobos. In March 2019, Krissy released his latest studio album “Monster in Me” through MIG Music.
It was produced by Baard Torstensen of Clawfinger and co-written with Baard and Pete Brown.
The man who was once known as “the unofficial fourth member of Cream.” Pete is the poet behind timeless songs such as Sunshine of Your Love, White Room & Politician. A brand new Krissy Matthews studio album was completed during the pandemic in October 2020, and Krissy signed an excellent new contract with the legendary German label Ruf Records.
It contains 9 songs, all written during and over the worldwide lockdown, reflecting how it personally affected him.
This was released on August 27, 2021, and is titled “Pizza Man Blues”.
On May 10, 2024, the brand new album “Krissy Matthews & Friends” will be released, which is his second album released by Ruf Records after “Pizza Man Blues”. It is a monster album that brings together the Who’s Who of the modern blues and rock scene, and Krissy took a year to produce it!
Friends featured on the album include the rap-metal giants Clawfinger, the fire god Arthur Brown, the voice Chris Farlowe, Germany's soul queen Inga Rumpf, the legendary singer-songwriter Stoppok, the iconic Hamburg Blues Band, elite drummers Dennis Chambers & Curt Cress, blues singing dynamite Big Daddy Wilson, and many more.
The album contains 24 songs and is nearly 3 hours long, featuring a mix of Krissy's original material and his favorite cover songs. “It took a long time, but I made it. I started preproduction in November 2022 and went into the studio in January 2023 to start the actual work. I wanted to bring together all my favorite musicians that I’ve met on the road throughout my career. They are by no means all there, but a good handful are! I didn't want this album to fit into a box, so there are many different genres from metal to blues and jazz to rock 'n' roll. But ultimately, it’s a Krissy Matthews album.”