10/10/2024
When you run a blues festival (especially one that's been going for 25 years) it's really not unusual to see fantastic musicians and blinding performances.
But every now and then, someone who is truly special turns up. Matthew Long was such a person.
Catfish played at the very first reincarnation of the Old Bush Blues in Callow End in August 2015, and have played most years ever since. Even then, at the tender age of 20, Matt demonstrated a skill, feel, charisma and the ability to hold an audience that was way beyond his years. And whilst they are all phenomenal musicians, I’m sure even the rest of Catfish would concede that it was obvious who the real star of the show was.
He quickly endeared himself to audiences far and wide, and turned the heads of fantastically accomplished guitarists (particularly) who had many years on him, and through it all he always managed to retain a rare humility, and a buoyant, refreshingly down-to-earth nature that only boosted his popularity.
To be taken so young and so cruelly, only adds to the loss - a tragic loss for his close friends and family, and, even if you weren’t lucky enough to know him, a painful loss to the blues scene in the UK.
He will be sorely missed.
RIP Matt. x
