The Boston music scene is one of the toughest and most competitive scenes to break into. There’s an abundance of musicians from the many colleges and universities that the city features, meaning that musicians will have to work twice as hard to make a name for themselves. But that hasn’t slowed Arlo Matthews down.
Hailing from East Haddam, Conn., Matthews has gained a following in both the Boston and Connecticut music scenes, including Storrs. A singer-songwriter and talented guitarist, Matthews regularly performs and collaborates with multiple groups: bringing his fiery, dynamic guitar playing and jack-of-all-trades ethos to all of his projects. He’s also an accomplished solo artist with his ‘60s and ‘70s inspired folk rock sound.
Matthews first picked up a guitar when he was in sixth grade, though he joked that at the time “I never wanted to put in any effort, I just wanted to be good immediately.” His guitar sat in his room collecting dust until he picked it up again in January 2019, this time with a more serious approach. He taught himself how to play the instrument and sing.
As he continued to sharpen his craft, he started his first band, Flipside, the same year. Among the members of that group was Aiden Bonilla, another guitarist and songwriter. Bonilla helped Matthews develop as a songwriter as the two started writing songs together.
“I wasn’t very skilled at coming up with my own progressions because I was just figuring out how to get my way around an instrument,” he said. “So, what would happen is that Aiden would have an idea, like a riff or progression. And then I would try to match it with words.”
Matthews didn’t realize it at the time, but Flipside would become the launching pad for both him and Bonilla. Bonilla would go on to launch Overlöded: an indie punk group that has become one of the most prominent names in the Storrs music scene today. Meanwhile, the songs that the duet wrote would become the backbone of Matthews’ debut album “Waiting for Daybreak,” which was released in October 2022.
Among the songs on the album, the one that stands out most to him is “Coming Home.” The song originated with a guitar riff that Bonilla made and Matthews put some lyrics and a melody over. Matthews said he regards it as one of his proudest achievements.
“It’s the song I think I’ll probably play at 99% of my shows for the rest of my life,” he said. “It’s fun, has a catchy chorus and a cool solo at the end. I was really proud when I first wrote that song and was even prouder when people liked it when I put it out.”
When the album came out, Matthews was in his sophomore year of college at Suffolk University in Boston. Putting out an album was a longtime goal of his that had finally come to light after a three year-long writing and recording process. But it also marked the first time he had put himself out there as a musician, something that he claimed felt surreal.
“Releasing that album was monumental for me because before that, it was kind of a well-kept secret that I was a musician,” he said. “I didn’t really play live all that much and I didn’t have a band in college after that album. When I released it, it was so weird seeing my music on Spotify and seeing people that I didn’t know all that well post about it on their Instagram stories.”
He soon began pushing to play more shows in the area, though he didn’t have much success at first, noting that Boston music scene is “incredibly competitive and you have to know a person to get in somewhere.”
The first show he played was in September 2023, which was a welcoming event at Suffolk University. But his breakthrough came in March 2024 when he performed at Underhill, a Boston basement venue where he had frequently attended shows. The show kicked off his true entrance into the Boston scene.
“I always wanted to play at that venue specifically, because I’d seen so many of my local heroes go through there,” he said. “And from there, I’ve started making more connections, but that was a big jumping off point for me.”
Now, Matthews regularly performs and records with multiple groups in Boston. He fronts the Arlo Matthews Band, which he described as a “revolving door band” featuring a rotation of lineups with “whoever wants to play [my] music with me wherever we can play it.” He’s also a member of Off by One, a funk-inspired studio-based jam band where he plays guitar and sings backing vocals.
But Matthews’ talents aren’t just limited to guitar. Since he started college, he has learned how to play bass, ukelele, keyboards and harmonica, which has helped him become a more well-rounded musician and create more opportunities to perform. This led to him joining the backing band for Julian Spector, a Boston-based indie folk musician, as a keyboardist, where he lays down synthesizer and piano textures.
Though he’s made a name for himself in Boston, Matthews is no stranger to the Connecticut scene. He started his musical career in the state and has performed in Hartford and New Haven, both with the Arlo Matthews Band and Overlöded.
Matthews also experienced the Storrs music scene for the first time in September with a weekend of high energy back-to-back shows. He played with Overlöded on Friday, Sept. 20, at Moon Club and then sat in with jam band AshBaby the next night on guitar, which is a first foray in Storrs that even seasoned veterans would rival. He said that he had always wanted to play in Storrs and that those two shows did not disappoint thanks to the energy of the crowds both nights. He also expressed how thankful he is to be a part of two distinct scenes.
“I’m grateful that I get to have a foot in both of these music scenes,” he said. “There’s very limited crossover sometimes between these scenes. But I think I really get the best of both worlds and of both states.”