I recently wrote a round-up review on Christmas/holiday songs for the 2021 winter period and one of the tracks was Happy Holidays by Matteson Gregory, which I really enjoyed. I decided to find out a little bit more about her – read on below to find out more!
By Jane Howkins
You released a holiday track earlier this year titled Happy Holidays, which we reviewed. What can you tell us about the track and where can it be purchased?
Happy Holidays is an upbeat, heartwarming song about spending the holidays with the ones you love. Holidays are significant days throughout every year celebrated by doing certain activities like baking and decorating the tree. For me, this song is like a declaration to wanting not only to spend everyday with the people I love, but to (most importantly) spend the most special days of the year with. You can stream or buy this song on all music platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Would you ever consider doing more Christmas/holiday songs in the future? How do you celebrate the holidays?
To be honest, I never thought I would release a holiday song. Not because I was against the idea, but because I think for me I was so familiar with the classic holiday songs that I never thought I could write my own. Well, until now. If more inspiration comes I would love to do another holiday song and I guess time will tell with that. I celebrate the holidays with my family. We love to bake, watch Christmas movies, drive through lights, and pretty much everything in between. Christmas Day is my favorite because we always go over to my grandparents where we make baked manicotti, homemade pasta sauce with meatballs, and we always end the night by watching Elf.
Have you got any plans to release a full length album or an EP anytime soon?
I honestly would love to do an album/EP. For me right now I could definitely see an ep in the near future.
You’re based in Branson, Missouri. What is the music scene like in your part of the world?
There are lots of variety shows where I live. There’s a show that’s a tribute to rock legends, there are shows that have Broadway hits. All of which are amazing. Slowly they are bringing attention to the local music scene as there are so many great local artists in the area.
What is the writing and recording process like for you?
For me, the writing process is always different. Sometimes I come up with the music before the lyrics or I come up with lyrics before the music. Recording depends on if I am working with a producer or producing myself. If I’m working with a producer it usually is about two days in the studio. The first day consists of finalizing the lyrics, melodies, and building the basic outline for the song. The second day consists of recording the vocals and adding more instrumentation. If I am producing myself it usually consists of days of building the track and then a day or two of recording the vocals.
Do you plan to release any singles at any point in the near future?
Yes! I am in the process right now of scheduling studio time right now so I will hopefully be releasing a few songs for you in the next couple of months.
What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
As far as what influences me, that would be life. Whether it’s something I am personally going through or maybe something I see someone else going through it never fails to inspire a song. For my musical influences I would have to say Taylor Swift, Alanis Morissette, The Cranberries, and the list goes on and on. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of 90’s music so I feel that has definitely inspired my music.
Has the pandemic hindered your work much?
I feel like the pandemic has hindered my work in both good and bad ways. For example, I wasn’t able to book studio time so I wasn’t able to release as much music as I would’ve liked to and I wasn’t able to play live so that was really hard. The good thing that came from it is it gave me so much time to write and promote my single for that year War with Myself.
Do you have any tour dates lined up? What can people expect from one of your shows and why should people come and see you perform live?
I am so excited to be performing again! I have dates lined up all of next year and more to come. At my shows people can expect to see a raw and acoustic version of not only my songs but some of their favorites. With my shows I always love talking to the crowd and making them feel as though they are part of the show too.
Any last words for the fans?
I love you so much and thank you for supporting my music and letting me do what I love. I wish you the happiest of holidays and a wonderful new year! Much love.