I was no doubt blessed by the Muses. Self-taught, I started at a young age by simply plucking out notes on my family's spinet piano, but it would be almost a decade before the keyboard would become my closest companion. Plagued by severe ADHD and mild Tourette’s Syndrome, the I struggled socially and academically as a child. I relied instead on my imagination to guide me through life in Pendleton, Indiana. Family movie

night introduced me to heroes like Robin Williams and Jim Carey. “Phantom Of The

Opera" and "Disney's Aladin" played over and over in the living room on long summer

nights. I was enamored. While in seventh grade, I orchestrated a "Teacher Roast" for

my small Catholic school's talent show. My parents later recalled that the show

solidified in their minds my calling to be a performer.

It wouldn't be long before I made more silly little productions with my friends. All through

my high school years, I explored horizons in the performing arts. Much to my older brother's chagrin, I joined him in the local Anderson Area Youth Chorale where I learned to sing properly. I eagerly joined the radio program, 91.7 WEEM, at my high school freshman year where I first learned about music recording technology. I eventually found my way into community theatre at Anderson's Mainstage Theater. When I couldn't quench my insatiable appetite to perform, I tinkered in passing with the piano, but never took it seriously. At some point during this period, I found dad's old record player and hooked it up in the basement. Enter Billy Joel, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, The Beatles Anthologies, Cat Stevens, ELO, Queen, etc. The songs heard on classic rock radio sounded quite different on dad's vintage Hi-Fi stereo. Still, I thought nothing of the hours spent dancing around to "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out" and "The Fool On The Hill"... "Hollywood Nights" and "Evil Woman".

Inspired by this and various other nebulous reasons, when no one was around, I tried to figure out the complexities of the piano keyboard. It was like a secret language spoken by these incredible artists.

My senior year of high school, still struggling academically, I snuck into the band room after school and played what I knew on the piano. It was hogwash. Just octaves and fifths played in a sort of meditative droning repetitive fashion. I held the sustain pedal down the entire time like a total newb! Soon, other students were gathering around, even resting their heads on the piano to hear my strange rudimentary chords. As soon as the band teacher saw this, he recruited me for the Jazz Ensemble. I was completely incompetent. Unable to read sheet music, I watched the other players for when to turn the pages. All the while, I was just listening to them and clumsily playing notes that seemed vaguely correct. I was a mess. 

 

"Indiana Home"

Over the years, I got better at piano by playing in my spare time, and there was a lot of spare time. After barely graduating high school in the spring of 2012, I was finally allowed to decide the direction of my own life. The thought of going to college of my own volition was absurd, but I wanted some sort of secondary education. After long consideration, I devised a plan that would be the envy of any 18-year-old. I would move to Orlando, Florida, and become a Disney Cast Member! Working for the company that "wrote the book" on themed entertainment and served as the backdrop to family vacations would suffice as education and perhaps lead to some sort of career launch in the industry. Perhaps I'd even find me a Disney princess to fall in love with. So, I got my first job, a full-time job, in the fall of 2012 in merchandise at The World Of Disney retail store in a massive shopping center on Disney property then called “Downtown Disney” (now Disney Springs). I worked 40 to 60 hours per week stocking and organizing shelves, running cash registers, helping guests, and cleaning up messes for $7.25 per hour. I was, however, often found devoting a disproportionate amount of work time to the "helping guests" part as I found the other duties to be much less rewarding. The guests I doted on were absolutely thrilled with me, and I received a stack of rave reviews, even once unwittingly helping Jodi Benson find window stickers. However, my performance in the measurable areas of stock performance and sales numbers were abysmal. So, at the end of my 90-day trial period... after clocking in for a 6am shift... on the day before Christmas Eve... I was led to a conference room by two managers and let go. I begged them to send me back to the property-wide "casting" department to find another "role" in the company for me, but they were powerless to do anything due to the corporate structure over them. I was led out by a security guard who I thanked for his courtesy. Crushed, I slept for 14 hours.

I spent the next few months attempting to get a role in acting. I auditioned for Disney Casting at least 30 times, even flying to New York City for 2 auditions, but was never hired. I worked for the Kissimmee, FL chick-fil-a in the spring of 2013 for two weeks before getting let go because the spring break rush didn't go as expected. I had sunk into a full depression. I lived alone nearly 15 minutes from "Where Dreams Come True", yet mine had been totally denied me. I couldn't even drown my sorrows in free employee park admission. I would have to stand in line and pay full price like everyone else. I watched "Aladin" and "Phantom Of The Opera" in my studio apartment over and over again but did not sing along this time. To console my loneliness and depression, my parents sent me some money to buy a Yamaha P45 digital piano. This was the true beginning. I set it up in my apartment and played it constantly.

After 6 months, I was allowed to reapply to work at Walt Disney World, and I did exactly that. I was immediately hired back part-time as a "Luggage Greeter" at the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campgrounds. It was awesome. I got paid $8.25 per hour to drive a huge 15 passenger van around the campgrounds and help guests and resort concierge solve problems with room keys, luggage, transportation. I was a glorified bellhop for the mouse. I was again allowed to visit my hallowed parks for free. Things seemed to be on the mend, but I was still desperately lonely. I kept it together until my grandmother and dear friend died in September. I was able to be present in her last moments, but upon returning to Florida, I was distraught. It was in this state that I wrote my first full song, "Indiana Home". I recommend that you listen to it before continuing with this article.

 

"Very Different Things"

Needless to say, I quit my job at Disney and moved back to Indiana where I started my first serious relationship with a high school crush. I formed my first band, a saxophone/piano cover duo called Rhatatat. My bandmate, Michael Balassone, patiently encouraged me as I learned my first 40 cover songs entirely by ear. We played whatever gigs we could find, often getting paid $25 and a meal at Mexican restaurants. In the fall of 2014, my relationship fell apart spectacularly. I was broke, and had made the novice mistake of doting over my girlfriend so much that I became quite uninteresting and un-date-able. With a broken heart, I set my sights on improving my circumstances, and in a serendipitous turn of events, I secured a job and went back to school all in the same week! The story goes like this.

I had picked up a one-off $75 gig on Craigslist.com (Remember Craigslist?) helping a wedding DJ with a broken foot load his equipment into a wedding reception in Noblesville, IN. I showed up to load in wearing a dirty hoodie and jeans, and when I was done, the gentleman said, "See you at midnight." I realized that "Load in" also meant "Load Out", too. So, in an effort to kill time, I decided to endulge my curiosity and show myself around the large rustic building, Milltop Banquet and Conference Center, where I eventually found a three story lobby with a baby grand piano in the center of it. I asked an employee if I could play the piano to which he replied "Wearing that?" Embarassed, I said, "Yes?" I explained the situation to him, and he instructed me to go home, put some nice clothes on, and return early for my midnight shift. At which time, he would let me play some songs on the piano. When I returned, dressed in a suit, I played "All Of Me" by John Legend and "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith. The man came over and sat down on the piano bench next to me. "Okay, how much do you charge?", he asked. I said, "I don't know. I've never charged before." I would work there for 5 years.

I also started taking English and Math courses at Ivy Tech Community College to get my GPA up eventually getting into Ball State University Miller college of Business. I had done all of this to win back the favor of the aforementioned girl, andto my surprise, it worked... for about 8 months! We lived together off campus, but as lovers often do, we quarrelled and our feelings changed. When it finally hit me that things were not going to work out between us, I wished there were some way that I could tell her that I was still grateful for everything we'd been through together. So, I put it into a song called "Very Different Things". I did not love the song, but it served its purpose. It wouldn't be until 2018 that I immortalized the song in the recording studio, and I recommend that you listen to it now before continuing with this article. At the same time, I wrote a crazy song called "Get What You Deserve" that I liked a whole lot more, but wouldn't immortalize until many years later on 2024's "Phoning It In".

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The Brick House Years

I failed out of Ball State in the spring of 2016. I didn't hate college like I did elementary or high school, but it was still extremely difficult to focus and get assignments done. So, I moved back home to Pendleton with my tail between my legs and took my lumps, but I was absolutely enjoying my new job as the lobby pianist. I got paid to practice! I would play the same 5 or 6 songs over and over. I would also teach myself new ones by listening to YouTube videos or Spotify and plucking them out. I got quicker at them to the point where I could get a simple pop or country song memorized in just a couple of listens. I also improvised a lot. I just played around in different keys to get a hang of music theory. I continued playing one to three times per week for guest arrivals, cocktail hours, and occasionally a ceremony. I met a lot of brides and grooms and even more bridesmaids and groomsmen, nervous fathers and teary eyed grandmothers. It was a beautiful time. ​​​

On my 23rd birthday, in December of 2016, my parents let me decide where to go for dinner. I said that I'd never been to Broad Ripple before and I wanted to go to Brick House Dueling Pianos in hopes that I could get up and play a song. Maybe they'd even like me and give me a job. We sat and listened to the three men play their show until I couldn't take it anymore. I turned over a request slip and wrote, "I can sing and play just like you!" followed by a list of ten or so artists like Billy Joel and Elton John. The player who I gave it to, a Nashville based artist who goes by Benan, would later become a good friend. After some coaxing and a $20 bill, they let me play one song. I played "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. A silence fell over the bar as I finished the song, and an uproarious applause came afterword. I returned to my table where the general manager Steve offered us a round of shots and asked for my contact information. One month later, in January of 2017, I started training on Wednesdays with Tod Baldwin to an empty bar. No one went out on Wednesdays in January. It was the slow season, a perfect scene for a hardened piano man to teach a naive apprentice. He was brutally honest, but fair and gave great instruction. "You gotta learn more songs." "That is not how you play Elton John... Not even close. You're gonna have to learn it right, or other players won't work with you." I showed up every weekend and started hanging out observing the players that came into town to play the dueling show. 

Short Bio:

Matt is a true to life Piano Man, having honed his skills in "piano bars" where he developed a fun, relaxed, interactive style of performing, telling jokes, and encouraging patrons to sing along, but it was only natural. He's nfluenced by the greatest performers of all time. Fats Waller, Ben Folds, Victor Borge... Every show is fun, beautiful, and unique in a transcendent way. A spectacle of creative expression from start to finish. A must see.

 

As a writer, Matt is a poet and a storyteller, drawing inspiration from a deep love of music. Paul McCartney, John Mayer, and Billy Joel are his favorites, but in his writing, you can also hear nods to unexpected greats like Cab Calloway, Alan Menken, Vince Guaraldi, Frank Sinatra, Rob Thomas, and Floyd Cramer just to name a few. His sound comes from a place of great nostalgia for timeless music. It's like you stuffed a soft rock radio station into a blender and pressed "I'm feeling lucky." What you get is something entirely new and yet so reminiscent. A true genre-bending artist who's time has come.

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When the weather is nice, he is often seen with his "street piano", a 100% real 64 key acoustic piano on a cart. In his free time, he likes to busk on the streets for free, all for the love of music and life. After all, what is music, if not a great source of life itself?

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He released "Matt Soverns EP1" in 2018, five singles since 2018, and his debut album "Phoning It In" in 2024 which more than doubled his catalogue. All of this was done without any recording contracts, managers, agents, or producers. Matt Soverns remains an unsigned artist promoting his music to a world that needs a messenger of joy, brotherhood, and shared experience now more than ever.​ The goal is to build a sustainable fan base for Matt Soverns' original music to flourish within. He wants to go on tour and touch people's lives through the magic of stagecraft while earning a sustainable income for him and his team.