Tip the Artist

Artist Bio

Hi. My name is Matthew Mayfield and I'm a two-face artist.

Sometimes I write quiet, folky ballads. Those songs rip my heart out.
Sometimes I write riff-driven rock'n'roll anthems. Those songs make me feel alive.

It's all honest. It's always done with every ounce of heart I can give because when it's all said and done, the human element is the only thing that truly connects people to music. You probably have a cousin who's a better singer than me and an uncle who can play circles around me on guitar. That's great. I'm happy for you. And for them. But I want to write the song that makes all three of you close your eyes and feel that feeling again. The song that knocks you on your ass. The song that tugs at your insides in a way nothing else ever will.

I'm a child of the 90s. I'm a child of Birmingham, Alabama. I'm a homebody and I'm a touring musician. I Twitter. I Facebook. But I believe social media is the round that went straight through the magical, mysterious heart of the Rock'n'Roll Unicorn and left future generations star-less and dreamless. They'll never know how amazing it was to have ZERO access to your heroes unless they were on television, the cover of Rolling Stone, or onstage in your hometown arena.

If I had been born in '73 instead of '83 I would be an even larger train wreck of a human being than I am now. I'd have a house full of platinum records, a lingering drug habit, and I sure as hell wouldn't be writing my own bio! I'd have one of my minions do it just like Axl does. Just like Mick does. Just like Prince does. I wouldn't be carrying my own gear or pushing cases into a trailer behind a van for the tenth year in a row. I'd be on a jet making blueprints of stage spectacles on cocktail napkins and hopelessly dreading the mobs of fans at the airport who might notice all my imperfections when their flash is on or see something oddly human in the way I pick my nose.

The truth is that it's 2012 and everything has changed. I've signed a big record deal. I've been wined and dined by the big wigs. And none of it matters. The only thing that ever lasts is the song. If you truly believe the guy who's coming through your speakers, then something beautiful and truly miraculous is happening.

I don't have a plan B.

I believe in miracles.

-MM