Queen City native plans EP release March 10 in Tyler

By John Dilmore
john@casscountynow.com

Those who visit Coach’s and Cowboy’s in Tyler the evening of March 10 will learn something many in Cass County already know about Matt Coats. In addition to being a talented musician, the Queen City native has something to say.
The Matt Coats Trio will headline a live show marking the release of the three-song EP “No One’s Home,” which features music reflecting Coats’ blues and rock influences. The show begins at 8:30 p.m. with a couple of opening acts – including the blues rock band Styrofoam Submarine -- with the Matt Coats Trio expected to play at 10:30.
Attendees will receive a free EP while supplies last -- and the three songs featured run the gamut in terms of both style and influence. 
The tune “I Never Met a Woman,” which expands on a B.B. King quote, is described by Coats as, “More of a rockabilly song. It’s not just straight blues.” Meanwhile the title track, “No One’s Home,” has “a slower, heavier feel to it, but it’s blues rock,” Coats said. That one is based on an encounter with a homeless man in Austin. The third song, “Run,” is a fast-paced, loud number. “That’s the one that I’ve been getting the most feedback from,” Coats added.
There are plans for the EP to be released online as well. But that’s just the start -- the Matt Coats Trio is at work on a full album, which is being recorded in Tyler.
That his music is finding a wider audience comes as no surprise. Coats has been working toward this for years, since he was first intrigued by music as a child, listening to his uncle and a friend play guitar. Coats got his first guitar at age eight.
Later he played trumpet in the Queen City Marching Band -- a learning experience he remembers fondly.
“To be honest with you if I could get away with playing trumpet and marching and getting paid to do it, I’d rather do that than play a guitar on stage,” he said. “Marching at Queen City, you always knew everybody was going to do what they were supposed to.”
Ultimately, the guitar offered more different sounds and techniques than the trumpet, “hundreds of thousands of sounds,” Coats said.
Though his influences are varied, he ultimately gravitated toward the blues. While there are different paths to the blues, “Mine was seeing it,” Coats said. “I learned a lot from Blues Fest, anything from running sound to playing guitar. Blues Fest was the influence.”
He and a friend got a chance to work the festival, and Coats was able to watch, hear and meet a number of influential musicians.
Now, he follows in their footsteps, bringing his music to live audiences and recording tracks in the studio. The “No One’s Home” EP sees the light of day in Tyler on March 10, and Coats hopes to hold a release party closer to home at some point as well, perhaps in Texarkana. 
And while a firm date hasn’t been set for release of the full album, which will feature at least 10 songs, it’s on the way.
Coats describes it in a way his fans can no doubt apply to any of his projects, whether live or recorded: “It’s going to sound good.”