MT. GRIBLEY
Based in Milford, Connecticut, Mt. Gribley creates a brand of minimalist folk music that is at first acoustically familiar, recalling the genre’s ancestors, yet veers to the left, down a path of staccato, sometimes finger-picked, rhythms, and lyrics yanked from that place in the mind where self-talk and self-confidence try and hold one back.
The stage name of singer/songwriter Matt Jarrett, Mt. Gribley, a name cobbled from his favorite childhood book, My Side of the Mountain, grew up on lots of John Denver and Neil Diamond, by way of his mother, and the heavy-handed operas of Wagner and a hymnal, by way of his father, a Methodist minister. Needless to say, his parents were divorced by his fourth birthday.
His musical life grew out of his teens as a heavy metal drummer, (typical pastor’s kid), and through the 90’s grunge era. Out of film school, he lived in New York City for 18 years, editing television shows and managing dreams of directing movies, all the while plucking away on an old acoustic guitar. In the late 2000’s, discovering contemporary folk artists such as The Tallest Man on Earth and Iron and Wine, Jarrett dug back into the 60’s to discover what inspired those artists, triggering a whole avalanche of music that bypassed his early radar, e.g., Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Nick Drake.
After navigating a divorce and the death of his father, the upheaval pushed Jarrett to re-think his trajectory of editing vapid reality TV shows. “After my dad died, there was a piece of his history that I’d never understand,” Jarrett said, “in that he went to college pursuing music, and at some point changed his major to religion and never looked back. I never got a reason why from him. Now, of course, I never will. But I’ve always felt baffled by that decision.”
Later on, he found his soulmate and life partner, who was a major factor in urging Jarrett to make music, while he encouraged her pursuing a Phd overseas. Which, in turn, has provided many lonely nights and all the fodder needed to write new songs.
His debut album, Semblance, was released in 2019 on indie label, Resonating Wood Recordings. Written, performed, recorded and mixed on his own, reSemblance was a lesson in songwriting and recording. “It was just something I wanted to experience from start to finish, but I’ll never mix my own music again. I might still be mixing that thing today, and badly.” He had it remixed, and renamed it reSemblance.
In 2022, he released The Milksop EP. Consisting of 3 songs about confidence, depression, and getting out of your own way, Jarrett again recorded everything himself while enlisting the help of Tony Calabro and Astoria Park Recording for mixing duties.