Matt Kustura

Matt grew up scouring his parent’s vinyl collection, reading liner notes, examining the images, and getting lost in the sounds of early folk rock and classic rock… the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkle, The Allman Brothers, The Doors, Gordon Lightfoot. And there were the car rides with K-Earth 101 playing the hits of the 50s and 60s and Matt singing along.  He listened and sang along as his father, Mike, strummed and sang songs from a hand written song book. Matt’s Godbrother, Scott, played guitar and sang Grateful Dead songs like “Loser” and “Bird Song,” captivating Matt’s attention.  Soon, Matt was strumming and singing “Wild Thing” on his father’s 1967 Gibson J-45, cherry sunburst and began composing original songs.  Through the 90s, Matt continued to play the songs of his childhood and highly potent new music of the time, like from Sublime, Blind Melon, and Counting Crowes.   

In Santa Barbara, CA, Matt began his live music career playing as the house band at State and A weekly along with Jeffa Vegas from Kauai.  For four years, Matt and Jeffa played music at State and A, and Jeffa's influential reggae talents deeply affected Matt's music.  Rich Heiser, who played djembe, joined Matt to form a long standing duo of acoustic guitar and drum.  After State and A closed, Matt and Rich hit the bar scene.  Eventually, Rich moved on, and Andrew Fedders, bassist, joined Matt.  They began playing music all over Santa Barbara and continue to do so, today.  Matt's original music forms the foundation of their shows, but they also play a variety of choice covers.  Throughout the years, Matt has also educated many aspiring young musicians, too.  Matt recently recorded his first full length self-titled album.