Concert on the Couch - Episode 4 - Matt Garrison

John A. Logan College English professor and musician Matt Garrison traces a musical path from small-town punk rock to indie rock, country and songwriting in the fourth episode of “Concert on the Couch.” Garrison tells host Elizabeth Ellis that discovering punk rock as a teenager changed his life. He and his friends started bands, and Garrison began playing bass at 19 in a punk band called the Hydrochloric Acid Heads before eventually moving to guitar. While punk remained an important influence, Garrison said his musical interests expanded as he got older, eventually encompassing indie rock, country and other styles. “Eventually you find out you love all this music and it’s OK that you love it all and you just want to be a student, you know, of everything really that’s good,” Garrison said. Garrison has released music with Matt Garrison and the Robber Barons and later The Big Hurts, a band that included his wife on bass. His 2018 album with the Robber Barons, “Somebody’s Gotta Live in This Town,” is available on streaming services, while The Big Hurts released “The Last Farmer” in 2022. During the episode, Garrison performs two original songs, “Smoking in Bed,” a reflection on the bad decisions people make despite knowing better, and “I Would Change My Mind for You,” a song written during the divisions of 2020 about ideology, relationships and the willingness to listen to one another. “Concert on the Couch” is produced by John A. Logan College Media Arts students. Ellis hosts the episode, which was recorded in the Media Arts classroom.