Matt Zekala is a guitarist and songwriter whose musical journey began when he started writing songs around age ten. He received a guitar for a birthday present a few years later and, by the time he was 20, he helped to found Dreamspeak, a proto-jam band in New York City, part of the musical community associated with the legendary Wetlands club. In New York Matt also played with Gravity, Gent Treadly, and many other gigs on lead guitar performing Grateful Dead and related music in New York and throughout the northeast. He also contributed guitar tracks for the soundtrack for the independent film “Transit Bed”, played guitar for the off-Broadway production Joan, and created a sound installation for the Tenement Museum.
Matt moved to Portland, Oregon in the late 90s and played lead guitar backing up several blues and soul singers and helped found Bohemian Brew. He currently plays with The Grande and continues to play lead guitar in various projects in Oregon and Washington. His lead guitar playing, given the setting, can vary anywhere from shades of rock, blues, to extended jam-band forays, or harder driving technical displays and ambient soundscapes.
Matt is also an accomplished acoustic guitar player. He performs solo, pulling from an extensive and diverse catalog of original songs, incorporating two-handed tapping and the use of looping. Matt also has a well-honed repertoire of Jerry Garcia's music, including Garcia’s original compositions along with the traditional folk and Americana that comprised much of his solo work. Matt also plays in an acoustic duo, the Dirigible Brothers.
Matt has performed with Merl Saunders, Jorma Kaukonen, Rick Danko, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Charles Neville, DJ Logic, John Popper & Blues Traveler.