the sophomore album

woke up famous

OUT NOW

Caflisch is a word guy in the best tradition (a little closer to the spirit of Loudon Wainwright III than Leonard Cohen), while musically he would comfortably fit in just as easily with early Seventies singer-songwriters as late Seventies punk pop.

Kevin Avery

author, Everything is an Afterthought:
The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson

Merch

  • Woke Up Famous | Vinyl

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  • Woke Up Famous | CD

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  • Runaway | Vinyl

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  • Runaway | CD

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  • Poster | World Tour

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  • Poster | Baseball Eau Claire, WI

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  • Bottle Cap Poster

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  • Big Cat Sticker

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    High-quality vinyl sticker.

    Size: 4.5” x 2.3”

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  • Big Cat Shirt

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    Screenprinted on high-quality 100% cotton Next Level Apparel tees.

    "Simple Wide Trailer" printed on the back.

    Sizing is unisex.

    Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
  • Basketball Sticker

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Runaway is also available at these fine retailers:

Upcoming SHOWS

November 30 I Barely Brothers Records I St. Paul, MN

December 12 I Pillar Forum I Minneapolis, MN

December 28 I Aster Cafe I Minneapolis, MN

Past SHOWS

October 5 I Hyland Hills Ski Area I Bloomington, MN (Matt Duo show w/ Mike Crabtree)

September 27 I Aster Cafe I Minneapolis, MN

September 13 I Palmer's Bar I Minneapolis, MN

August 14, 2024 I 331 Club I Minneapolis, MN

July 12, 2024 I Barely Brothers Records I St. Paul, MN

July 10, 2024 I Hyland Hill Ski Resort I Bloomington, MN (Matt Duo Show w/ Mike Crabtree)

July 4, 2024 | Volume One's 'Sound Likes Summer' Concert Series | Phoenix Park, Eau Claire, WI

June 22, 2024 I Silver Dome Ballroom I Neillsville, WI (Matt Solo Show)

June 16, 2024 I Stone Arch Bridge Fest I Minneapolis, MN

May 18, 2024 | Schooner Tavern | Minneapolis, MN

May 4, 2024 | Dusty’s Bar | Minneapolis, MN

March 22, 2024 | Mousetrap Tavern | Eau Claire, WI

March 21, 2024 | White Squirrel Bar | St. Paul, MN

February 29, 2024 | Happy Hour Listening Party | White Squirrel Bar | St. Paul, MN

February 10, 2024 | Barely Brothers Records | St. Paul, MN

November 25, 2023 | 1 p.m. Matinee | White Squirrel | St. Paul, MN

September 30, 2023 | Mousetrap Tavern | Eau Claire, WI

September 29, 2023 | White Squirrel | St. Paul MN

September 1, 2023 | Driftwood Char Bar | Minneapolis, MN

August 31, 2023 | Minnesota Marine Art Museum | Winona, MN

July 13, 2023 | Driftwood Char Bar | Minneapolis, MN

June 29, 2023 | 6:30 p.m. Sounds Like Summer Concert Series | Phoenix Park | Eau Claire, WI

June 29, 2023 | 9:00p.m. The Fire House 202 Gibson St. Down Town | Eau Claire, WI

June 3, 2023 | 1 p.m. Matinee | White Squirrel | St. Paul, MN

May 6, 2023 | The Portage | Cable, WI

April 22, 2023 | 3 p.m. set time | Barely Brothers Records | St. Paul, MN

July 14, 2022 | Sounds Like Summer Concert Series @ Phoenix Park | Eau Claire, WI

June 17, 2022 | The Mousetrap Tavern | Eau Claire, WI

June 16, 2022 | White Squirrel Bar | St. Paul, MN

music videos

I Ran Away From Home

Matt Caflisch and His Music

Simple Wide Trailer

Something Real

Mickey Crowe

The Bird

Lyrics

Back In The Rain

Back In The Rain

You’re back in the rain it found you again
Trouble always seems to find you
Do you just cover your eyes and wear a disguise
And hope the mirror won’t remind you

That still you’re out there in need of repair
Trying to hold it together
You need something less cause this is a mess
Always rolling up amongst the heather

So you’re back in the rain and it’s always the same
Cycle of abuse you follow
You cover your lies and sever your ties
Sinking in your sorrow

And yet you’re out there all inflated with air
Pretending that you’re so together
You need something less cause this is a mess
And you’re headed for the heavy weather

Yeah storms are rumbling
Can’t you hear it?
It’s insanity
To be near it

Yeah you’re back in the rain it found you again
Trouble always seems to find you
Do you just cover your eyes and wear your disguise
Hoping the mirror won’t remind you

That still you’re out there in need of repair
Trying to hold it together
Yeah you need something less cause this is a mess
Always rolling up amongst the heather

You’re back in the rain
It found you again

He's Down The Line

He's Down The Line

He’s down the line
If there’s anything you need
He’s down the line
No malice and no greed
He’s down the road
Now he rides for free
He’s down the line
An admiral on the sea

You always saw the poetry in things
You flew so high on artificial wings
You let us stay and hang out in the wings
And everybody listened to you sing

He’s down the line
If there’s anything you need
He’s down the line
No malice and no greed
He’s down the road
Inside the admiralty
He’s down the line
Ahead in front of me

You know you see the poetry in things
You flew so high on artificial wings
You were smart and you made up your own brand
You played in a super famous band

But he had to go
I think we all know
He had all the fun
He took his shot and now the bottle’s done

He’s down the line
If there’s anything you need
He’s down the line
No malice and no greed
He’s down the road
Now he rides for free
He’s down the line
Pick one of the, pick one of the, pick one of the three

Winter Hates To Wait

Winter Hates To Wait

They say spring is a week away
Making deals with that summer day
Fall’s too far the pay ain’t great
And winter hates to wait

Skate around the rink
Miss it if you blink

They say the bar will make you cold
And whiskey takes a toll I’m told
Like too much sun it’ll make you old
Fat winter hates to wait

Skate around the rink
You miss it if you blink

They say a child is like a dream
And nothing fills that space it seems
Show them just how much they mean
Cause winter hates to wait

Skate around the rink
You miss it when you blink

They still say spring’s a week away
So don’t waste one more summer day
Fall is far but you make your fate
Winter hates to wait

Skate around the rink

Something Real

Something Real

She says stay with me
All the days all the ways
She says stay with me

He says marry me
I need you, say I do
He says marry me

For something real that sticks right to your ribs
Something real to pass down to the kids
With something real you don’t have to pay
When something is real it never fades away

Don’t say carelessly
Nothing’s real, break our deal
Don’t say carelessly

We don’t speak aloud
The solemn vow we talked about
We don’t speak aloud

For something real that sticks right to your ribs
Something real to pass down to the kids
With something real you don’t have to pay
When something is real it never fades away

Two people in a dream
Who knows what it means?
We don’t know anything

So won’t you stay with me?
All the days always
Won’t you stay with me?

For something real that sticks right to your ribs
Something real to pass down to the kids
Something real you don’t have to pay
When something is real it never fades away

She says stay with me
Always

She's Not Here For You

She's Not Here For You

She’s not here for you
She went out to a show
She didn’t stay for your act
There’s something you don’t know

She’s not here for you
I heard days ago
She’s not here for you now
And it’s high time you know

So unhand her, you don’t understand her
She is way too cool for you
Caveman tricks never fix
What is wrong with you

She’s not here for you
No one to cheer no one to boo
So not together so it’s for the better
It’s over though for you

So unhand her, you don’t understand her
She is way too cool for you
The caveman tricks never fix
God what is wrong with you?

She’s not here for you
She went out to a show
She didn’t care for your act
Now that’s something you know

Words So True

Words So True

It was hot and heavy
Not just any fling
Wasn’t even thinking
Barely anything

Love comes easy
When you start to sing
Hear the tolling bells say
Just do anything

So the chiming
Turns to rhyming
Those words so true
Sworn to you
Words so true
Sworn to you

Things that go in circles
Are never ending things
Tolling bells say
Please do everything

And their chiming
Turns to rhyming
Those words so true
Sworn to you
Words so true
Sworn to you

Crush
Hush

It was hot and heavy
Now we count the rings
Wasn’t even thinking

I'm In The City Now

I'm In The City Now

I had to move my town was small
The biggest deal was Oakwood Mall
Oh well, I’m in the city now
I find myself upon the stage
Sponsored by some City Page
Oh well, I’m in the city now

I was big back home, now I feel so small
Driving down West Seventh in St. Paul
Policemen don’t have time for me at all
Too tied up in Midway and Frogtown calls
I’m in the city now

I used to dream about Hüsker Dü
Now I talk to Grant at First Avenue
Oh well, I’m in the city now
I may display Wisconsin plates
Mostly for the auto rates
Oh well, I’m in the city now

I was big back home, now I feel so small
John Lee Hooker’s painted on the wall
Policemen don’t have time for me at all
Randy Moss’s Lexus on the mall
I’m in the city now

The thing I know
I had to go grab opportunity
The other thing
I like to sing the city is where you should be

I still go back where I come from
Once in a while to see my mom
Oh well, I’m in the city now
I like that Joynt on Water Street
Ramblin’ Jack can watch your seat if I’m gone
Off to the city now

I was big back home now I feel so small
Mary Tyler’s standing ten feet tall
Policemen don’t have time for you at all
A Lexus pulls away from city hall
I’m in the city now
I’m in the city now

That Old Devil

That Old Devil

If the words won’t change the ones we said
Then I’d rather dream and wake up dead
Alone again in the biggest bed
For one more deal with that old devil if you please

Yeah one more time with feeling please
Overspill your memories

I know you’re gone I helped you pack
That day the sunshine turned to black
I’m glad you’re gone but I want you back
Don’t deal with that old devil if you please

And I can’t blur with alcohol
All those pictures on the wall

So I burned the one where we both grinned
How I wish I had it back again
Old lovers make the worst best friends
So deal with that old devil if you please

The mailman knows you don’t get letters here
I don’t keep the driveway clear

Alone again no one around
Do you catch the noise when I crash down?
There are no ears built to hear that sound
Of bringing that old devil to his knees

That old devil says a deal’s a deal
If that’s the way the devil feels

Then the words won’t change the ones we said
And I’d rather dream and wake up dead
Alone again in the biggest bed

Paul Nelson (It Demolished Him)

Paul Nelson (It Demolished Him)

He wrote it down for Rolling Stone
If Jann could get him on the phone
He covered Zevon’s private hell
But Wenner said it wouldn’t sell

It demolished him – reduced him down to dust
Some cheap piece from the back of the bus
Who knows where you could ask him when
It demolished him demolished him
It demolished him demolished him

No god, no man, this is how it ends.

Artists have to risk it all
Paul Nelson signed the New York Dolls
And wrote about the folk and blues
In little mimeograph reviews

It demolished him – reduced him down to dust
And not some cheap piece from the back of the bus
Who knows where you could ask him when
It demolished him demolished him
It demolished him demolished him

No god, no man, this is how it ends.

He printed what he knew in mags
Recorded the hollers, blues and rags
Bob Dylan loved your records too
Jon Pankake brought them back to you

It demolished him – reduced him down to dust
Like some cheap piece on the back of the bus
All the best laid plans of mice and men
It demolished him demolished him
It demolished him demolished him

No god, no man, this is how it ends.

Simple Wide Trailer

Simple Wide Trailer

He was here from Appleton
And she was from the South
Another FM DJ
Who would never shut his mouth
She was just an army brat
Who landed in Eau Claire
Her mom would buy the liquor
So her friends would party there

In a simple wide trailer
That her mom could afford
Praise be to Jesus
Praise be to the Lord
A simple wide trailer
On the edge of the town
Still going to high school
When her mom was around

She threw a drinking party
With Becky, Sue and Kim
All the trailer roommates
Brought some Jack and shot some Jim
Some of them were older then
By six or seven years
But nobody was worried
After six or seven beers

In a simple wide trailer
No parents around
Super 8 camera
Didn’t capture the sound
Of a simple wide trailer
In a simpler time
The gas was a quarter
The phone was a dime

Dad came back from Vietnam
He gave her away
Her marriage lasted twenty years
If it lasted a day
She was Mother Nature
In the nineteen-seventies
She kept a photo album
Of her Kodak memories

In a simple wide trailer
In a park down the road
Not too much to look at
Just a humble abode
A simple wide trailer
That her mom could afford
Praise be to Jesus
Praise be to the Lord
Praise be to Jesus
Praise be to the Lord

I Ran Away From Home

I Ran Away From Home

Hey there Austin hesher on the run
Sitting baking in the sun
Vodka Kool-Aid mixers in her car
Learning how to be a star

I ran away from home
I’m just like a rolling stone
Hey lordy lordy mama hey lordy papa
Burning everything that I own

Famous Hibbing rocker with the blues
Had to 23 skidoo
Why is it you look at me so strange?
I better leave the Iron Range

I ran away from home
I’m just like a rolling stone
Hey lordy lordy mama hey lordy papa
Burning everything that I own

I ran away from home
I’m just like a rolling stone
All I need are leather boots
Other sweet forbidden fruits
I don’t know from indecision
I’m not living under your conditions

I ran away from home
I’m just like a rolling stone
All I need is leather boots
Other sweet forbidden fruits
Now you know of indecision
I’m not living under those conditions

I’ll rewrite your history for you
And then I’ll 23 skidoo
Find your freedom anywhere there’s more
That’s why we’re walking out the door

I ran away from home
Just like a rolling stone
Hey lordy lordy mama hey lordy papa
Burning everything that I own

I ran away from home
I’m just like a rolling stone
Time to make a run for it
Before they plow me under it
I don’t know from indecision
I’m not living under your conditions.

Home Run King of ’74

Home Run King of ’74 – Hank Aaron

That was no way to pitch to him
They played their music on his chin
Hate mail to the door
Of the Home Run King of ‘74

The greatest baseball man there was
Made to live in fear because
He evened up the score
With a home run swing in ‘74

In the country he was Hank
Six hundred thousand dollars in the bank
Reading letters every day
You just carved his heart away

He was a Bear in ‘52
The Northern League remembers you
They paid fifty dollars more
For the Home Run King of ‘74

And in the clubhouse he was Hank
Never lacked for fuel in the tank
Reading letters every day
You just carved his heart away

-Hammer time-

That was no way to pitch to him
They tried to beat him up and in
Hate mail to the door
Of the Home Run King of ‘74

He was the greatest baseball man there was
Made to live in fear because
He evened up the score
With a home run swing in ‘74

That was no way to pitch to him

Phantom

Phantom – Bob Dylan

He was a phantom from the Village
Who painted songs in every hue
He got right down to business
He brought it home to you

All the heroes he looked up to
Knew that image was a ruse
And he was only human
But he sure could sing the blues

And he moved to New York City
Someone threw a crucifix
It landed on the bandstand
So, he threw it in the mix

He settled down and had a family
But he was married to the road
Playing every style of music
‘Til he was eighty-one years old

And he moved to California
And built himself a dome
Hammered and he welded
In a studio he owned

He went walking in the rain one time
In the hours before a show
They arrested him for vagrancy
But then they let him go - let him go!

And he came from Minnesota
And he spends the summer there
He can sit and watch the river
In his Adirondack chair

Max Edie (Lizard)

Max Edie (Lizard) – Elizabeth Wilcocks

Max Edie said she’d be the same
But that is not her real name
She used to go by Lizard too
Back in 1982

Lizard with the golden tongue
Singing while you go unsung
From an island in the sea
Wavering away from me

Max Edie knew a Scottish tune
Sang back up on “Whole of the Moon”
The dancing voice of innocence
Who played percussion instruments

Lizard with the golden tongue
Singing while you go unsung
From an island in the sea
Wavering away from me

Max Edie sang with Karl and Mike
And Nikki and the Jacobites
So put the message in the box
So everybody knows she rocks

Lizard with the golden tongue
Singing while you go unsung
From an island in the sea
Wavering away from me

Max Edie said she’d be the same
But that is not her real name

Kevin Rowland’s Tears

Kevin Rowland’s Tears – Kevin Rowland

Kevin Rowland cried out
Like Johnnie Ray the balladeer
I always hear an Ireland
In Kevin Rowland’s tears

He tapped around in soft shoe
Wearing dungarees
And hummed a tune forever
On the BBC

Kevin’s band deserted him
But he didn’t miss a beat
He went and wrote his biggest hit
And it made you move your feet

He tapped around in soft shoe
Wearing dungarees
And hummed a tune forever
On the BBC

If there was unfulfilled potential
There were master strokes
He made a new concoction
From northern soul and Celtic folk

We can sing just like our fathers
Sing too-ra-loo-ra-li
Poor old Johnnie Ray sang
Made our mothers cry

He tapped around in soft shoe
Wearing dungarees
And hummed a tune forever
On the BBC

Kevin Rowland cried out
Like Johnnie Ray the balladeer
I always hear an Ireland
In Kevin Rowland’s tears

Cathy Silverbag

Cathy Silverbag – Cathy Smith

What were you supposed to do
When the user was you?
You give him a shower
Stay for an hour

Come on Cathy Silverbag
Make it speedy, make it drag
I’ll write later, first things first
Cathy open up your purse

What were you supposed to do
When they pinned it on you?
You couldn’t repent
Off to prison you went

Come on Cathy Silverbag
Make it speedy, make it drag
There’s no screenplay I rehearse
Open up your silver purse

Other people were there
But nobody cares
They say, “Who was he with?”
Cathy “Silverbag” Smith

Come on Cathy
Make it snappy
Is there a doctor? Call the nurse
Open up your silver purse

What were you supposed to do?

Mickey Crowe

Mickey Crowe – Mickey Crowe

Mickey Crowe could score a lot
Before they had the three-point shot
Friday fifty-four would do
On Saturday add sixty-two
He averaged forty points a game
Eleven thousand people came
To see him on the very stage
Elvis and The Beatles sang

The one the only Mickey Crowe
Putting on a one-man show

He played his hoops like Pistol Pete
Socks that fell around his feet
Floppy hair, floppy socks
Call his style unorthodox
Mickey floated off the spin
Dodged the ‘D’ to swish it in
Floppy socks, floppy hair
He could score from anywhere

Left and right, to and fro
He’s the one the only Mickey Crowe

Watch him fly, watch him flow
He was high, he was low

Marty Crowe, coach and dad
Knew the talent Mickey had
So, Marty ran the run-and-gun
Give it to your freshman son
They entertained gymnasiums
Green Bay to St. Nazianz
Stevens Point, Peshtigo
Loved the Mick and Marty show

Step right up, now you know
About the one the only Mickey Crowe
If he’s out walking, say hello
To the one the only Mickey Crowe

Joyce Lamont

Joyce Lamont – Joyce Lamont

When Joyce Lamont was ninety-eight
She finally left the Gopher State
She trailblazed at ‘CCO
Forty years on radio

She was a fixture on the air
And read her recipes on there
Her salad dish was such a hit
The New York papers printed it

Do you tune in KLBB?
Find Joyce on at the age of eighty-three?
Spinning Frank and Bing
Making Minnesota swing

Swing!

Do you tune in KLBB?
Find Joyce on at the age of eighty-three?
Spinning Frank and Bing
Making Minnesota swing

The Chairman died in ‘98
The stations played all Frank all day
I saw Joyce on ‘CCO
Letting Minnesota know

If you tune in KLBB
Mr. Frank sings, “Come and fly away with me”
“World on a string”
Making Minnesota swing

Joyce Lamont was ninety-eight

Woke Up Famous

Woke Up Famous – Jack Kerouac

I was born in ‘22
I wrote On the Road for you
I was French Canadian
Raw Franco American

I woke up famous
The telephone would ring
I woke up famous
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Famous
Now I’m a lion with a wreath
I woke up famous
Fame beyond belief

I always ran the football hard
Always fought for every yard
Skipped through school, skipped through life
Skipped out on my pregnant wife

And woke up famous
The telephone would ring
I woke up famous
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Famous
Now I’m a lion with a wreath
I woke up famous
Fame beyond belief

Go moan for man!

I always suffer for my art
I cast myself and play the part
I watch my brother lose his breath
And then I drink myself to death

When I died famous
The telephone would ring
When I died famous
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Famous
Now I’m lyin’ with a wreath
I woke up famous
Fame beyond, beyond, beyond…

Cisco Houston

Cisco Houston (And Solomon the King) – Cisco Houston

When you were a sophomore
Quoting Solomon
Saying there is nothing new
Underneath the sun
You don’t go to college
The way the rich kids do
You’re on the road for knowledge
Cisco Houston passing through

Then you are a junior
Reading poetry
Made in San Francisco
Like the radical in me
Blacklisted and wounded
For holding left-wing views
And sticking to the union
Cisco Houston passing through

A few more winters
Wishing it were spring
As I sing Cisco Houston
And Solomon the king

Sing out!

When you are a senior
Solomon is wise
Saying all is vanity
Everybody dies
You left California
You were forty-two
So long, it’s good to know yuh
Cisco Houston passing through

A few more winters
Wishing it were spring
As I sing Cisco Houston
And Solomon the king
No more winter
No more spring
No more Cisco Houston
And Solomon the king

God on Roller Skates

God on Roller Skates – Charlie Chaplin

Lights!

I’m charming Charlie on the screen
I come from England with nothing
I make you laugh, I feel your pain
I do it all with my walking cane

I’m charming Charlie of Hollywood
You love me when modern times are good
But I love pictures without sound
I find movement so profound

I’m the greatest of the greats
God on roller skates

Camera!

I’m charming Charlie the Little Tramp
I tip my bowler cap
I’m an artist in my prime
I’m a master of pantomime

I’m the greatest of the greats
God on roller skates

Hitler must be laughed at
And overrun
I’ll read my speech to you
When the movie’s done

I’m the greatest of the greats
God on roller skates
I’m the greatest of the greats
A god on roller skates

Action!

God on roller skates
God on roller skates
God on roller skates

The Bird

The Bird – Mark Fidrych

He was twenty-one years old
And that pitching arm was gold

We want the Bird! We want the Bird!
We want the Bird! We want the Bird!

A simple bachelor
A green sub-compact car
A tiny Detroit apartment
A rookie Tigers star
Talking into the baseball
Patting around the mound
Monday night he beat the Yankees
The stadium got proud

We want the Bird! We want the Bird!
We want the Bird! We want the Bird!

He made his mark in baseball
But he was even more well known
The only major player
On the cover of Rolling Stone
Rubbing elbows with Sinatra
Elton John and Gerald Ford
When he took his curtain call
The counterculture roared

We want the Bird! We want the Bird!
We want the Bird! We want the Bird!

He was twenty-two years old
And that pitching arm went cold

He was twenty-one years old
And he was something to behold

We want the Bird! We want the Bird!
We want the Bird! We want the Bird!
Haven’t you heard we lost the Bird?
He was the Bird! He was the Bird!

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PRAISE FOR RUNAWAY

…a concept album about rock ‘n’ roll dreams…

Channing Lewis

Grand Champeen

Runaway is incredibly addicting.

Amy Carlson-Gustafson

former A&E editor
St. Paul Pioneer Press

I hear a little Petty, Beatles, Dylan, and even some Bowie…

Shane Gallivan

Kruddler

A man who molded his musical mind in Eau Claire is bringing his music back to the town that inspired it…

His sincere, affable folk-pop is enlivened by his vivid words, as on the poignant single “Simple Wide Trailer,” which recounts his Wisconsin youth.

For all the fun and clever wordplay in Matt Caflisch’s music, it’s clear he takes seriously the craft of songwriting…

RADIO STATION REQUESTS

Songs from Runaway are receiving airplay. Call into these stations and request your favorite tracks to show your support across the airwaves.

United States of Americana with Bill DeVille

Spin with Cyn

The Monday Morning Jumpstart

The Gadfly Hour with Mike Nicolai

Lunar Sunrise with Mike Ciresi

Mike’s Minnesota Music Warehouse

Minnesota HomeBrew Music Show

The BOOM Hour

Interconnected with Adrian Klenz

Top of the TC playlist

Dan Wilcox

Contact

Questions? Comments? Musings? Feel free to send Matt a message.

Bookings

For bookings or business inquiries please email directly.

info@mattcaflisch.com