By Eva Trieger
SOLANA BEACH, California — Catching up with this guy was no mean feat, but when we finally connected by phone early this morning, I was able to learn who Matisyahu, the evolutionary artist, is, and why he’s so excited to bring his Akeda Tour to San Diego’s Balboa Theater.
Matthew Paul Miller, known by his Hebrew name, Matisyahu, began life in Berkeley, California where his parents surrounded him with the music of classic rock greats. He told me, “my parents were lovers of good music. At four years old, I attended my first concert.” The Grateful Dead was touring, and the music he’d heard at home, and on car trips, was performed live on stage, by the very band that wrote it. Not your typical four-year-old’s experience, but then, Matisyahu is not your typical guy.
Around the age of 5, the singer/songwriter moved to New York, home state to both of his parents. He began to receive religious training at a Reform Reconstructionist school in White Plains, NY. Three days a week he would attend classes and by age 16, he related to me, he’d begun to feel a connection to his forebears. A trip to Israel, that year, would bring him even more in tune with his Jewish soul. He was taken with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s music and found himself devoted to Israel and her magnetic draw.
When Matisyahu returned to New York, he was garbed in a yarmulke and tsit tsit. He found himself in Washington Square Park, where he met and learned with a rabbi. This led him to embrace a Lubavitcher lifestyle and he married an Orthodox girl and had three sons.
Fast forward to some years later. Life had other plans for Matisyahu; he divorced and moved to Los Angeles. Though his music is hard to classify, it has been termed reggae rap and hip hop. In 2005, Matisyahu experienced his first big break with “King Without a Crown” which made it to the Top 40 in the US. That year was also saw the groundbreaking concert, “Live at Stubb’s,” an Austin landmark for musicians.
Matisyahu described that orignial concert as “a classic live performance.” Today, ten years later, concert goers will get to experience a new sound, and a new venue. Teaming up with his cohorts from earlier phases, this all-star band reunited to create a unique tour that will provide fans with a concert of “no additives” and a very “dynamic, more mature version” of the songs they know and love, as well as new songs that have been created for the Akeda Tour.
A novel idea that the artist shared with me is something he described as “an old school fan club.” For a fee, fans can join and receive two songs per month before anyone else hears them. The music lover goes online and registers at dreampatron.com/matisyahu and is able to directly support the artist, while being promised new music, delivered monthly. Matisyahu explained how this cuts out the middle man, and puts the power in the hands of his devotees.
In September, I had the opportunity to visit Jerusalem. While I was there, I saw banners and flyers featuring Matisyahu’s upcoming performance at the Sultan’s Pool, just outside the Jaffa gate. I asked how the singer was received. He told me that it was an exceptional show, and though he is an American Jew, Israelis embraced and cheered him for standing up against the anti-Semitism he’d been subjected to in Spain prior to his arrival in Israel.
The Rototom Sunsplash Reggae Festival had pushed for a boycott of his performance and asked that he withdraw from the program, or make a statement that Israel must recognize a Palestinian state. Matisyahu was the only artist in the program asked to make such a declaration. He declined. A few days later, he was invited back to the festival , and he accepted. A public apology was made and a sense of justic prevailed. The musician stated that this was his first experience with anti-Semitism as a artist. May it be his last!
His November 15 concert in downtown San Diego will be at the Balboa Theater, 848 4th Avenue, adjacent to the Horton Plaza Shopping Center.
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Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com