-Vin Scelsa of Idiot's Delight on WFUV and Sirius/XM

Matt Lorenz started The Suitcase Junket with a guitar he salvaged from a dumpster, an old suitcase, a hi-hat, a washboard and a foot-drum he built out of chair legs and a gas-can.

His aim was to sound as big and full as he could; no looping pedals or special effects, just one guy making a racket. "He sound[s] like a full hobo band playing on a train racing rhythmically onward." -Preview Magazine

He discovered and developed an overtone singing technique while driving in a Ford and honed this skill over the years before adding it to his music. The high whistling tone sounds like something from the Tuvan tradition, but is worked into his brash, bluesy sound with discerning taste and slides easily from ethereal melody to rock'n'roll riff.

Lorenz, co-founder and primary songwriter of the roots-rock trio Rusty Belle, has self-released two studio albums as The Suitcase Junket and has a third coming out this spring. His setup has grown to include a couple of amps from the 1950s, a circular saw-blade(sounds like a boxing bell), a cook-pot-soup-can-tambourine-foot-drum(sounds like what it sounds like) and a not-so-flatware bone-box. (curious?) He somehow still fits all of this stuff into the suitcase he uses as a bass drum.

"The magic Matt Lorenz spins is potent stuff…[he] has a knack for finding poetry in unlikely places." - The Valley Advocate

The songs of The Suitcase Junket are strong, original and diverse: stories, vignettes, falling in love with inanimate objects that come to life, unanswerable questions, unquestionable answers, and (of course) human hearts. (broken and otherwise) The overtone singing adds a depth and shine to these tunes and demands curiosity and wonder from all who hear it. His sound is unique, but if it were to be likened to anyone, Tom Waits, Andrew Bird, The Black Keys and The White Stripes all come to mind.

His album Knock It Down was named so because that was the first thing he said as a child. Not much has changed. His music is unexpected, raw, powerful and poignant. He destroys all expectations and conventions while still being fully steeped in the American traditions of storytelling, song, creativity and invention.

All booking inquiries should be sent to: thesuitcasejunket@makingwhatiwant.com