Matthew O'Neill

Matthew O’Neill is a long time Catskill Mountain based musical artist and performer. His musical practice is rooted in Indigenous musical ontologies; ways of knowing and participation through sound. His latest release Songs Of Connection, features a great crew of players including John Medeski and Jesse Murphy, while leaning into old school Colombia cumbia influences, in an eclectic mix of gutsy psych groove, artful balladry, and funky mountain jams. His mission is to be a voice for Mother Earth in restoring music's central role of integrating culture with the land for the good of all our relations...re-indigenizing. Music for cultural resilience that speaks to social justice and climate crisis issues while being centered in Indigeneity. The result is a dynamic feeling of connection to living systems through non-anthropocentric articulations of gratitude, joy, suffering, celebration, and loss. His albums have received critical acclaim and he has collaborated with many world class and award winning musicians and engineers. O'Neill also runs a label called Underwater Panther Coalition that supports Indigenous artists and their communities through curated releases.

"MATTHEW O’NEILL FOLLOWS HIS VISION HERE, A POTENT MIND-MELD OF EARLY PINK FLOYD SPACE-ROCK, JERRY GARCIA-ESQUE LAID-BACK ROOTS MUSIC, AND NATIVE AMERICAN-INSPIRED EARTH-AND-SKY SPIRITUALITY (AND FUNK. DO NOT FORGET THE FUNK.) A SORT OF MYSTIC SHAMAN SKETCHING OUT HIS DREAMS AND HOPES FOR THE EARTH HE LOVES IN THE LANGUAGE HE KNOWS BEST: MUSIC.” - THE DAILY VAULT