Singer/songwriter Matt Aquiline lived and performed in Washington, DC for nearly
two decades, but he has always been of Pittsburgh 􀉤rst. He began performing in
Pittsburgh in the early '90s and recorded his 1997 cd, Dice Roll, at Dave World in
Ambridge, PA, backed by some of Pittsburgh's best musicians including Whitey
Cooper and Sam Klingensmith of The Norman Nardini Band, Joe Marini of Jim
Donovan and the Sun King Warriors, Jill Simmons of TheCause and at least 1
Granati brother. While in DC he formed the band Kid Goat, which performed in the
DC area for ten years and recorded the 2009 cd, “These People Aren’t You.”
Kid Goat disbanded in 2013 and Aquiline returned to Pittsburgh to raise his family
and continue writing and performing his music in the town where it was formed.
To help bring his sound home, Aquiline enlisted veterans of the local scene Stefan
Rodriguez on Bass, Neil Carr on Lead Guitar and Bill Maruca on Keys and
Accordion, and the youthful talents of Evan Cvejkus on Drums and Heather Catley
on Vocals. The band released its debut EP, “Coming Home” in 2017 (as “Matt
Aquiline & The Dead End Streets”), the two-song single “No Excuse Not To Have A
Merry Christmas” in 2018 and the single “Snowball Fight on the Fourth of July” in
2019. The singles took a humorous look at the very serious subject of global
warming. The 2020 release, “The Time Has Come,” is the band’s earnest response
to these trying times when we have all seen the resurgent normalization of racism,
sexism, religious persecution, division, and hate, and a political environment that
has fueled it.
Other members also contribute their own stellar original material to Aquiline's,
adding even more dimension to a sound that already married folk, rock, blues,
country and a little blue-eyed soul into a Roots Rock sound that is pure Pittsburgh,
with skill, authenticity and the kind of depth you develop surviving a few cold
Winters.