Some people collect stamps or baseball cards or instruments, but born-and-raised Florida musician Matthew Fowler is well on his way to perfecting the art of collecting memories, displaying them not on a shelf but in musical verse and melody for the world to hear. “I moved to Denver. I quit my job. My grandfather died. I fell in and out of love. I toured all over the place. I spent a month living in Mauritius, the island country off Madagascar where my mom grew up,” says Fowler about the ingredients of his upcoming album The Grief We Gave Our Mother—out September 10 via Signature Sounds Recordings. (Matthew Fowler, 2021)

With Fowler, however, the easy-to-recall memories usually represent something more profound under the surface. For example, “I’m Still Trying,” at its root, is an admission of guilt and a shot at reconciliation with a family grown apart. “I lived with my parents for a long time in-between touring and traveling. Returning back to my childhood home after experiencing so much on tour made me take the time to remember lots of things about my past with a new perspective.” Fowler was named Holler’s New Artist of the Week and spoke with them about his music and more. Listen to “I’m Still Trying” at this link and pre-order or pre-save The Grief We Gave Our Mother ahead of its September 10 release right here.

Written over the course of the past several years, The Grief We Gave Our Mother is indeed a profoundly personal work of self-discovery and introspection, but more than that, it is an ode to growing up and chasing dreams. The result is a record that is at once bold and timid, hopeful and anxious, world-weary and naïve, an honest, revelatory collection all about putting one foot in front of the other and forging a life of purpose, passion, and meaning. “This record is the sound of me finding myself and my place in the world,” Fowler reflects. “It’s about real moments and real stories and real people.”

The Grief We Gave Our Mother Track list:
Marianne
Been A Lover
Reprise
Blankets
I Fall Away
Leaving Home, Looking Back
Everything That I Could
I’m Still Trying
Rest
Going Nowhere
Cassie
Rooftops
Beginners