Tom and Matt Smith - Matt

Matt

Matt Smith (son) is an award winning teenage jazz percussionist, hip hop mixologist, and radio/television personality who in 2006, at age 16, won the WFD World's Fastest Drummer Extreme Sport Drumming competition in the Fastest Hands category. Matt is the son and grandson of two accomplished jazz musicians. He was introduced to the drums at age 9, when Louie Bellson (one of his father's performing acquaintances) gave him his first pair of drum sticks. Matt's official début occurred at age 12, when he performed for a jazz combo on Romanian National Television. At age 14, he recorded a début album under his own name (Coltrane Redeux) featuring an all star European jazz lineup. In 2005, Matt entered the Louie Bellson National Drumset Competition, and became the youngest finalist in that competition's history.From 2005-2008 he held a number of speed drumming world records, and in 2007, set the world speed endurance record when he performed 5,132 single strokes in five consecutive minutes. On June 26, 2008 Matt set a traditional grip world speed record, when he recorded 1132 single strokes played in 1 minute - a record formerly held by Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini. Since 2005, Matt has performed and been interviewed on numerous American media outlets, including PBS, CBS Radio and CNN. In 2008, a PBS news segment featuring Matt and drummer Johnny Rabb was nominated for an Arts and Entertainment News Documentary Emmy Award At age 18, with speed drumming activities behind him, Matt began performing with a variety of diverse world class bands showcasing jazz, rock, hip hop, pop, funk and blues. In 2008 he was named a runner-up in the Rising Star category of the Drum Magazine Readers Poll. Matt is a 2009 graduate of the Atlanta Institute of Music, and from 2009-2011 resided in Europe, where he began production of nu jazz recordings, and performed with a diverse lineup of artists that included jazz pianist Darius Brubeck and Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda.In 2011, he signed on as house drummer with Euro blues headliner A. G. Weinberger on the weekly television show Acadeaua. In 2011 Matt relocated to Nashville, TN, where he works as the touring drummer for the Anthony K show.