"I am Jack, you are Jack we're all livin' with Jack”! Having been born in the sunshine state of Florida in 1980, Matt Jowers is no stranger to adverse circumstances and stormy weather; however, that has never stopped him from constantly and consistently pursuing his all time dream of being a rock and roll artist.

Coming from a broken home in Jacksonville, FL, Matt struggled to help maintain the already torched relationship with his father and put food on the table by accompanying his father on guitar while Matt played the spoons in local bars at the age of 7. Somehow, the local bars seemed to make an exception knowing Matt’s father had lost his job, Matt had no contact with his Mother and there was no other way for Matt and his father to pay bills except to play. Matt’s affection for music grew with each gig while he watched the reaction from the people listening to him and his father. Their fans, friends, neighbors and strangers forgot about their cares in life for a brief moment of their stale existence.

The situation at home nevertheless, was much different than what people saw on stage. While Matt was growing up, his father became more embellished in drinking and Matt found his only way to express his struggle to fill the lonely days and empty nights, was through music. By the time Matt was 14, he had begun singing, writing his own music, and playing guitar. Multi-talented, with his song-writing, guitar and spoons, Matt also had another musical dimension in his repertoire of multiple instruments, the saxophone. Matt started playing the Alto Sax in Middle School and held 1st chair in All-State 4 years in a row. It was during those Middle and High School years that Matt began to realize music was more a part of him than he ever gave much thought to or credit for. He decided he wanted to pursue music as his life-time career, although knowing that the hole in his pocket was a constant reminder of the all too familiar view of the raw ground beneath him, and he had no real way to get anywhere. Matt knew music thrived in L.A., N.Y., and Nashville and he had to somehow get out of the south peninsula of Florida and into a city where music was the breath of life. “I ain’t got Jack, and there’s a lot of land between Florida and L.A.”.

A few years after High School Matt set his sights on Nashville as it was the least amount of land between Jacksonville and his dream. He packed everything he could in two small bags and had a friend drop him off at a nearby truck station where he’d hoped to hitch a ride with someone going that way. Unsuccessful, Matt spent the night in a nearby fair ground in the cold and pouring down rain. The sun came up and Matt still encouraged with new freedom to pursue his love for music, started towards Nashville with his belongings on his back and the ‘two foot’ train to take him there. Matt was bound and determined to make it if he had to walk to Nashville the whole way. On his journey up the Florida peninsula a nice man in a truck picked up Matt and drove him to a nearby small town at the Georgia state line where he went to a local church for help. The church helped Matt with a bus ticket to Nashville where he stayed at the mission and began looking for work. Matt landed 3 gigs in the same day at Planet Hollywood, Second Fiddle, and The Stage. Working those gigs provided enough income to put Matt back on his feet and he was able to finally get an apartment all his own.

After a few months of residing in Nashville, Matt met his wife Gina. The two quickly became joined at the hip. They have three beautiful daughters and have been married for seven years. Gina has a long-time history in the music industry, so the two are a perfect match. Gina also has an eye for talent and has continued to encourage and support Matt’s efforts to pursue his career. Matt started the band “Livin with Jack” in 2005 based on the background of where he came from. What he had when he moved to Nashville, was a whole lot of nothing and inspired the name for the band.

“Music isn’t what I play, it’s what I am”.

Too many people in today’s world either live or have lived with ‘Jack’, so they can certainly relate to Matt’s story. Matt continues to write, sing and play in Nashville and surrounding areas as the front man for Livin with Jack. Matt’s voice paired with the rock alternative sound he consistently creates is almost a tangible fantasy that stirs the soul, captures the heart and awakens the imagination. Matt has been taking the stage by storm with Livin with Jack for three years and has quickly been able to build a diverse fan base in a town that is historically known for raising major country celebrities. Livin with Jack will continue to blaze trails and build their fan base one venue at a time as they tour several of the Southeastern United States this summer. For more information on Livin with Jack visit their website: www.livinwithjack.net You can also catch them on ‘MySpace’.

C - Written by Alison Aldrich; July 18, 2007.