This Austin-Based Musician Drew Inspiration And Pandemic Lessons From Marfa’s ‘Big Sky Country’

Matt Kreutz is an Austin-based singer-songwriter. He considers his style of music “high-desert country” – a mix of folk, Americana, rock and soul. Before the pandemic, he and his fiancée spent a month living in Marfa during his residency at Building 98. The experienced transformed his personal life and his music. Spending that time in the vastness of Far West Texas also prepared him for the year of isolation so many of us have experienced during the pandemic.

“The song I wrote out there is entitled ‘Marfa Lights,’ and it’s a story about just experiencing the life out there, much different from the city life we’re used to here in Austin … and, you know, how that made us feel. It most most certainly brought us closer, so we’re very thankful for that time.”

“I just love the big sky country out there. The nights get cool and the stars come out, and you just feel like you’re in a whole ‘nother world.”

“My newest song is entitled ‘We’ll Make it Right Again.’ It came to be during the time of the pandemic and the civil injustice and all the inequity that was going on, and I wanted to have a song that evokes hope and meaning for everyone to just know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. And, you know, we’ll make it right again and we’ll get there.”