Mathias Lattin won the 2023 International Blues Challenge and Best Guitarist at the tender of twenty-years old, making him the youngest to win both. The grandson of NBA Hall of Famer, David “Big Daddy” Lattin, he displays his talent on the stage not the basketball court. He is a 2020 graduate of Houston’s acclaimed Kinder High School of Performing and Visual Arts. He began his foray into the Houston Blues scene when he was 12 years old. Jonn Del Toro Richardson invited him to attend the weekly Blues jam he hosted at The Big Easy. He garnered national attention when he joined the Keeshea Pratt Band (IBC 2018) in 2020. After touring with the Keeshea Pratt Band and joining Brazilian Bluesman Cris Crochemore for the 2022 IBC, Mathias decided to take a shot at the IBC as front man. UP NEXT is the debut release of the emerging Texas musician. He wrote and produced the project which displays some of Lattin’s musical influences. The wealth and breadth of great music/musicians in the Houston music scene had a major impact on the 21-year-old Lattin. UP NEXT is proof that the music is alive and in capable hands!
I had the pleasure of catching up with Mathias ahead of the August 23rd event in Madison at The Bur Oak. We get into making sure we know who is in the power trio and how what they bring equals this sound that is gaining a continual momentum. Mathias and I spend a good amount of time discussing how the debut album UP NEXT was born into the world. Since he was the person in charge of all the decisions from all the angles, he walks us through how all those pieces finally got into a space that jives. The takeaway is, live this will be a show not just the music being played. You’ll have your parts and so with the band. Feels like another bridge is being built whenever Mathias Lattin is in town. Plus, we get a little hint of the next album in the works and how the authentic in the room feel will be in tow.
