If you could catch lightning, hot glowing green, which way would you point it? If you had a seed accidentally planted at the northern edge of nowhere, sprouting, wriggling and writhing its way, where would you guide its vines? To New York City Man! Okay, drop the flowery metaphors and kick out the jams! A "budding", (Oops!), rock band from a forgotten working class city like Erie Pennsylvania can so easily remain there till they "wither" (Again, sorry) on the vine. But not if said plant/band can't help but flourish like a weed or outgrow its pot! MATTY B AND THE DIRTY PICKLES are this band! Too mean and too green, they're growing up and out and pointing themselves your way!

Just when you think you've heard and seen it all, someone like Pickle's front man Matt Boland arrives to flip your music fan's perspective, prove he's something new under your sun! Rockabilly might be your knee jerk reaction to their tunes, but once the flavor hits you, you'll soon savor a taste of what the boys call PICKLEBILLY. One part punk, one part vintage 50's rock ability, a pinch of blues and whatever else they can drop into the brine, however ya slice it, it's ALL good!

Matty B and the Dirty Pickles have never been content to merely survive; they're making moves in rapid succession to THRIVE! So they drive! All the way to NYC fueled by dreams. If only that were true, these boys have worked hard to pay their own way. The Pickles have earned their rank as Erie's most bragged upon darlings by rocking out every venue in Erie that would take them. Now these venues beg to have them back! The Pickles, like anyone else these days, have had to save all their pennies, dig through the couch cushions and set alarm clocks for several dead end jobs to make these trips happen!

First stop on their mission to Pickle the Big Apple was at New Jersey University to serve it up raw and right. These college kids never had Dirty Pickles on the menu at their cafeteria before. Abnormally early for a young traveling band, the guys set up and sound-checked with the precision of having been there, done that. As the band prepped, "check one, is this thing on..." the rec-room slowly filled with what looked like the regular complacent crowd, more fans of beer and each other than any band their school had to offer. Matt knows how to read a crowd and with a humble confidence that would make a mother proud, can make even the most fickle try a Pickle! The students may have heard these songs before but they were most likely regurgitated and repackaged for a shampoo commercial or force fed to them via late night Guitar Hero. But they've never seen Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly or Eddie Cochran rock it live and greasy in their face! There's nothing cooler than a lead singer that can sling a guitar! The New Jersey University Rec Hall, built in the early seventies, was now being rocked with the foot through the floorboard revving of the fifties, for the eardrum buzz of the new millennium. Talk about a time warp! Lil Wayne can't get kids in hoodies to swing dance! But Matty B and his Dirty Pickles sure can! Matty always builds the frenzy towards a grand finale to be tomorrow's talk. Every show gets the jaw dropping display of his prowess that only years of being a skate rat can bring. He'll find the highest point available at a show and launch himself into lead guitar air bigger than Texas! Every Pickle's show ends in riotous applause and Matt wet with sweat searching for a place to pace off his adrenalin down to an acceptable level. But there was no pacing after this performance. The kids never saw it because he soldiered through, but Matty came down on the dance floor to more than applause. The dirtiest pickled they'd ever seen broke his foot upon landing and would have a green toe to prove it by morning!

So what to do? Buy a cane a block down the road and "Rock it" through the pain with an unintentional new prop.

The guys arrived in Brooklyn that night where their producer put them up in his man-cave, Hard Luck Studios. This is the studio that birthed their first full length album, PICKLEBILLY. They say "The devil will find work for idle hands to do", well he'll never employ these boys, because they can't sit still! Like kids in a candy store the first thing the Pickles did was plug in gobble up the instruments in the studio and jam with sugary delight, even after finishing that exhausting NJU show!

The weekend was already plugged in and full on electric! How perfect was a whole day off to play! And it was Halloween! When you're this young and this far from home, spontaneity forges your path. Lead into the big city by their manager, even the subway seemed like it was there just for them. Halloween night in New Your City could make even the most eloquent wordsmith hungry for better adjectives. Legions of creative costumed people all marching the sidewalks to the beat of who knows whose drum! The perfect night out for a Dirty Pickle! A warm downpour didn't dampen spirits, and the haunting continued through the night. The band soaked it all up and ended up in LIC to knock back a brew or two at one of the local haunting grounds. This wouldn't be the night off they thought they were in for, because it was Halloween, and they were The Dirty Pickles. A buzz started to circulate around the club as soon as they'd entered. Two local bands were scheduled to play the holiday. Matt had played a couple gigs in this area and even with one of these bands, but never here before. It didn't take long before they were propositioned... to join the roster of entertainment for the night. There aren't too many bands that would take songs off of their set list to make room for another impromptu act! Where are these rude New Yorkers they'd always heard of? Matty B can't pass up a chance to rock so his gears turned and with his instinctual up shift, his entertainer's adrenalin kicked in. The magic moment cleared his mind of any injury and he made a limp of a leap into such a memorable night! The Dirty Pickles made quick study of the instruments that were so willingly handed to them. Heads snapped when the opening chords to "Monster Mash" rang out in true Misfits fashion from the guitar Matt was given. The revelers, already having the good time they were out for, rushed in complete surprise to try and see and believe what they were hearing. And they danced! Who knows how the Monster Mash actually looks, but The Dirty Pickles make music fans feel like everything old is new again, if only for that moment, they danced to that magic New York Moment!

GPS knew the way to get the gang back to the man-cave hide-out in time for some video games and rehashing of the already unforgettable evening. Maybe a little sleep, for there was more work to do, and a band manager that would grab them by the ear if they didn't come correct. Sunday morning found them scrambling for caffeine then trudging through their well rehearsed packing of the van. Halloween was over, but these were now zombies plugging in the GPS. Only the young can rebound like these cats, they fired up some Johnny Cash on the CD player, and plotted their course to their location to play for the runners of the New York City Marathon. The CD should have been playing the theme to the Benny Hill Show because this arrival would be outright silly! Even with an official entertainment sign on the dash navigating the blocked off streets prepared for the marathon was ridiculously challenging. But Matt lives for conquering or creating mayhem. There is always, eventually, method to his kind of madness. He can make art from chaos, but try convincing his manager that this is how it's done! There was grace under pressure, like it was meant to be in Rock & Roll.

This was their second year to perform at the NYC Marathon. That Williamsburg sidewalk became a sock hop! Young & old took notice, couples danced, cops tapped their big black boots; PICKLEBILLY filled those streets! As the runners passed and recognized the Pickle's raucous renditions of classics like BeBopaLoopa they couldn't help but bop themselves. All smiles and thumbs up, the band, the runners, and the spectators all enjoyed each other on that block that morning! Lots of folks had their children there for the event and found themselves tied to an awe struck little anchor as they rounded the curb and locked eyes on the band they were hearing. It was after all an awesome sight to see, a full fledged rock band in the flesh playing live, free of charge, outside and on the Brooklyn sidewalk. The Pickles wanted everyone to feel what they felt. The feeling that there was no place they'd rather be.

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