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You never know what sort of music you will be into a few years from now.  Matthew Burress started at McNally Smith College of Music in 2008 and had an obsession with the brand of pop/punk music that was made popular by bands from the early 2000s like Green Day and Blink 182.  However, over the course of four years studying piano professionally, with a minor in songwriting and composition, Burress opened plenty of doors he never expected to walk through.

From the start, he held on to his roots and formed the four piece pop/punk band Summerset Fire.  They played around the Twin Cities at venues like The SOS, The Garage, The Eagles Club, and The Dinkytowner.  When he wasn’t singing lead vocals for Summerset Fire, he was either playing keyboards for the Children of Bodom Ensemble, singing in the eleven piece ska band Good Night Maskau, or blending his voice with the fourteen other members of the MS Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. 

During these first few years at college, Burress wrote mainly in the pop/punk pocket, but soon became influenced by artists like Wilco and Jeremy Messersmith.  It lead him to explore a more mature side to his writing, and release his first CD in the Fall of 2010.  Since I Met You, the three song pop/folk EP would eventually lead to a stronger focus on acoustic guitar and playing solo.  He is currently writing a full length album anticipated for the Fall of 2012, as well as accepting songwriting projects and co-writing commissions.