Name: Matt Heckler with Shawn Hess
Start: 2026-06-29T20:00:00-06:00
Location: The Filling Station

Doors at 7 pm - Show at 8 pm Sharp!
Matt Heckler is a solo multi-instrumentalist that barely fits into any ordinary musical category. He tends to keep to the darker side of Appalachian mountain music and early bluegrass but listen long enough and you’ll soon be transported to the mountains of Eastern Europe or a dimly lit bar in Ireland where they honor those who have passed with a gently swaying a cappella ballad.
After touring almost nonstop for years in support of bands like Devil Makes Three, Lost Dog Street Band, Flogging Molly, and others, Heckler, like the rest of us, got sidelined by the ongoing global pandemic. With the newfound time off, he set to pushing creative boundaries in his home recording studio as far as his mind would allow. Each fiddle, banjo, and guitar track carefully put in place all the while retaining the grit and energy reflected in his live shows. Paired perfectly as the sequel to After The Flood, the Blood, Water, Coal album is a defining release in his career.
Blood, Water, Coal was performed and recorded by Matt Heckler with upright bass and backing vocals provided by Jeff Loops (Lost Dog Street Band). While recording Blood, Water, Coal, Matt Heckler released The Magnolia Sessions outdoor live set – the maiden release for the now popular series – which made it to #9 on the Bluegrass Billboard Charts. The Magnolia Sessions was still charting upon the release of Blood, Water, Coal, which debuted at #3, leaving Heckler with two albums running on the Billboard Charts simultaneously.
With the release of his last album, "This Town Is Killin Me", Heckler signed off on his fourth album with a national tour. Fans filled the venues for a rowdy solo act, and he held true to the grit of his live shows reputation.
Moving forward, Heckler has a new album in the works, which he says is his best yet. Keep your ears peeled for future recordings, videos and performances near you.
Shawn Hess crawled out of a western noir film and into your
hearts with songs that stand firmly with one foot in the oldest roots of western music and folk and the other in a modern sensibility for narrative and rhyme.