MATT BUETOW

& The Western Stars

Vortex Magazine Video Premiere and Interview

Working with Matt Buetow and his band was nothing but a joy. The band was very easy to work with throughout the booking and performance process. During the show, they were engaging with the audience, enthusiastic, and musically gifted. The audience loved the show… I highly recommend this band for any show!

Katherine Curles

Student Activities Advisor - Whitman College

Matt Buetow and his band kicked off our Coffeehouse season and left high standards for the performers that followed. They performed for an intimate audience of about 300 people at Gonzaga's Coffeehouse series. The band captivated the student's attention right off the bat with the soulful and smooth music. Their sound was extremely unique and their music fit perfectly with the relaxing and laid back coffeehouse scene. Matt Buetow was a joy to work with and I would recommend other schools and venues into looking to book them for one of their shows or events!

Becca Grady

Coffeehouse Events Chair - Gonzaga University

There was a certain aura that this band resonated even through the computer screen when I was making the decision to book the band. I booked them for a show at the University of Puget Sound and they performed above satisfactory. Overall, they were a collective of superb musicians and amazing people to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed their music and I respect the amount of heart they put into this project.

Tai Koga

Northwest Sounds Programmer - University of Puget Sound

Social Media

Matt Buetow grew up on a Wisconsin farm with draft horses, where the only country music around was the modern kind on the radio, and it never did much for him. When he found traditional country, it hit him differently than anything he'd heard before, and it's the only music he's wanted to play since.

He's spent those years trying to do it justice: learning from the great singers and songwriters, and working to strip away old habits and imitation so he can sing in his own voice.

His band, The Western Stars, plays the honky-tonk country of the 1960s: shuffles and waltzes with three-part harmony, the way George Jones and Buck Owens were recording them back then. Ian Miller on Telecaster and Rusty Blake on pedal steel are a big part of why it sounds right.

Matt is recording and mixing a new record himself, with a single coming out first. In the meantime, the band plays around Portland, mixing classics with Matt's own songs, and nearly the whole set is made for two-stepping.