Matt the Electrician marks 30 years in South Austin at the 04 Center

The former electrician turned songwriter returns next Friday to the South Lamar room that has become his November home, with Paper Lawn as special guests.

Before he was a songwriter, Matt the Electrician was an actual electrician: a journeyman in Austin who eventually put down the wire strippers for a guitar, as WMBR's archive puts it. Thirty years on, the name has outlasted the day job, and next Friday he celebrates the anniversary in the neighborhood where it all happened.

Matt the Electrician plays The 04 Center on Friday, November 13, at 8 p.m., with doors at 7. The 04 Center's Prekindle page bills the night as "30 Years in South Austin" with special guests Paper Lawn. Tickets are through Prekindle. His own site lists the same date.

If the room and the month sound familiar, they should. The 04 Center, at 2701 South Lamar, has hosted his November show for years. Prekindle's archive shows a Matt the Electrician & Friends night there on November 1, 2023 with Kelly Willis, Grace Rowland and Bob Schneider. Another on November 13, 2024 brought in Suzanna Choffel and Graham Weber. Austin is the city he plays most, 24 shows in our records, and this has become the anchor date.

New music this year is small but real: a two-song vinyl 45, "Let's Play Two," out in March. His last full-length was *The Ocean Knocked Me Down*, released in February 2024 and still up on his Bandcamp. No new album has been announced, so expect a career-spanning set that fits an anniversary, not a record-release show.

Thirty years in, the day-job name has outlived the day job, and South Austin is still the address.

Thirty years is long enough to have watched South Lamar turn over more than once. A show that names the neighborhood in the title is a small act of staying put, and a good excuse for longtime fans to do the same for one more Friday. Get there at doors.

Sources: The 04 Center on Prekindle (prekindle.com); Prekindle tickets: Matt the Electrician at The 04 Center (prekindle.com); Matt the Electrician (official site) (matttheelectrician.com); Bandcamp: The Ocean Knocked Me Down (matttheelectrician.bandcamp.com); Prekindle: Matt the Electrician & Friends, Nov 1 2023 (prekindle.com); Prekindle: Matt the Electrician & Friends, Nov 13 2024 (prekindle.com); WMBR: Matt the Electrician (wmbr.mit.edu); JamBase show listing (jambase.com)