Sarah Moses
Cumberland Times-News
— CUMBERLAND - Playing music is not a job for Matthew Nelson, who says that even after playing alongside his brother Gunnar for decades, performing remains something he enjoys.
That includes playing the music that his father, Ricky Nelson, made famous.
"We play because we love to do it," Matthew said, "not because we have to do it. It's a genuine expression of admiration we have for our dad and his music. It satisfies a huge demand for his music that is out there."
Matthew gave a phone interview last week, despite fighting a flu bug. He said he'd be feeling better in time for his concert Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Allegany High School, where he and Gunnar will perform "Ricky Nelson Remembered," a show dedicated to following the progression of their father's music.
He said that the show will not only feature his father's music, but also some of the songs that he and Gunnar are known for from their band Nelson.
"We absolutely play a few of our tunes as well," Matthew said. "We have to play a couple of new songs. If we don't, we wind up being an act, not artists. It's connecting the dots. There's a beginning of the journey and the destination."
Matthew added that as part of the show, he and his brother acknowledge their grandparents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, who had a band and hit songs of their own. However, they don't perform their grandparents' music during the show.
For a number of years, Matthew and Gunnar wouldn't perform their father's music, afraid they would be known for covering his hits rather than making a name for themselves.
Once they felt more comfortable in their own name and music, Matthew said they began performing their father's music, which they had grown up with and have been fans of for their entire lives.
"It was my main influence in my life. I grew up in country rock, which is all about harmony and melody. I knew he was an innovator, I think, before anyone else."
Matthew said that he felt some of his father's fame from "The Ozzie and Harriet Show" held him back from being recognized as a musician in his own right. Now, with his father's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the founders of the country rock movement, Matthew said he feels America is finally realizing his father's importance to music.
"It seems cliché, but you don't miss what you have until you don't have it anymore," Matthew said. "When he was here he was not appreciated, but it was noticed when he was gone."
Aside from this concert, Matthew and Gunnar also do a Nelson tour, singing some of their own songs, old and new, and get together with other lead singers from bands of the 1980s and '90s in a group called Scrap Metal.
Matthew said that he and his brother have side projects as well as writing music and working behind the scenes for other artists. That and the fact that they chose to return to singing with one another rather than needing to, he said, is part of the reason they still manage to perform together.
The brothers may be familiar to viewers of Vh1, where they have appeared on the "I Love the" series, which highlights certain events and fads of years within a specific decade.
One of Matthew's favorite parts of doing that show was when he and Gunnar were the subject of one of the segments and they, and other commentators on the series, got the opportunity to poke fun at themselves.
Through that same show, the brothers made connections with the band The Donnas, and are helping write music for their next album.
"That's what is amazing to me," Matthew said. "If you've been doing this long enough, you have the ability to become friends with most of the people we admire currently and people we grew up with listening to. As a musician, it's an adventure."
Tickets for Saturday's concert, through Tri-State Concert Association Legends of Rock 'n' Roll concert series, are available by calling (301) 729-0580 or by visiting TWR, 549 N. Centre St., and on the Web site, www.tri-stateconcerts.com.
For more information on Gunnar and Matthew, log on to www.thenelsonbrothers.com.
Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.

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