Duke and Reynolds Captivates a Crowded Show With Humor and Honesty

NEWTOWN SQUARE–Singer, songwriter, and perhaps even teen heartthrob, Matt Duke pulled in a great crowd Feb. 18 at local coffee house that included a semicircle of fans sitting cross-legged on the floor like eager groupies.

The evening's vibe was a full range of emotions. Duke, along with opener Nicole Reynolds, shared quirky anecdotes with the audience paired with personal and emotional songs.

Reynolds' work comes from a simple place. Her lyrics have a quirky wit and adorable sarcasm. The stories in her songs unfurl like show-and-tell. Her most recent album A Fine Set of Fools has varied muses, everything from serious topics like sexuality, religion, and love to her experiences as a sheep and vegetable farmer.

Reynolds is also an accomplished poet, which was very apparent after hearing her lyric-centric songs. Her stage presence showed the shyness of a poet, but the voice of a singer.

She invited friend, and fellow musician, Julia Reed to accompany her on the fiddle for a few songs and then the duo switched places. Reed preformed one of her original songs while Reynolds playing guitar.

Duke, the headliner for the night, knew how to work the crowd and was greatly appreciative of his audience. He continually mentioned throughout the set how much he loved playing to the local coffee shop's crowd.

Back in 2008, Duke released his successful album Kingdom Underground. He then toured with a full band as well as played some solo shows at smaller venues. He played many of his solo sets stripped down for the coffee houses, and soon fans began enjoying the acoustic versions of his music just as much as the original. The result was Acoustic Kingdom Underground.

"It would be more for the fans than anything else," he said about the album.

When writing a song, Duke said he first develops a melody and the tone of emotion it evokes will bring on the lyrical content. His journey from being brought up traditionally Catholic to his current spirituality and music led him to use Paradise Lost as an element throughout Kingdom Underground.

"For me, [the lyrics] are the most important part," said Duke. "Especially since I'm an acoustic songwriter for quite some time, I kind of put the focus on that. When the emotion is sort of established, it just kind of reminds me of something or such and such book. It's drawing from those literary references that inspire where the song is going to go." 

Audiences were treated to a whole slew of new songs from Duke's new album, which will be out in March. He describes this album as his most personal. The songs were performed with a powerful elegance, but the lyrics describe the darker reality of modern issues that revolved around his hometown of Mount Laurel, NJ.

"It was a very cathartic record to make...it's a very honest record. In that way it's a bit more aggressive," Duke explained.

According to Duke, he tried to incorporate personal issues without exposing too much. He looked at the album as a whole and examined what the listener would want to know in order to become emotionally connected.

Despite claiming this was the "saddest show he ever gave," there were quite a few humorous moments. One highlight was when he asked the crowd for three topics and then he proceeded to create and impromptu song about "sexy time," the "Jersey Shore," and the evening's running joke about underwear.

The crowd was hysterical and Duke was in top form as he sang about the show that made him "think about abs he didn't need."

Duke's range of emotion and ability to capture a crowd is the reason he has cast a spell on people of all ages, especially the young "groupies" in the front row.