THE BIERSMITH FAMILY
Matt, Kasper “Kas,” and Candace Biersmith at their home in Austin, TX.
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round the age of eight, Matt Biersmith walked out of a piano lesson while his teacher was taking a bathroom break. From the house, off of North 18th in Monroe, he walked to Zeagler Music to play the drums. “I just split,” he casually recalls, “because sitting down was torture.” This unapologetic bravado has spearheaded Biersmith’s music and become a staple of his albums since his first in 1999. He has since become a resident of Austin, Texas, but that Louisiana boy that chose percussion over keys, is still making the calls when it comes to music. It’s 72 degrees in south Austin. The sun has finally come out, and Matt answers the phone as he feeds his chickens mealworms. He lives in Austin with his wife, Candace Biersmith, also from Monroe, and their 5-year-old Kaspar “Kas” Biersmith. “We are full-blooded, hillbilly, Waffle House people, I guess,” Biersmith wittingly adds. A full-time pharmacist and part-time time musician, Biersmith is a self-proclaimed “jack of all trades.” He dabbles in drums, piano, guitar, mandolin, bass, harmonica and the Appalachian dulcimer. As a kid, he was always “banging pots and pans.” He grew up listening to his father, Dr. Edward Louis Biersmith, play the guitar and his mother, Barbara Crow Biersmith, play the piano. Both of his grandmothers, Bertha Crow and Helen Kramer Biersmith, were also piano enthusiasts. He still has his grandmothers’ pianos, one of which is a rare Mason & Hamlin grand piano that is over a hundred years old. Both instruments will show up in his new album. Matt was the first Biersmith to be born in Louisiana, when his father moved to work as a chemistry professor at, then, North Louisiana University (NLU). It was at NLU that 12-year-old Matt honed his drumming skills, taking class from a drum instructor. His music style, however, finessed during junior high school. “Badass” drum legends such as Neil Peart of Rush, John Bonham of Led Zepplin, and Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction were initial influences. “I’m all over the place,” says Matt. “There’s not a style of music that I dislike.” Admittedly a “sucker for melody,” he vibes to a plethora of sounds and artists. Notable sways include The King of Latin Music, Ernesto “Tito” Puente, “all the jazz greats,” and heavy metal favorite, Pantera. “Any percussion stuff,” is enough to peak his interest, like his current go-to, American rapper NF. “I swear to you I can write a hip hop song,” Matt chuckles.
190 APRIL 2018 | WWW.BAYOULIFEMAG.COM