The Musician
Matthew began playing guitar at the age of six and graduated from Valley High School in 1996, where he majored in music under the teachings of Ben Perea. His musical career as a guitarist quickly expanded into music writing, arranging, and production with the well-established band Crossroads from Albuquerque, NM. Matthew’s father-in-law, Phil Baca, played bass, managed the band, and invited Matthew to join. Upon joining Crossroads, Matthew immediately began transitioning the band’s Spanish rancheras and cumbias into a Tejano music style. He soon took on roles as teacher, producer, arranger, and songwriter for the band. Crossroads featured a full rhythm section, a 4- to 6-piece horn section, and an accordion player.
Matthew’s passion for Tejano music led him to break barriers like never before. Known as a “Tejano music encyclopedia,” he had a deep knowledge of the genre’s history. In the late 1990s, Matthew studied under Carlos and Leo Saenz of the Latin Express Band from Fort Worth, Texas. The brothers took Matthew under their wings, expanding his musical knowledge. Carlos taught him Tejano-style chording on guitar, while Leo taught him to arrange and structure horn sections for writing horn charts.
In 2000, Matthew took Crossroads to San Antonio, TX, the Tejano Music Capital of the World, to perform at the Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair. Crossroads became one of the first Orquesta bands from outside Texas to be accepted and welcomed into the Tejano music industry. The band went on to perform in San Antonio for award shows, clubs, festivals, and events. Matthew expanded Crossroads’ catalog by incorporating cover songs with large horn sections from bands like Tower of Power and Chicago into their live shows. The band’s rapid growth in the Tejano music scene led Matthew to travel to Texas at least once a month for radio tours, promotions, recordings, and performances. This success led Crossroads to secure management representation with Ricardo Hernandez of Aur-Marc Management Company in Dallas, TX.
Matthew gained the respect of and shared the stage with many Tejano music legends and pioneers, including Gilbert Velasquez, Johnny Hernandez, Jerry Lopez, Bob Gallarza, Carlos and Leo Saenz of Latin Express, Jimmy Shortell, Bobby Esquivel of Liberty Band, Jimmy Lee, Max Baca of Los Texmaniacs, Stefani Montiel, Gabriel Zavala, Shelly Lares, Sunny Ozuna, Ruben Ramos & The Mexican Revolution, Rick Fuentes, Chente Barrera, Joe Posada, David Mares, and many more.
As a professional guitarist, Matthew expanded his expertise by teaching himself to play the bajo sexto, which he incorporated into the music he produced. He especially enjoyed performing conjunto-style songs on stage, often challenging his fellow musicians by transitioning from song to song within just four beats. Musicians who performed with Matthew knew they had to be well-versed in conjunto music to keep up with his spontaneous and creative stage direction.
Under Matthew’s leadership, Crossroads received three record label offers from top Tejano music labels, toured throughout the Southwest, and earned airplay across the U.S. and Mexico. Matthew also worked in the recording studio with his father-in-law at Bactrax Studios in Albuquerque and with multi-Grammy Award-winning producer and engineer Gilbert Velasquez of Velasquez Music in San Antonio, TX. Gilbert, with whom Matthew often spoke, became one of his longtime friends in the industry.
Over the years, Crossroads earned numerous awards, including "Best Out-of-State Band," “Cumbia, Salsa y Tropical Song of the Year,” “Instrumental Song of the Year,” “Conjunto Song of the Year,” “Original Song of the Year,” “Songwriter of the Year,” “Male Vocalist of the Year,” “Female Vocalist of the Year,” and “Album of the Year,” along with many other nominations from various music organizations. One of Matthew’s greatest accomplishments was producing, writing, and arranging Crossroads’ self-titled project, which made it onto a Grammy ballot in 2006 and was a finalist for the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame.
Another honor and accomplishment Matthew achieved was when he had the opportunity of combining his passion for Tejano music and his production expertise to which he earned the Production Director position for the National Tejano Music Convention aka "Vegas Tejano" in Las Vegas, NV, produced by David and Sarah Chavez of Ingeñuity.
Matthew’s future plans included arranging, writing, and producing another project for Crossroads. Matthew's last Tejano projects featured two rancheras, “Cuántas Veces” and “Mi Soledad.” Cuántas Veces was a cover inspired by a rendition sung by his friend Ruben Cubillos, who was originally slated to record vocals. Mi Soledad was written by Gilbert Lopez, father of Jerry Lopez, who personally gave Matthew a handwritten letter granting permission to cover the song before it was recorded. Another project, Nuevo Día, a salsa cover, was recorded after Crossroads performed it live for over two years. Featuring over 29 tracks, it was Matthew’s largest music production to date. During the summer of 2023, Matthew had also begun producing a worship music project with his wife, Joy.
