Pulling into the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn just off of Rt. 5 you may not suspect that an entire day and evening of music is about to unfold behind it. A few cars beginning to fill the green space to the left of the motel and a table with a tent over it and “Box Office” printed on a sign hanging from it are the only indicators, sans the muffled sound of pre-concert music over the sound system ringing out. But music indeed will begin to fill the warm summer air with its soothing sounds, rocking riffings and melodic musings as 2017’s iteration of Roots on the River kicks off its second day.

The Suitcase Junket is no stranger to Red Line Roots. Matt’s prowess as a musician and creator has left us awestruck from the very first time we heard a song off of one of his earlier records. It was when we saw him live that our jaws dropped to the floor and have been sweeping up the dust from the ground ever since. The man is simply brilliant.

Amid the harmonies of brotherly duos, rock and roll guitars of festival veterans and the words of a self proclaimed ‘drunken poet’, Lorenz still managed to stand out on his own (with a little help from the piles of salvaged trash turned treasures that surround him on stage and help to bring the experience that is The Suitcase Junket to life).

Kicking right into his set with a quick check of sounds and his signature throat singing technique he leaves the audience speechless, until a standing ovation at the end, with “Never Leave, Let Me Be” off of his 2009 release ‘Sever and Lift‘ and re-released as a live version on his 2016 EP “Dying Star“. This live version of the tune left as all hanging on each note, ting of a cooking pot or rattle of a box of bones. Check it out below and be sure to pick up the latest from The Suitcase Junket “Pile Driver”!