“Theo Katzman is a rock star. He’s the next Bruce Springsteen,” Matthew Altruda tells me, pointing at a list of names on a poster advertising the Michigan solo-fest at the Blind Pig. This is one of the many local music gigs he’s planned, and will feature artists such as Dick Siegel, Frank Allison and Laith Al-Saadi. “It’s almost perfect, if only I could have had Chris Bathgate,” he says wishfully. However, this is not the only project he’s been working on. In the past, Altruda has booked the Sonic Lunch music series, worked with Top of the Park, managed the Macpodz, and most famously, is host to 107one’s Tree Town Sound Radio show from 7PM to 8PM every Sunday.
Even though Altruda probably knows more about the local music scene than anyone else, he did not grow up here. It wasn’t until ’98 that he moved to Ann Arbor, having been a Michigan football fan since age twelve. His interest in music came naturally, as his childhood coincided with the new excitement of hip-hop and the arrival of music videos in pop culture. He recalls listening to Phish and the Beastie Boys, and seeing his first concert, Steve Miller Band and Bad Company. Eventually, Altruda would attain the ultimate dream of all music lovers, hosting his own radio show.
It began with the Barton Hill’s Country Club’s benefit for the Humane Society. They were looking for someone to roast Martin Bandyke, another DJ on 107one, and came across Altruda while trying to get the Macpodz to play. He got his roast, and was contacted the next day about taking over the Homegrown show. “I didn’t want to be a new DJ with an old show, and I wanted to do things my way, so I renamed it Tree Town Sound.”
Altruda has had many local musicians on the show, including Chris Bathgate, Nervous But Excited and the Appleseed Collective. “I want people to hear these musicians on the radio and then go support them by buying their music, and going to see them live. You know, it’s almost impossible to be a band and make it, and the standards of making it are so hard.” He also streams live on his website (treetownsound.com) and dreams of expanding the show for a larger audience, “I’d like to see 107one put it in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, and have my show on Sunday nights in three different cities.”
If you pay any attention to the local music scene nowadays, you can’t miss Matthew Altruda. He’s booking the art fair stage again this year, managing singer/songwriter Abigail Stauffer, and wants to keep encouraging the growth of his show, and the popularity of Ann Arbor artists, “I hope Tree Town Sound does what it’s supposed to do; help promote amazing musicians and have people go out and support them. And if I can do that, I feel like its mission accomplished.”
