The Art of Paying Attention

Matt Maeson at Empire Live, July 18, 2026 – photo by Joshua Scarselli.

By Charla Earney.

Some musicians sing. Some perform. And then there are the ones who somehow narrate your life while you’re busy living it.

Life hurts. It changes us. It breaks us open, rebuilds us, and leaves us carrying experiences we never expected. Musicians go through the same hardships everyone else does, yet somehow a handful of them manage to distill those experiences into three or four minutes that stay with us for years. What makes a songwriter special? Is it wisdom? Better observation? A greater ability to articulate what the rest of us only feel? Some writers spend months collecting pieces of songs: one line scribbled on a napkin, another thought caught while standing at the kitchen counter, a melody that finally finds its home months later. Eventually those scattered pieces become something that feels inevitable.

I’ve spent years reading philosophy. I’ve read Nietzsche, some of it twice. There is a quote about him that says he could express in a few sentences what it would take another man an entire book to explain. I think great songwriters do the same thing. B.B. King wasn’t Nietzsche, and yet, in another way, he absolutely was. A simple lyric can summarize an entire philosophy of living without ever sounding complicated. The funny thing is, I noticed that I remember song lyrics far better than I remember philosophy books. I can still hear U2’s words from various albums. Most of Nietzsche’s eventually floated away. U2 Lyrics stayed.

I stopped being an album listener when I was able to formulate my own playlist. When I was a kid, we called playlists radio. Playlists let me keep the songs that become part of my life at my fingertips. They become personal soundtracks instead of someone else’s sequence.  Years ago, I subscribed to Amazon Music. Their Discovery Mix knew me frighteningly well. Before streaming, I downloaded music the same way everyone else did in those days. My sister had over two million songs saved across her hard drive. Deleting anything was never an option; they just bought more storage. When playlists arrived, it basically reinvented radio, except this time we got to be the DJ.  I loved that, still do. Eventually I made the conscious decision to stop downloading music illegally and pay for a subscription.

My sister thought I was crazy. “Why would you pay for something you can get for free?” My reasoning was sound. Maybe the artist only gets a fraction of my monthly subscription. Maybe it’s only pennies. But they’re my pennies, and they get them. I like the multiplier effect. If millions of people each contribute a tiny amount, eventually it becomes enough to keep musicians making music. That mattered to me. The security didn’t hurt either. I had already learned the hard way what computer viruses could do when you download music off Lime-Wire. Amazon Music felt safer. Eventually my sister became the Apple Music queen. I stayed loyal to Amazon for years. 

Then life changed.

I’ve been trying something different. I stepped away from constant streaming, social media, and algorithm-driven recommendations. These days I mostly listen to YouTube and extra-terrestrial radio (my own thoughts). And oddly enough … I miss my algorithm. Not because I miss technology. I miss the discovery option. I have recently developed a limited online connection lifestyle. I call it a “No Noise life”. “No Noise” doesn’t mean silence. It means choosing what deserves my attention instead of letting an algorithm, a notification, or a screen choose it for me. It is the deliberate act of stepping back into my own life, where discovery happens by being present instead of scrolling. The music sounds different, the conversations feel deeper, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m living the soundtrack instead of simply consuming it.

Instead of letting an algorithm introduce me to music, I’ve been creating my own real-life Discovery Mix. Going to local shows. Standing in small clubs. Listening to opening acts I’d never heard before. Paying attention.

Then Matt Maeson released his acoustic Stepping Out tour dates. One of them being at Empire Live in Albany. Holy sh**. I’ve watched Matt Maeson’s tours come and go for years. I didn’t have the money. Or transportation. Or the mental bandwidth. I live with a traumatic brain injury. Crowds, bright lights, and sensory overload aren’t minor inconveniences; they’re something I must manage if I expect to make it home safely. This time I had all three.

Empire Live is sensory overload for me. A local business owner told me a lot of tickets had been sold. Judging by the humidity inside and the condensation literally dripping from the ceiling, I lived it.  Empire Live isn’t my favorite venue. But here’s what I love about it. There’s a smoking patio outside where, on cool evenings, they leave the door open. You can stand outside, catch a breeze, smoke, and still hear the performance almost perfectly. For someone whose nervous system occasionally needs a break … that’s heaven.

I discovered Matt Maeson years ago through Amazon’s Discovery Mix. He blends alternative rock, indie folk, and blues-infused Americana with raw, emotionally charged songwriting that explores addiction, faith, mental health, and love. His music is stripped-down and deeply personal, pairing soulful vocals with lyrics that feel more like an honest conversation. It is music that quickly became part of my life. I write and cook while listening to it. I have made decisions and formed plans with it playing in the background. Seeing him live felt surreal. It wasn’t just hearing songs I’d loved for years. It felt like two versions of my life collided. The life I used to live online, and the one I’m trying to build now. Standing there in downtown Albany, surrounded by a thousand strangers singing words that had once only belonged to headphones, something clicked. It confirmed. It reminded me that reality feels different when you’re standing inside it instead of watching it through a screen. Music isn’t background noise.

It’s participation.

Being physically present reconnects me to something that algorithms never could. To my soul. Music is the way. That realization has made me rethink how I consume everything. How many artists did I dismiss after watching a thirty-second clip online? How many bands did I scroll past because the algorithm didn’t grab me immediately? I’ve started assigning shame to that habit, not to punish myself, but to change it. That’s what shame is supposed to do. Point us toward better behavior, not keep us quiet to continue to NOT change.  I’m trying not to judge entire experiences by thirty-second previews anymore. The amount I’ve been missing is staggering. 

Matt himself? He was terrific. And honestly? Far better looking in person than his promotional photos suggest. The album images make him look like a confused beta fish trapped in a fishbowl. In real life, he’s relaxed, confident, wearing a simple black T-shirt, dark pants, boots, and a baseball cap. Nothing flashy. Just a guy with a piano and a guitar, strong shoulders, and songs that inspire people to sing along. If I’d passed him on the sidewalk, I’d have simply thought, “Good-looking guy.” Not knowing his stage presence is captivating. 

That is what live music gives. Not perfect sound. Not polished production. Not the convenience of skipping a song after thirty seconds. It gives permission for strangers to sing the same words together. There are moments that can’t be paused, rewound, or replayed; it gives me the opportunity to be present. It reminds me that musicians aren’t just voices coming through our speakers; they’re people who have lived enough of life to write something that became part of mine. I walked into Empire Live thinking I was going to hear Matt Maeson perform songs I already loved like “Blood Runs Red,” “Hallucinogenics,” and my beloved “Cringe.” I heard all of them. I walked out remembering why music was meant to be experienced together.

If we want to support artists, subscriptions matter. Buy the album. Stream the songs. If you want to support the soul of music, you have to show up. Stand in the crowd. Cheer for the opening act. Buy the ticket. Put the phone in your pocket occasionally and let yourself be completely there. Somewhere, in a small club or a packed venue, is a song that could change your life. It has mine. The algorithm might have introduced me, but only live music let me truly meet the music I love.

Epic Show.