The Dark Horse
Matthew Darkly, Kansas City native, attended Missouri State University where he obtained a Master's in Creative Writing in  2007. In his time there he was mentored by famed Ozark producer Lou Whitney who ran 'The Studio' in Springfield , Missouri. Co-owned by Tom Whitlock, writer of Top Gun's 'Danger Zone' and 'Take My Breath Away,' 



The Studio provided a furtive environment of wisened players who were quick to lend their talent to Matthew's minimalist garage rock songs. He recorded 4 albums of original material with members of The Skeletons, Morells, and Ozark Mountain Daredevils.



In 2010, Lou Whitney & D Clinton Thompson recorded an album of Matthew's overlooked tunes called, 'The Book of Matthew.' 



Matthew has opened for Chuck Berry at The Pageant in St. Louis. He has leant his vintage drum programming and analog synth playing to a number of Kansas City/St. Louis rap albums. 



In 2025 his sophomore solo effort was recorded and produced by Grammy nominated producer Scott Thomas Robinson. Matthew currently works as a DJ and producer in Kansas City and is preparing to record an album of new songs.

Iris Appelquist has been writing/performing poems for 20 years. Five collections of her poetry have been published by independent presses local to Kansas City. On SoundCloud, there are experimental expositions of new and older poems. The received experience is time-based and reflexive; whoever listens creates a version of the poem unique to their perception and disposition in the given moment…not so different from a normal, receptive encounter with poetry—Appelquist, here, provides both clues and barriers that work to imbue the poem with a nonmaterial environment the audience must navigate.

Matthew Darkly is following