I first came upon Matthew Van Ness because I was happily rolling around in the rabbit hole that is the 1950s Meredith Wilson musical The Music Man. I had been out with theater geek friends, and the musical came up, so when I got home (admittedly a few drinks in), I felt a strong need to listen to some of the score. When it comes to the Broadway musical recordings I listened to ad nauseum (just ask my brother) as a child, I am a bit of a snob. I was looking for the ORIGINAL original cast when I got curious and clicked on the first recording below. Wowie. I was amazed, and it wasn’t just the pinot grigio talking.

This is Matthew Van Ness, a remarkable vocalist (and truck salesman) who doesn’t just sing songs beautifully. He in fact records every instrument’s part using just his voice. Sound impressive? Believe me, it is (even in the cold light of day). How long do you think these videos take to record and edit? The talented young man is a 23-year-old music and composition student, and his all-vocal arrangements of popular movie scores (and the occasional show tune) are highly entertaining!

You can follow the amazing Mathew Van Ness on his YouTube channel and on Instagram.