Matt Mays’ electrifying, heavy roots tunes—epic in scope and meant to be played loud—have made him one of Canada’s premier modern rock ‘n’ rollers. Mays was born in 1979 in Hamilton, Ontario but raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. After leaving country-rock group The Guthries, Mays released his debut self-titled album in 2002, and its scorching, Crazy Horse-indebted ode to Dartmouth, “City of Lakes,” remains a live staple. He followed it up with Matt Mays & El Torpedo in 2005, adding his all-star road band to the equation full-time and nabbing his biggest hit yet with the shadowy “Cocaine Cowgirl.” In 2006, the sprawling When the Angels Make Contact found him branch out into heady, hard-rocking psychedelia. Since then, he’s explored the possibilities of riffage on the rollicking “Tall Trees” from 2008’s Terminal Romance and wild Americana on “Queen of Portland Street”—another tribute to his beloved hometown—on 2012’s Coyote. In 2020, he took advantage of pandemic downtime by making the scrappy Dog City, a concept album through the eyes of a rescue dog.