Matt Backer's smashing 2013 CD, Idle Hands and its hit single, "All That You've Wanted", a duet with Matt's good friend and colleague Julian Lennon, was Backer's biggest personal project this past year. "My day gig is as the guitarist for 80s pop band, ABC," he said recently. "But I also worked on Laura Mvula's new record, Sing to the Moon, traveled with Bananarama a bit and been in the studio a lot. My next project is to finish my new blues records with Ian Shaw at Warmfuzz Records in Key West."

Although Key West resident Ian Shaw co-produced Idle Hands, he's quick to point out the single with Lennon was Matt's production. "I guess we can claim fame by association," laughs Shaw. "Matt and I have been co-collaborators on his music for many years now."

"I first met Matt around 1992 when he came to play guitar on a session at my studio in London with a band called The Clementines. We hit it off musically because we both liked the same sort of guitar sounds and records from a similar era, late 60s and early 70s." recalls Shaw. "I then got involved with recording his first album, Is That All?, which took many years to finish as Matt was always busy touring, particularly with Julian Lennon who he was on the road with for nearly two years."

"Since then we've recorded two further albums, numerous sessions for other artists and loads of library tracks that have been used on a host of British and US TV programs, films and adverts. Matt was my first client in my new Key West studio when he came to begin recording a blues album."