Lorrie Matheson has been a fixture on Calgary’s musical scene for many years since moving to Alberta from his native Saskatchewan. He reached a national audience for the first time with Fire Engine Red. Their 1995 album "1530", with it's Husker Du and Buffalo Tom-influenced fuzz-pop spawned the single “Shank Pony”, which found its way into the rotation on MuchMusic.
In 1996, after Fire Engine Red disbanded, Matheson spent some time in Edmonton rock band Pal Joey before returning to Calgary to found roots powerhouse National Dust, which was rooted in his love for bands like the Replacements and Uncle Tupelo. They released two well-received albums. The first, "…blind luck ain’t no luck at all" (1998), received strong radio support in Calgary, and also received airplay at new rock station CFNY in Toronto. The second National Dust Release, "Welcome To Utopia" (2000), made the top 10 charts at the non-commercial CKUA radio network in Alberta, the Canadian campus/community radio Top 50 chart, and received airplay on CBC Radio One.
Matheson joined former Fire Engine Red bandmate James Hayden in the Thousandsticks project, contributing keyboards and background vocals to the 2001 album "White Knuckled Midnight Drives". He then released his first solo album, "You Should Know By Now", in December 2002, when the Elvis Costello comparisons began in earnest. That album charted at #1 at CAPR (Sydney, NS), at #2 at CJSR (Edmonton), and also received extensive airplay at CJSW in Calgary. In 2002 and 2003, Matheson fronted The Yorkton Spokes, which primarily performed his songs.
Matheson’s second album, "A Dime At A Time", was released in October 2004, an album he engineered, produced, and played all the instruments, save drums. It reached #1 at CJSW and received airplay and press coverage across Canada, as well as internationally on Web sites such as Americana-UK.com, and the success of that record sparked a long spate of touring with his backing band, the Brass Tax . A Dime At A Time was a nominee for Independent Album of the Year at the 2005 Western Canadian Music Awards.
2008 saw the release of a 4-song EP "Rebels United", a collaboration with his 8 year-old friend, lyricist and vocalist Penn Poutanen. His latest album, out February 24, 2009 on the Saved By Radio/Saved By Vinyl imprint is entitled "In Vein", a record Americana UK calls "a superior collection... an excellent album, well produced and adventurous.", and features the cream of the crop in Calgary’s music scene.