MatR: The Matt O’Ree Band and Bruce Springsteen: Black Boots

Matt O’Ree is singer-songwriter and blues guitarist from Holmdel, New Jersey. Both as frontman for his eponymous band and rhythm guitarist for Bon Jovi, O’Ree has torn it up on stages around the world.

But sometimes a musician needs more than a touring income to make a living, so O’Ree teaches private guitar lessons, too. Back in 2013, one of Matt’s students brought a nineteen-year-old friend named Sam with him to his lesson, and Sam and Matt hit it off.

“Halfway through the lesson it dawned on me that this kid looked familiar,” O’Ree told Chris Jordan in an Asbury Park Press interview. He soon realized that Sam’s last name was Springsteen, and soon after that, the elder Springsteen asked O’Ree if he would teach his son to play guitar.

Matt took Sam on as a student, and one day Sam asked his teacher if he could hear some of the tracks he was working on. Matt gave Sam a tape, and the tape made its way to Sam’s father.

The next time Bruce saw O’Ree, he commented that he liked one of the songs he’d heard on the tape. “Black Boots” is a song by a rocker for a rocker. The titular boots are the performer’s totem: when he pulls on those boots, the stage persona takes hold.

That compliment was “a defining moment for me,” O’Ree said in a 2016 press release, “and with every ounce of courage I had, I asked Bruce if he would be interested in playing on it. With a pause he thought for a second, and then said, ‘Sure. Let me see what I can add to it.’ All I remember were overwhelming feelings of joy running through me. One incredible moment in an otherwise average day for a kid from Holmdel.”

Bruce end up contributing lead vocals and a screaming guitar solo, and the finished duet track was released as the lead single to O’Ree’s 2016 album, Brotherhood.

“Black Boots” is a scorcher, featuring strong vocal performances from both Bruce and Matt and some serious shredding. It stayed under the radar upon its release, but it deserves to be in any Springsteen fan’s collection.

Black Boots
Recorded: Late 2013
Released: Brotherhood (2016)
Never performed