Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, better known as CMAT, is yet another artist contributing to what feels like a current Irish Renaissance. Her style is glamorous, her lyrics painfully relatable, and her tunes are unmistakably country. She’s Ireland’s very own cowboy.
I first encountered CMAT’s music two years ago, shortly after she released her debut record, If My Wife Knew I’d Be Dead. At the time, I was an unemployed college freshman with far too much free time, walking around the city with headphones on. On one of these existential trots, I pressed play on the devastatingly beautiful "Nashville"—it’s tragic subject matter making it a crazy yet powerful song to start an album with. Since that moment, CMAT has become my designated scream-along-to country artist, with an infectious charm I never imagined I’d experience in person.
To my surprise, that opportunity came this year. On the eve of her solo performance at ACL (which I also got to witness), CMAT blessed us with a pop-up acoustic show at Tweedy’s Bar & Patio. Naturally, I was there, along with more than 20 other fans, who sat on the Tweedy’s brick floor to watch a vested, cowboy-booted CMAT serenade us with the tunes we all knew and loved.
As she began with “Nashville” and later stood up from her chair for “2 Wrecked 2 Care,” the audience was struck by her powerhouse vocals. CMAT sounds exactly like she does on her recordings, if not stronger. While I’m sure a full CMAT concert with her band is legendary, she didn’t need them to put on such a captivating show. Every word she sang was felt, every strum on her acoustic guitar hooked my attention, and every chance she had to connect with the audience was seized. She waited for us to get the countdown right on "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" and had us stomping and screaming with her during the "Stay for Something" chorus. The modest patio stage did not deter this Irish sensation from kicking and hair-flipping her way through most of her set, proving that while CMAT’s music may reside in the country realm, her stage presence is pure popstar.
Beyond this commanding presence, CMAT also showed she was deeply interested in her audience, learning our names between songs and taking the time to meet and chat with everyone after the show. Though I would later see her rock an even bigger, more recognized stage the next day at ACL, I will always remember my first CMAT show, where she gave nothing less than her absolute best.
RIP Leonard Cohen you would have loved CMAT’s Austin comeback at Tweedy’s Bar and Patio.
Check out CMAT here!