Matt the Electrician

Matt the Electrician is not an electrician, but a folk singer and songwriter, and a well-established one at that. Born in California, the guy has been part of the vaunted Austin, Texas music scene for closing in on two decades, and he released the first of his 13 albums way back in 1998. You don’t make it in Austin and work as a professional musician for that long without knowing what you’re doing.

Indeed, Matt’s songs are consistently compelling and relatable, not to mention catchy. Take, for example, those on his latest record, 2021’s “We Imagined an Ending,” which showcase his sharp storytelling skills and his sense of sonic ambition. Its songs are folk-based, certainly, but they are dressed up with interesting production and arrangement choices that put the “pop” in Matt the Electrician’s brand of folk-pop.

At least three songs on “We Imagined an Ending” were inspired by the memory of Matt’s late mother, and another came about shortly after he heard about the death of a fellow songwriter. If you can spot a bit of a theme emerging, you’re not the only one. Says Matt on his website:

“We all have what we think is going to be the way things are going to work out, but then they don’t always work out that way at all. Like you might think, ‘Oh, we’ll see Mom next Christmas,’ or whatever, and then you just don’t. So then you have to just figure out how to move on and get through that. And as hard as it may be, there’s growth that comes out of that moving-on process, and things you learn from it. And out of that growth comes… hope.”

Matt the Electrician, with Jess Clemons: 7 p.m. Friday, $20, The Belfry, 302 E. Main Ave., Sisters, belfryevents.com.