Match by Match was started by accident in March of 2010 when, due to random technological chance, New England singer songwriter Gray Bouchard and classically trained multi-instrumentalist Melissa Coppola met via a now-obsolete internet chat site and soon became "the single most productive thing to come out of Chatroulette" (Ann Arbor Observer). At the time, Gray was touring solo as Red Lanterns, and Melissa was in grad school studying classical performance, but neither was very happy. They video chatted for months before meeting in person, falling in love, and moving to Ann Arbor.
Becoming known as "dark and storm songsmiths" (Rock and Roll Blog), the move to Michigan found Match by Match making a career out of intertwined harmonies and heart-on-your-sleeve sincerity, the results of which are an idiosyncratic, triumphant sound that is a joyful celebration of the now. Peppered with references to the jangly guitar-pop of the 90s, as well as classical and folk, Match by Match sets out to play the kind of music they want to listen to.
After winning The Ark's Fall 2010 Student Songwriter competition, Match by Match recorded their fan funded debut album, American Crowbar with Michigan legend Jim Roll. They've been staples on Ann Arbor's 107.One, shared the stage with bands like The Spring Standards, Jukebox the Ghost, The Verve Pipe, Archie Powell & The Exports, Chris Bathgate, Matt Jones, The Appleseed Collective, We Are The Willows, Christopher the Conquered, and many more, in addition to penning The American Crowbar Case, a musical based upon their debut album that successfully ran in autumn of 2011 at Ypsilanti's New Theater Project.
Since then, Match by Match has reinvented their folk based sound to have a more rocking edge and the band's current line up features Gun Lake's Matt Roney and finds Coppola revolutionizing her set up with a "keykit", a custom drum kit-keyboard hybrid. Currently at work putting the finishing touches on their second release, the forthcoming multimedia ep, Vivat Veritas!, Match by Match can be found all around the country, bringing their "lushly arranged, almost theatrical" (The AV Club) sound to venues all across the Midwest this autumn.
"I don't wanna call what this duo does merely folk, nor do I wanna say something like chamber-pop. Many of their compositions are so damned precious and ornate that it just exhibits what must be called 'orchestral...' Much of American Crowbar feels best suited to be heard within an old theatre house, soaking into red velvet curtains and resonating off of dusty, worn woodwork. They seem to be following steadily behind the schools of Monger and Bathgate, but striking their own path, girded by the male/female harmonization and inclination for evocative crescendos, shimmering acoustic guitars and chilly strings."- Jeff Milo, Deep Cutz
