He was one of many musicians whose world was turned upside down overnight when government restrictions came in to stop the spread of the COVID-19, closing the venues where they would perform.

Prior to the changes, which came into effect in March, Matt had also been working three days a week for the Australian Children's Music Foundation and half a day at Chatham High, with two or three groups a week.

"All my work was gone."

The sudden change saw him need to regroup and he turned his focus to some freelance work, home renovations, developing online videos for the Australian Children's Music Foundation with Jake Davey and spending a lot more time with his son Marli.

"I'm thankful I got so much time with him. There's no greater gift you can give someone than your time."

He also continued playing music and utilised the internet, and specifically Facebook Live, to stay connected and bring the community together.

"Doing the online thing has been incredible. I can see it connecting people.

"For a lot of musicians the biggest love of theirs is to reach out. Obviously our industry has disappeared but the music won't disappear."

He broadcast via Facebook Live weekly from a studio in a tiny room at Bass'n'Blues in Taree.

"Tanya and Trevor (Brown) have been so wonderful. I go in there, set myself up and switch the camera on."

As experienced as he is with performing though, Matt said you never lose the nerves, and this is something very new.

"Once I put on the on button I can see the names of people chiming in and people scrolling by.

"You see the name of a person who you haven't seen in a long time and you want to say hello or another person comes up and then think, oh, I'm trying to play the guitar here," he mused.

In the beginning he put out a tip jar as a way to support himself, but after some time didn't feel comfortable continuously asking the same people for support.

"I started thinking, this can't go on like this. It wasn't about that. I wanted to play and reach out to people."

As well as his own gigs, he was invited to do a virtual gig from Club Black Head.

"That was surreal. They were doing virtual raffles and a virtual gig. I set up at the pub and there was nobody there and we both streamed. They did their live raffle with pre-sold tickets with members and a badge draw and then I did the gig and did requests for them.

"The club patrons were at home having a beer while I played a Friday night gig.

"The pub couldn't afford to pay me the normal fee but okay, I thought let's do something. It's really forward thinking."

After the Black Head gig a woman and her son who had watched online turned up to give him $50 and asked why he hadn't put up his tip jar.

"People are kind."

Matt said he has learned a number of lessons during the coronavirus isolation period. "It's important to work and not to hold onto anything too hard all the time."

He said his decision making had to be forward thinking. "This is a forced situation. I've got to make something happen now."

He said he's realised that with all the uncertainty, he can only do the very next right thing.

"If I'm doing something, like when I'm with Marli, I do it with deliberate and intentional fervour, and it's the same with the online gig.

"While we can't see forward, I'm still dedicated to making a conscious decision of what to do and what I want to achieve.

"I'll still play guitar, have a love for music and a passion to play and sing and write.

"I feel very responsible for the community, for being part of it and my job in this community. Everyone's got something to do."

Matt said the online streaming has been "a real opportunity for people to share something very intimate even though they're in their living room.

"I'm sitting on TV and they're in their living room, with a glass of wine or something".

Once he hits record though, the fragility of being human comes to his mind.

"There's that anxiety of being on TV. If you're at a gig somewhere and you did or said something a bit silly it comes and goes, but here it goes out and it's there for good.

"Being transparent is the ultimate goal for me. I'm not just there to sing."

He enjoys playing requests for people and said his number one request was still for his own song, Rose Matilda.

Matt has received many messages of support for his live streams, telling him how happy his performances are making them.

But, he said, it's not about that or him.

"It's an important thing to be doing at gigs. I'm going to tell a story and be transparent. I'm just a human being, just the same as them."

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