Singer/songwriter/author Matt Palka chronicles the sights and encounters he experienced during an epic cross-country bicycling odyssey, with his immersive soundtrack album and audio book project, Moment In The Sun.
LOAD UP THE BICYCLE – LET’S GO!
It’s an intriguing story, and we’ve already had the opportunity to sample a few snippets of it.
Matt Palka’s discovery of The Beatles and their seminal Abbey Road album was a milestone event in his life. He’d been raised in the rural town of Haskins, Ohio, but the glimpse he’d been afforded by that Beatles album of the exciting creative and cultural opportunities that lay beyond Haskins’ restrictive boundaries represented a thirst that needed to be slaked. Matt’s parents ran the town’s fudge store and, after Matt had graduated from Ohio University with a degree in acting, they suggested that Matt take over the business. That wasn’t a prospect that featured in his newly structured life plan…
Instead, Matt loaded up his $100 bicycle – strapping a guitar across the handlebars so that he could busk for meal money – and set off on an epic ride that took him from Ohio to California. Matt’s route took him over the highest highway in America and along Route 50 – often regarded as: “The loneliest road in America.” Along the way, he endured dangers, saw dazzling sights and met with an endless stream of interesting and welcoming people. Moment In The Sun tells the story of that journey.
AN INTERESTING CHARACTER…
Moment In The Sun, a soundtrack album and audio book project, has been a looming presence ever since the start of 2026. Four singles – Oh Angela, Gypsy Queen, My Ramblin’ Rose and Kerouac, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pass That Old Jug of Wine – have served to heighten our anticipation for the project. At last, that wait is over.
Matt Palka is an interesting character – of that, there’s no doubt. Putting his wanderlust and his remarkable athleticism to one side for a moment, he’s also managed to grapple with many other challenges that most of us can only dream about. He’s studied clowning, starred in Off-Broadway plays, and managed a minor-league baseball clubhouse. He’s even written and starred in his own movies! Moment In The Sun is Matt’s first soundtrack/ audiobook project, but it isn’t going to be his last – he’s already working on a follow-up that documents the eye-opening events that go on behind the scenes in the world of minor-league baseball…
TWO ENDS OF THE SAME SPECTRUM
It’s Kerouac, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pass That Old Jug Of Wine – the most recent of the four ‘preview’ singles that gets Moment In The Sun up and away. The song is a frenzied, swampy, bluesy jugband affair. Ed Davis’s raucous drumbeat is joined by stomps and handclaps to drive the song along and Matt’s strained vocal acknowledges no restraints or inhibitions. It’s just the song to put the listener into the right mood, in fact.
Oh Angela, the album’s lead single is next. The song is a love letter to the courage it takes to protect what matters most, and it sits at the opposite end of the spectrum to Kerouac, Hemingway… – it’s a folky ballad that recalls Warren Zevon in one of his mellower moments. Matt’s lyrics strike at the closeted attitudes of those who resist leaving their comfort zones: “Don’t ever let them bring you down – the same kind of people laughed at the world being round.” The pedal steel chimes and the strummed acoustic guitars signal a mood of content in a song that definitely matures with every listen.
DREAMS THAT COME ALIVE
A gently picked guitar provides the intro to Wallflowers And Wildflowers, another well-balanced, folky ballad. Matt’s lyrics recall aspects of his life story as the pace picks up – firstly to a sharp, funky verse, before ending as a gallop, as Matt celebrates the “Wide-open days, wide-open skies” of the dream being made “Right before your eyes.”
The sound is pastoral, as Matt sings of: “Gold and rivers deep and wide” and “…roads that I’ve found and these dreams that I’ve known” in the folky Alive And Home. Intermeshed acoustic guitars are highlighted by the soft chimes of a bell and a smooth blend of flute and strings, in a song that celebrates the freedoms that Matt has been enjoying.
Second single, Gypsy Queen, tells the story of Matt finding instant attraction, in an event that he describes: “I sold my motorcycle [so that I could buy] a new suit and a plane ticket to attend my best friend’s wedding in Los Angeles. Then, I fell for a bridesmaid and, two months later, we drove cross-country to make a new home together.” Alan Moss’s pedal steel evokes blissful scenes of a mountain vista, bathed in sunset and Matt sings with sincerity as he describes a bonding of souls: “In the bush [where] the crickets hush.” I’ve already described Gypsy Queen as: “An Eagles song that got away.” I hope that’s a description that resonates.
WARMTH AND CONTENTMENT
A nice, fluid, guitar lick introduces Not Even The Wind Can Stop Me Now – another song with a strong country flavour. This time, however, the mood is relaxed, rather than impassioned, as Matt relishes the prospect of the open road and the big Rocky Mountain sky. Demos Papadimos’s harmonica and Caitlin Hedge’s violin combine nicely and Jackie Popovec’s backing vocals provide a wholesome warmth.
The trains of thought that must have passed through Matt’s mind as he cycled are revisited for the bright, breezy Getting Over Myself. Ed’s drums replicate the strong winds blowing across the mountain summits, whilst Vince Sacchetti’s viola and Lisa Kim’s violin convey the scenic images. And Matt concludes with the recognition that the music within our souls is the quality that brings us the contentment we seek.
And such contentment can also be found in the solitude of the mountains, as Matt explains with lyrics like: “Now why did it take me so long, to follow Mother Nature’s song? She calls my soul, and my love grows, now high atop this rocky world,” in the blissfully laid-back Colorado Rocky Mountain Roll. Alan’s pedal steel and Ed’s soft drums rest comfortably alongside the lazily-strummed guitars in another country-laced song.
EVERY ADVENTURE MUST COME TO AN END…
Moment in the Sun is an album packed with happy recollections and, amongst the happiest of those is the story Matt tells in My Ramblin’ Rose. It’s the story of the time Matt spent with “…an earthy, soulful girl” he met whilst crossing Colorado. The bright, bluesy guitar accompaniment is peppered with sparkles of pedal steel and swishes of cymbal. Drummer Joe Falleti plays a military rhythm that both complements and challenges Matt’s sincere recollections of his fleeting-yet-rewarding encounter.
The mood is jazzy – and a shade funky – as Matt “Rolls on down into California” and the end of his journey approaches. Matt’s lyrics to California On My Mind picture the ocean breezes, the redwoods and the fog that covers San Francisco Bay and there ‘s a tone of delight in his voice as he sings them. Every adventure must come to an end, and Matt looks fondly back at his, as he wraps up this fascinating project with the retrospective Ain’t Nothing Like The Road. There’s a hint of Elvis Costello in Matt’s voice as he, once again, recalls the amazing sights he’s enjoyed and the host of new friends he’s made during his journey. It’s a joyful song to conclude an uplifting, hope-filled album.
Watch the official video to Kerouac, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pass That Old Jug Of Wine – the most recent of the album’s four ‘preview’ singles – below:
Matt Palka: Website