Matt Sellick keeps his feet on the ground while reaching for the stars on his new album Watching The Sky — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
With the release of this ambitious but deeply personal recording, the Toronto flamenco guitarist and composer bring a decade-long dream to life. Known for his evocative fingerstyle work and deep love of Spanish music, Sellick bridges genres by orchestrating his solo guitar compositions for a symphony — the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Evan Mitchell — while retaining the soul of flamenco and the intimacy of his roots in Thunder Bay.
At the heart of Watching The Sky is a story of transformation: Of place, of memory, and of music itself. Sellick, who studied flamenco extensively in Spain and began his career performing in Ontario, has spent the last 10 years developing these orchestral versions of his compositions. The result is a sonic landscape that is both sweeping and intimate, grounded in tradition but unafraid of innovation.
The album opens with A Beautiful Day, a lyrical celebration of renewal composed by Sellick and brought to life by his agile guitar work, the colorful depth of the TBSO, and the expressive percussion of longtime collaborator Marito Marques. The track feels like sunlight stretching over a horizon — a fitting start to an album that evokes nature and emotion in equal measure.
Though Sellick has released several solo albums, Watching The Sky is his first with a full orchestra — and his first time recording live, with all players in the same room. “It was the complete opposite of how I’ve done things until now, and I just loved it,” he says. “Everything about it felt so real, natural, and genuine.” The sessions took place in the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, a room he calls “absolutely top-notch.”
The pieces themselves are inspired by real places — Lake Superior’s rugged shorelines, quiet trails in Toronto, sunlit alleys in Spain — each track functioning as a tone poem for a memory. As Sellick revisited the landscapes that first inspired his music, he found himself reshaping and reorchestrating melodies to reflect how both he and those places have changed. The result is a rare fusion of reflection and forward motion.
Produced by Keith Horner and engineered by Dennis Patterson, the album features masterful playing by TBSO members and guest percussionist Marques, who contributed djembe, udu and hand percussion on several tracks. Feature solos by bassist Martin Blanchet and pianist Paul Rodermond enrich the textures, while additional percussion was arranged by Marques.
Sellick, an active performer with artists such as Jesse Cook, has played in more than 20 U.S. states and eight European countries. Though grounded in flamenco, his music is not bound by it. There are moments of classical serenity, cinematic swells, and playful rhythmic interplay that speak to his broader influences — from Vicente Amigo to Claude Debussy to the Canadian landscapes that shaped his imagination.
For listeners new to flamenco, orchestral music or Sellick, Watching The Sky is a radiant entry point. For fans, it’s Sellick at his boldest and most vulnerable, offering an expression of his ever-evolving artistic identity. Either way, it’s not to be missed. Listen to Watching The Sky below, and join Matt Sellick on his website, Facebook and Instagram.
