Portrait of Marty as a Young Matthew
#542 / Flood Time Capsule: 2009
An imaginative young New York alternative artist nowadays known as Marty Ralto has some interesting roots in the Floodisphere.
Oh, sure, it was half his lifetime ago, but The Flood still has fond memories of witnessing the youngster whom we knew as Matthew Parker stretch his musical wings at a jam at the Bowen House at Thanksgiving time in 2009.
How It Happened
His grandparents — Susie and Ervin Jones — have been honored members of The Flood’s extended family since Matt was just a toddler.
Coming to Flood shows beginning in the early 2000s, the Joneses also were regulars at the band’s weekly jam sessions and on hand for many of the twists and turns in The Flood’s evolution.
For instance, they were in the room that December night when Jacob Scarr — the band’s youngest-ever member — made his first appearance.
As reported earlier, Jacob was just 14 when he started adding his bluesy guitar spice to the band’s eclectic stew. As they watched and listened to Jacob’s ever-richer integration into the band, the Joneses wanted their Flood friends to meet their grandson, who also was an up-and-coming young guitarist.
Matt’s First Flood Flight
The opportunity came when their daughter Maria and her husband, Larry Parker, brought the family down to Huntington from their Amityville, NY, home for Thanksgiving.
The night before the holiday, the whole clan rolled into the Bowen House, including 15-year-old Matt and his guitar. The evening was commemorated in that week’s Flood podcast, as you can hear by clicking the button below:
As Charlie Bowen notes in the podcast’s introduction, Matt and Jacob all evening traded licks on one tune after another. “Listening to these young men play,” Charlie noted, “we’re happy to report that improvisational acoustic music is in good hands.”
Matt’s dad, Larry, also shot this video snippet of a tune from later in the evening:
Encore
Everyone had such a good time that next year the Joneses brought the Parkers back for a Thanksgiving encore.
A crowd of folks filled the room. The fun was documented in that week’s podcast:
Watching Matthew Grow
Being a dozen hours away, we never got to jam very often with Matt Parker, but we did enjoy watching as he grew up. And we were pleased to know that we got to play a small part in his musical enthusiasm.
A year or so after that second Thanksgiving jam, his mom, Maria, sent us this photo of Matt’s practice room back home in New York in which an image of The Flood adorned the wall over his keyboard:
Since those days, we’ve been amazed at Matt’s musical journey. After high school, he studied music at SUNY (State University of New York) at New Paltz.
Today: Birth of Marty Ralto
During his college years and after his graduation in 2018, Matt performed with various groups on guitar, on keyboard, on bass, as well as composing and arranging music, much of it released online.
Matt released his album Greatest Hits! in 2020 under the name of Marty Ralto, featuring a lo-fi, “romp ‘n’ roll” style with varied genres. He described the project as a collection of b-sides and demos from previous sessions. In 2024, Parker indicated on social media that he was officially going by the name Marty Ralto.
Marty Ralto’s music is available on platforms like Apple Music and is associated with the independent label Ralto Records. He incorporates various instruments, primarily synth, guitar and drums. Reviewers note a quirky, uninhibited style, with a sense of humor, as evidenced by song titles like “Grimey Pants” and an ode to the skateboarder Tony Hawk in a ska tune.
Last August Marty/Matt released his Little Pink House album. In connection with the release, he posted on Facebook, “I lived in this little pink house with some wonderful people for about three years.”
“It was a very raw and beautiful time in my life. I created a lot of music here, often into the wee hours of the morning, and really let myself dig into my desires, in both a meaningful and immature way. This was a necessary step in my growth. There was a lot of darkness and a whole lot of light. I was shown a lot of kindness, understanding, patience and love by all those who lived there and by all those who passed through there.”
He noted that the 17 songs on the album all were conceived in that house. “They’ve evolved with me for the past five years. It was time to let them fly.”
Fly, indeed, young adventurer. You have followers and fans from afar.