Matthew Gladden is a Kansas City–based vocalist and multi-instrumentalist whose work blends classical training with a deep love for traditional and folk music. A graduate of William Jewell College with a degree in vocal performance, he performs with The Black Velvet Band as a lead and harmony vocalist, bassist, and bodhrán player.

Matthew spent fourteen years as a tenor with the Kansas City Chorale, contributing to multiple Grammy-nominated recordings. He appears on Kastalsky's Requiem for the Fallen Brothers (nominated), and on two Grammy Award–winning albums: Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil and Life & Breath: Choral Works of René Clausen, the latter featuring him as a soloist. In addition to his choral work, he has performed in the Kansas City music scene as a bassist and vocalist with The Breakers cover band and continues to sing tenor with Voices of Kansas City.

Raised in a musical home, Matthew’s early influences came from artists like Carole King, John Denver, The Carpenters, and Jim Croce. He discovered his own passion for making music in high school through choir, theater, and orchestra. He continued this journey at Jewell, where long nights singing in Grand River Chapel shaped both his musicianship and lasting friendships.

Through the camaraderie he has found with the The Black Velvet Band, he embraces bothántaíocht— the act of calling to a friend as a pastime to gossip, make music, or just to share life.