Matthew Gurnsey, professionally known as the Kilted Man, will perform two times at the Blaine County Library on Tuesday, July 17. The two performances in Chinook will be part of a tour along the Hi-line with engagements from Cut Bank to Malta. Gurnsey is best known for his Celtic music and has recorded individually and with bands to create a number of CDs.

He grew up in a family that loved music and the fine arts. Matthew's father was a hard rock miner and the family often lived in tranquil and isolated places following the father's mining jobs. Matthew grew to enjoy nature and the outdoors as well as developing an interest in music and theatre.

Matthew brings a wide variety of life experiences to writing music and performing. He earned a degree in music education as well as in journalism. He taught rock climbing, worked as a cowboy and fished summers while attending the University of Alaska for a journalism program. He volunteered with the Red Cross during the recovery from the Oklahoma City tornado and served as a Boy Scout leader.

He co-founded and toured for 10 years (early 2000's) with a Celtic band called "The Muses!" The band performed in 41 U.S. states and did engagements internationally. The Muses! appeared for a decade at some of the largest Scottish/Irish festivals in the country and countless other venues. He also created his own recording studio during that period and married the harp player in the band.

In 2009 the band's travel bus was involved in a roll-over that totaled the bus and everything in it. The financial loss was crushing and the group disbanded. Matthew divorced shortly thereafter and settled in the Colorado Rockies. Shortly his dog of 15 years passed and his house burned to the ground. The house fire destroyed his musical instruments, kilts, belongs and two new CD's he was working on at the time. In 2013 he completed rebuilding his house on the same spot where the old house burned. After living in the new house for about a month a flood washed away nearly the entire town where he lived. On his website, writing about all these personal calamities, he explained how a new CD was appropriately titled "Hard Times."

About four years ago, after some time to recover from all his tragedies, Matthew began writing music again and traveling around the country to perform. The "Journal" welcomes Matthew to the Hi-line and, specifically, to Chinook.

Performances on July 17 are set for 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., and will be held in the meeting room of the Blaine County Library. The public is invited and there is no charge for either performance.