The Ballad of Blue Ridge Bootleg
Our Story
Our Story
It didn’t start in a café:
It started on the road. In dive bars and motel rooms. Between soundcheck and sunrise. With a guitar case in one hand and black coffee in the other. Matt King spent two decades chasing music across the country—touring, writing, recording. Two albums with Atlantic. A record called Rube that hit harder than it sold. Every stop, every sleepless night, the ritual was the same: Find a café. Pour something strong. Capture whatever truth survived the night before. Somewhere along the way, the music and the coffee became the same thing: A reason to keep going.
Back to the Roots
Matt King is the creative mastermind behind Blue Ridge Bootleg where he seamlessly blends the attention to detail of songwriting with his love for roasting with a deeply rooted mountain heritage and the results are truly unique offerings. Born and raised in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Matt’s roots are steeped in the traditions and culture of this unique region, inspiring everything he creates.
Bootleg was born when Matt came back to the mountain. He brought the songs with him and built a roastery that worked like a studio. Small batch. Barrel aged. Never finished-always evolving. He didn’t just want to serve coffee. He wanted to serve the people who needed it: The early risers. The builders. The van-packers and last-call closers.Back to the Roots
The long days and sleepless nights as a touring musician gives Matt a unique connection to coffee culture. Visiting countless cafés across the country, he discovered not just a love for roasting exceptional coffee, but also a genuine appreciation for the community and creativity it fosters. Those stops became moments of solace, where ideas as unique as the coffee in his cup began to flow.