Move over former lovers Tommy Lee and Kid Rock because Mat McHugh and The Beautiful Girls have arrived at Pamela Anderson’s old stomping grounds. Whether it be at one of Kelly Slater’s secret surfing spots on the rugged West Coast of Vancouver Island in Tofino or at the site of Shawn White’s 2010 Winter Olympic brilliance in Whistler, The Beautiful Girls are playing there. Weaned on punk rock, reggae and hip hop while growing up and surfing in Sydney’s Northern Beach community of Dee Why, frontman Mat McHugh has filled his cup with a cornucopia of influences after spending extended periods of time away from his peaceful Aussie abode in such diverse places as New York, India and Nepal. A lover of dub and dancehall with an ear for wicked riddims, McHugh has his pulse on the international global beat. The Beautiful Girls’ 2010 “Spooks” release showcased the group’s signature sound of folk, reggae, rock, and roots. Mat said, “Our albums tend to sell over time. they never seem to come out with a bang. We rely on word of mouth and like the feeling of people discovering our music for themselves, which I guess is the opposite of how the media-driven music industry would tend to operate. We are just an independent band that

has to find a foothold with every release. By choice we don’t have a major label budget or marketing plan to help us be established. The only way we can even compete in the circus that is the music industry is by having something to say and saying it as honestly as we can. It’s a constant battle, but I wouldn’t have it any other way because, for the most part, the music industry and it’s style of hyping every ‘next best thing’ makes me sick.” The long drought for a new release from The Beautiful Girls is by design. Mat McHugh has been busy touring nonstop as a solo act after releasing an EP and two full-length efforts, including the new CD entitled “Love Come Save Me”–which is available as a FREE DOWNLOAD at www.lovecomesaveme.com.
McHugh said, “My only goal is to spread love and give something back to the Universe. I would love for anyone that the music reaches to share it and send it out into the World. The power of ‘word of mouth’ is almighty.” In the spirit of giving, all net profit of CDs sold will be donated to the Surfrider Foundation.

Currently on tour solo supporting Sublime with Rome in Australia, Mat McHugh is an Aussie one man punky reggae party. “I love the really early dancehall and rocksteady stuff. It’s as crusty and weird as early punk to me. King Tubby, Johnny Osbourne–that’s the more influential side of reggae to me–the originators, who led to the punky stuff like The Specials, The Clash, The Beat,” McHugh said.

Mat McHugh, Kelly Slater and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam are passionate about surfing and music. So it would come as no surprise to see the three of them onstage singing about the sport they love and the special connection they all share with the ocean. Slater and Vedder have been friends for 15 years. Vedder also was very close to the late legendary punk rocker Johnny Ramone. Pearl Jam paid tribute to the Ramones by covering the classic “I Believe in Miracles”, which is one of Slater’s favorite jams.

Dressed in a Labatt beer T-shirt, Pamela Anderson was “discovered” at a football game when her image was transmitted on the British Columbia Lions stadium’s big screen. Fans fell in love with the 22-year-old blonde bombshell, who was signed immediately to become Labatt’s Blue Zone Girl. The Beautiful Girls have had a tough act to follow in swaying the Blue Zone vote their way, but they are well-known for giving their ever growing BC audience intimate sold-out shows like no others. The Beautiful Girls Canadian show schedule is as follows: April 18th from 2:30-5:30 pm with Ash Grunwald opening @ Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival-Skiers Plaza and later that night at Kokanee FreeRide @ Moe Joe’s Nightclub;
April 19th @ Club 9one9 in Victoria; April 20th @ The Legion Hall in Tofino; and April 21st 7 pm with Ash Grunwald opening @ The Venue in Vancouver. The prolific and bona fide McHugh said, “I want to take this opportunity to deeply thank everybody that has supported me and my music, whether solo or with The Beautiful Girls, throughout the years. You’ll never know how much it means. Please accept this music how it was intended, with love…”