Matthews Southern Comfort (MSC) is a band. It was originally a British country rock/folk rock band, formed in 1970 by former Fairport Convention singer Ian (later Iain) Matthews. The original line-up consisted of Matthews, lead guitarist Mark Griffiths (who would later become the bass player with both The Shadows and The Everly Brothers), rhythm guitarist Carl Barnwell, bass player Pete Watkins, drummer Roger Swallow and pedal steel guitarist Gordon Huntley. Watkins and Swallow, however, left the band after just a few weeks and were replaced by bass player Andy Leigh and drummer Ray Duffy.
The band was formed to allow Matthews to go on tour following the success of his first post-Fairport album released in early 1970, Matthews' Southern Comfort. They recorded two more albums that year, Second Spring and Later That Same Year, before splitting up when Matthews abruptly quit during the height of their fame, shortly after their version of the Joni Mitchell song "Woodstock" became a worldwide hit, reaching the top of the UK music charts in October 1970, their only No.1 hit single. "Woodstock" also charted in several European countries and reached No.23 in the Billboard Top 100 in the United States.
Now based in Holland after a long career as a solo artist in the United States, Matthews has twice reformed the band in recent years with mostly Dutch musicians: firstly in 2010, releasing two new albums, Kind Of New and Kind Of Live (individually and as a combined tour issue), and again in 2017, releasing Like A Radio in 2018 and The New Mine in 2020.