Obituary of Matthew Barrett Brewer

Matthew Barrett Brewer, aged 33, died in a tragic motorcycle accident the evening of Wednesday, June 14, 2023, in Slidell LA.  Preliminary autopsy reveals no drugs or alcohol.  He was helmeted and not speeding, followed in an automobile driven by his college sweetheart and best friend of 13 1/2 years, Miss Shelby Fritscher, who witnessed the accident.  Matt apparently lost consciousness while riding, drifting across oncoming traffic, through tall weeds and, without braking or laying the bike down, ran unimpeded into a now-cursed pole.  The End. 

The Beginning was May 19, 1990.  He was baptized, took first communion, and was confirmed at The Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville.  He received Dominican instruction K through 8th grade at Overbrook School.  After finishing his high school years at Father Ryan in 2009, where he won many art awards while also starting on a two-time state championship wrestling team, Matt departed for Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, the alma mater of his maternal grandfather, George “Citizen” Barrett.  He would later admit that it was the school’s golf course that attracted him most and that he played at least one hole every single day he was there.  Thanks to the attentive efforts of Miss Shelby, (see above, whom he asked to be his girlfriend in January, 2010), he managed to cram four years of Jesuit education into five, graduating in 2014.  It was the singular delight of Citizen Barrett to unwrap Matt’s Spring Hill diploma just before his own death in 2014. 

When Matt departed for Spring Hill his aim was to become a lawyer, like his mother and maternal grandfather.  He returned home that Christmas and announced, “Nope.  Too much reading.”  He next decided on child psychology with an emphasis on art therapy.  By spring he declared that, too, would require too much reading.  In the summer of 2010, after his first stint at site-operations for the Bonnaroo Music Festival, he travelled to Chicago for aptitude testing at the Johnson O’Connor Research Lab.  After two days of tests, the analyst told Matt he had the aptitudes of both a great lawyer and child therapist, BUT….  It was an important “but” as Matt was told that people with his particular set of aptitudes were “most happy when they spent their time around construction, either tearing down things, or building them.”  With that assessment, he was freed to pursue what would become a legendary career in the music festival business, where he arrived ahead of each festival, built it out, helped run it, and then tore down his work, returning the site to its former state, after which he moved on to the next festival.  Next, next, next, and next, he did that non-stop following graduation, crisscrossing the country to build/run/and tear-down festivals.  He was an early and devoted fan of Billy Strings.  

He was never an Eagle Scout but could tie knots around all.  He was never a lawyer but could argue with the best of The Bar.  He was never any number of things but he was our Everything.  Son, brother, cousin, nephew, friend, teacher, student, travel companion, outdoorsman extraordinaire, a young work-horse legend in his industry, and hopelessly devoted to his Miss Shelby and their two four-legged children, Beeze and Zeita.  

Matthew belonged to many.  He will be missed by all but most especially by his surviving family including, but not limited to, his heartbeat love, Miss Shelby Fritscher of Slidell, LA, his parents Mary and Mark Brewer of Nashville, and his sisters Sarah Kate Hirst (Charlie, Louis and Brewer) of Huntington Beach, CA, and Betsy Lane Raney, (Aaron), of Nashville.  

The family welcomes all to his Funeral Mass at The Cathedral of the Incarnation, Friday June 23, 10:00 am with Irish Wake immediately after at their home in Nashville.  Sunglasses encouraged.  

God speed, Matthew.  See you soon.  Psalm 77.  Psalm 33.  John 11:35. 

In lieu of flowers, and if you are prompted, please consider a donation to The George Barrett/Matthew Barrett Brewer Scholarship Fund c/o Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL.  Thank you. 

Sellars Funeral Home, Lebanon TN, 615.444.9393, sellarsfh.com.