An English musician and songwriter. He was born Iain McDonald, but was known in the 1960s first as Ian McDonald, then as the 1960s progressed, as Ian Matthews. In 1989 he reverted to the original spelling of his first name.

Influenced by both rock and roll and folk music, he has performed mainly as a solo act, although he was a member of Fairport Convention during the early period when they were heavily influenced by American West Coast folk rock. He later had a solo career and fronted several bands including his own Southern Comfort.

In the Spring of 1967, he was recruited by Ashley Hutchings as a male vocalist for Fairport Convention, where he duetted first with Judy Dyble and then with Sandy Denny. In 1969, as Fairport drew increasingly from a British traditional folk repertoire, Matthews found out he had not been invited to a recording session and, after a short discussion with Hutchings, departed.

With Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol and Ashley Hutchings from Fairport Convention, guitarist Mark Griffiths, drummer Gerry Conway, pedal steel player Gordon Huntley, and keyboardists Dolly Collins and Roger Coulam, he recorded his debut solo album, Matthews' Southern Comfort, with a sound rooted in American country music and rockabilly, in 1969. He followed it up by forming a working band with the name Matthews Southern Comfort and for the next 2 years achieved general critical success before leaving.