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FEATURELETTING HIS MUSIC SPEAK…
MAT KEARNEY
…TAKES HIS MUSIC MAINSTREAM
by Cathy Mein
Recently signed to Chicago-based Aware Records, Mat Kearney has visited the city several times over the past few months. In March, I sat down with the Oregon-raised artist to talk about his upcoming major-label debut, Nothing Left to Lose, aptly named for his venture into the music industry.
“The title is very much of the spirit of the record and how I got into music,” Kearney tells me backstage at Metro where he is about to go onstage to perform to a sold out Chicago crowd.
“I jumped in the back of a truck and drove across country with a friend. I was supposed to help him move for the summer but we recorded some demos and people got really into it in Nashville so I stuck around and a few years later made a record.”
The record he’s speaking of is Bullet, released in 2004 on the independent label, Inpop.
“I did ‘Bullet’ on my own, but I had friends in Nashville who asked to license it, so I never signed a record deal, I just let them put it out because they were friends of mine. The record gained popularity and it was really great to see people catch on to what I’m doing.”
What he’s doing on his Aware/Columbia debut to be released April 18th is a unique blend of acoustic folk, pop and spoken verses with a poetic rhythm that he describes as, “a folk, guitar, piano, singer-songwriter influence with an epic, sing-along melody and spoken word urgency.”
Intrigued by where this CD fits in? You’re not alone.
“I don’t know where it fits in,” Mat muses, “people listen to it and they get it. If you try to describe my music it comes off as kind of cliché, but in fact it’s very relatable to the mass audience.”
Fitting in apparently isn’t a problem considering the title track, “Nothing Left to Lose,” entered Billboard Radio Monitor’s Triple-A chart at #19. Impressive, especially taking into consideration that the self-taught musician didn’t pick up an instrument until his junior year of college.
“Growing up we had a piano in the house for one day. I came home and just banged on it in this big open house with this big open room and when I came home the next day it was gone and my mom was like, ‘Yeah, piano wasn’t working out…’” he laughs. “She thought I was going to be into photography or writing or something so it wasn’t like she thought she was injuring my future career by taking the piano out of the house.”
“I grew up in a family that’s incredibly supportive of anything creative. I took painting lessons, I had an uncle who was into ceramics and he would take me out and do sculpture. You name it, I got into something with some form of expression through art, but the one that I really loved was words; poetry. So when I went off to college I studied English Literature and it wasn’t until my junior year that I picked up a guitar and started learning chords and started writing songs. All of a sudden it just clicked, all the years of writing poetry and somehow melodies just came really easy to me.”
Those melodies, combined with lush hooks and genuine lyrics that people can relate to are the force behind the songs on Nothing Left to Lose, and it’s that sincerity that Kearney hopes will resonate with listeners.
“This record is an expression of my past, my roots and where I’m headed and I think that honesty will connect with people.”
Mat recently finished filming the video for the album’s title track and was eager to return to his roots for the process.
“Oregon is the place I hold in my heart so the video for ‘Nothing Left to Lose’ was shot there and it was amazing. It was cinematic – my psycho road journey,” he laughs. “It was all shot outdoors in the northwest and it was beautiful, but I’m not sure when it will be released.”
A video to grab the attention of viewers on music television and growing rotations on mainstream radio are just the beginning to introducing a mass audience to this artist— Mat has already appeared on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly this year and has future television appearances in the works.
Kearney has been on tour with The Fray and Cary Brothers since January, and this month he’ll play a string of shows with Matt Wertz before embarking on his own headlining tour in May.
As far as the expectations he has for his upcoming solo tour and CD, Mat offers cautious optimism, “If I’m making a living and I’m writing songs that I love, which I am, then I’m happy. I don’t really have tons of expectations. I mean, I want to be great, I want to sell, I want to fill up rooms and sell out tours, but I really don’t have a sense of good or bad based on that stuff. I think I’m writing good music and that’s what keeps me going.”
Mat Kearney’s forthcoming Aware/Columbia release, Nothing Left to Lose, will be in stores April 18th. At press time, AOL Music announced that it had chosen to feature Kearney in their innovative emerging artists series, Breakers, whose alumnae include John Legend, 50 Cent, Michelle Branch, The Game and other successful acts.
Kearney is one of six artists to receive the honor this spring, which entails his music being featured on AOLMusic.com and across the AOL Music and Radio Networks. Mat will also tape an AOL Music Session this spring.
For more artist information: www.matkearney.com and www.myspace.com/matkearney
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