Here's a new artist we think you should know about! He's currently on tour and will be playing stadiums with John Mayer and Sheryl Crow from late August thru September 10th.

 

Mat Kearney draws comparisons to John Mayer, but adds a pleasant twist with deep lyrics, a little hip-hop flavor and Coldplay-esq type vocals. Many are calling it one of the top releases of the year thus far, so keep an eye out for him and check out http://www.matkearney.com for more info on tour dates, news, and music!

 

One Grand Prize winner will receive a custom surfboard from Rusty! Plus, a DVS Shoes Beach Bag (including backpack, sandals and T-Shirt), a pair of eyewear from Arnette, a years supply of Mendo Mate' and a subscription to Transworld Surf.

 

Four second prize winners will receive a DVS Shoes Beach Bag (including backpack, sandals and T-Shirt), a pair of eyewear from Arnette, a six month supply of Mendo Mate' and a subscription to Transworld Surf.

 

Go to http://www.ripe.tv/matkearney to enter the sweepstakes!

 

http://www.transworldsurf.com/surf/pressrelease/article/0,19929,1223581,00.html

Kearney channels Coldplay, Streets

 

Two weeks ago, the residents of Brunswick H put down their Thursday night glasses of Carlo Rossi and watched with bated breath as Izzie Stevens finally picked herself off the bathroom floor. What caught their attention, perhaps even more than the Emmy-worthy performances of Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo in the episode's final minutes, was the music playing behind the drama onscreen.

 

Renowed for its soundtrack, "Grey's Anatomy" has clued its viewers into hip, lesser-known artists such as Joe Purdy, Tegan and Sara, and Psapp. The end of this season's premiere introduced the show's legions of fans to "All I Need" from Mat Kearney's latest album "Nothing Left To Lose," the newest CD in rotation in the H sound system.

 

"Nothing Left to Lose" is Kearney's second album since 2004, and its fusion of folk, hip-hop, and acoustic rock has slowly been earning him media attention since its release in April.

 

His music, exploring themes of love, loss, and change, is sincere and personal. The album's title track exemplifies his honest, hopeful lyrics: "Something's in the air tonight/The sky's alive with a burning light/You can mark my words something's about to break/And I found myself in a bitter fight/While I've held your hand through the darkest night/Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon/To a kid from Oregon by way of California/All of this is more than I've ever known or seen."

 

Kearney's inspiring lyrics hearken back vaguely to his past as a Christian rocker, which he became when he relocated to Nashville after college. Combined with his unique style, the lyrics produce a refreshing sound that can be likened to everything from Coldplay to U2 to the Counting Crows to Snow Patrol to an early John Mayer.

 

A creative edge shines on songs such as "Undeniable," "Girl America," and "In the Middle," as Kearney mixes acoustic guitar, piano, and spoken lyrics in the same vein as The Streets' "Dry Your Eyes."

 

"All I Need" and "Nothing Left to Lose" provide the inspirational Patrick Dempsey operating-room-scene-worthy power ballads sung in a voice eerily similar to that of Coldplay's Chris Martin.

 

In a recent interview about the album, Kearney said, "My artistic goal was to write something that's 100 percent real and true to me and to this world. I tried to touch on truths that really connect with people from every avenue of life. Ultimately, when you write from a vantage point of faith, humility and openness to the world around you, people have to respond because those same truths are instilled in them. Honestly, I don't have any agenda other than being sincere, real, and passionate about these songs and the music I make."

 

Kearney achieves just that with this album. His lyrics are believable, and his harmonies are catchy without losing their indie edge. "Nothing Left to Lose" is a multifaceted, mellow, and authentic mix of songs that is sure to catch the attention of a wide audience.

 

http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php?date=2006-10-06&section=4&id=5

Mat Kearney in Private Toronto Show!

 

 

While all the trick or treaters were out on October 31, a real treat was waiting for Canadian fans of current VH1 and AOL media darling Mat Kearney on his official site. The Oregon based singer, who has been compared to John Mayer and Chris Martin of Coldplay, flawlessly mixes his own unique blend of hip hip and pop rock. He is set to appear in Toronto on November 6 at 3pm at a private Toronto location.

 

Management has instructed those in the area wanting to see Mat in this rare acoustic set to email them with the request, but the kicker is it's the first 5 people who email them who get in free.

 

Head to http://www.matkearney.com and under the contact page email the management email with your request, you could win an intimate private appearance with Mat and get to meet him after the show!

 

http://www.soulshine.ca/news/newsarticle.php?nid=3865

BALLADS RAPPED IN ROCK

 

MAT Kearney is from Nashville, but he doesn't twang.

 

At a sold-out Bowery Ballroom gig Thursday, this handsome young singer/songwriter (embraced as a Jesus rocker early on) has finally found higher ground with narrative songs about living and loving.

 

He's a sensitive artist along the lines of Duncan Sheik or Chris Carrabba - but don't call him a wimp or emo. The melodies he writes swing from blue-eyed raps to acoustic folk to anthemic rock that falls between the cool of Coldplay and the heat of U2.

 

When he played the South by Southwest music festival in Austin a couple of years back, he wouldn't have had an audience had it not been for the club's staff. Now he's a very engaging live performer with a hot songbook - so hot, much of his current album, "Nothing Left to Lose," has been mined by TV shows including "Laguna Beach," the hit Fox series "Bones" and "Grey's Anatomy."

 

Alternating between piano and acoustic and electric guitars, Kearney was backed by a three-piece outfit that was mindful to keep his vocals in front of the music. As a rapper, his rhyming cadence is relaxed and without anger, reminiscent of Everlast. On many songs, he combines that talk-rap attack with his upper-register croon and David Gray-style falsetto woo-woo-woo filler.

 

In a way, the scattered styles he displayed at this gig kept him out of pigeonholes. The largely female audience at the Bowery loved his ballads, swaying to songs such as "Can't Break Her Fall," but the power of the show was in the harder-edged material like "Girl America," "Undeniable" and "Wait."

 

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11112006/entertainment/ballads_rapped_in_rock_entertainment_dan_aquilante.htm

Have you been "bunged" by Matt Kearney's people??:rolleyes::P

Mat Kearney: Looks like Dave Gorman, sounds like Chris Martin

 

 

Even in the unlikely event that you're not a regular listener to Cross Rhythms radio, where the haunting acoustic pop rock number "Nothing left To Lose" by Mat Kearney has been on the playlist for many a long month, chances are you'll be pretty familiar with the song. The video has got a lot of airings on MTV while the song has been used in the soundtrack of hit medical soap Grey's Anatomy. So who is this 28 year old singer/songwriter whose acoustic pop craft seems to mix the sounds of Coldplay's Chris Martin with the acoustic of Ryan Adams, takes in a bit of Beck-like rap and even looks a bit like comedian Dave Gorman? The Eugene, Oregon native recently spoke to CCM magazine.

 

Mat grew up in a Christian home, where his mother was a pastor. "My folks were really encouraging in music appreciation and they were incredibly encouraging of creativity in writing and literature. All of my strong memories as a child involve music. On Sundays, to get us out of bed and get us going in the morning, my Dad would blast a Paul Simon record or Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody.'

 

"My parents met in Hawaii, they were these hippies who got engaged two weeks after they met, and married six weeks later. During that Jesus Movement thing (in the '70s), that's when faith became a real important part of their lives. They went to this really early, emerging church in Eugene, where a lot of those types were showing up. So I grew up in that non-denominational Jesus movement environment, where faith was very much a part of that other world. Eugene was very different than, say, the Bible Belt, it was more wholistic. I never waded through a theology where you have to separate from the things you like in the world, compartmentalizing my love for rock and roll, and my love for God, or my love for women. It was OK to experience the Spirit of God in all of that, which, I think, is how it was supposed to be."

 

Kearney first left Eugene, Oregon to play soccer at Chico State University, the notorious school that was once dubbed the No 1 party school in the nation. Kearney, who occasionally sold weed in high school, fitted right into university's wild ways before eventually hitting rock bottom. "I guess I lived it up and did what everyone said you should do in college," he recalled. "I discovered the depth of depravity, the bleakness of that lifestyle. It just wasn't working. I finally started understanding there must be more to life." It was at this point where Kearney had a life-changing encounter with Christ. "God found me when I was at my lowest point. That was the first time in my life when I really felt like I understood who Jesus was - it was more than just knowing about him, I felt like he met me in that time and place."

 

Kearney began embracing the local music scene that he described as a lot of "Dave Matthews' hippies." The singer, who actively participated in hip-hop culture as a teen, soon found himself fusing his vast influences into a revelatory new acoustic hybrid. During this same period, Kearney started studying poetry in college and writing journals of deep prose about life. When he finally brought the two worlds together, Kearney forged a songwriting style that was distinctly innovative with a lyrical and emotional depth that kept it from being novelty.

 

Around this time, Kearney met producer Robert Marvin (Stacie Oricco, Toby Mac), who immediately wanted to work with the new artist. Later, when Marvin moved to Nashville, Kearney decided to come along for the summer. While there, the two continued making music. He told CCM, "I moved to Nashville with four songs. By the end of the summer, all these independent labels like Gotee Records, had offered me a deal. Toby Mac came into our studio, as did a lot of other music business types who just started showing up. We kept getting offered deals to sign to these labels, but I was like, 'I've got four songs; I'm not ready to make a record.' I waited, and started working, and took my time.

 

"I started playing songwriter nights at places like 12th & Porter, where you'd find Nickel Creek, Mindy Smith or Duncan Sheik. I'd get up there, and I was just learning how to play these songs. It was at the same time humbling and really encouraging. I remember once, Mindy Smith was walking up and she says, 'That was really cool,' and I was like, 'Well, you're Mindy Smith, and you're really cool.'"

 

Kearney avoided signing to a Christian label because he wasn't making music primarily for the Church. "I paid for 'Bullet' myself and recorded it Robert Marvin. We licensed it to Inpop. Growing up in Oregon, I didn't have this genre experience, this industry specific expectation that if it's this one thing, it's not going to be listened to over there. I didn't grow up with music divided into 'Christian' and 'secular.' Music wasn't as categorised. It was either good, or true, or pure, or it wasn't. There are good and bad things about that, I'm sure, but mostly it's good."

 

'Bullet' with its fine songs like "Trainwreck", "Renaissance" and the classic "In The Middle" got US Christian radio airplay and good CCM sales. But Mat wasn't comfortable with the limitations of the Christian market. As he explained to cMusicWeb.com, "Well, I never made a record to be in the Christian market. So when I made my record it was to exist in all of the markets. I grew up not really listening to tons of Christian music and if I did it was in the context of all the other music I listened to. So when I made the record I definitely had plans and visions and dreams. When I went to Inpop I said, 'Let's work on the Christian side but I am also going to sign a general market deal.' I did not know how or what I was doing. My take is that it is natural. For me it just feels like exactly what I am supposed to be doing. My faith is a part of who I am and the music I make. But it has to exist within the world that does not necessarily believe what I believe. Just like we walk into Starbucks every day and order from people that don't agree with us and eat chicken that probably isn't Christian chicken. I think that it is just fitting for me and what I am doing and it seems to make sense that it is working in both markets."

 

Mat continued, "I don't know if I exactly know what Christian music is. I know what a Christian who makes music is. I don't know how to draw the line of what is Christian or not Christian. For me, my faith is a huge part of everything I do and it is a huge part of all the music I make. So therefore, the music has my Christianity in it. But I do not know if the notes and the chords - going from C to G to D - makes it Christian or not. I understand there is a standard that people want to hold and they don't want things that are heretical and disagree with their faith to be considered Christian. So for me, there is no difference because the record I made that works in the Christian market is the same record Columbia picked up and said they want to release. And non-Christian people that don't agree with me and people [of] all kinds of walks of life say, 'Wow. We really like this record, we think it is good music.' They may not agree with my views or what I stand for. But they acknowledge it as good music and it is something that they think will work. For me, there has been no separation. It has not really been any different."

 

Mat's holding out for a mainstream record deal finally paid off for the determined singer/songwriter. He explained to Music Today how he came to sign with Aware Records. "[booking agency] CAA tracked me down a booking agent. The people at CAA were the ones who brought John Mayer to Aware. The president of Aware, Gregg Latterman, came to a show in Chicago, took me to the backroom and said, 'I love what you're doing. I want to sign you. We'll put an offer together this week.' So it just happened really fast."

 

Mat went back into the studio and with Robert Marvin produced some magnificent new songs such as "Undeniable", "Nothing Left To Lose", "Crashing Down" and "Can't Break Her Fall". Other gems from 'Bullet' were also remixed and the "new" album 'Nothing Left To Lose' released to the mass audience in 2006 with Inpop (Fierce! in the UK) still handling the Christian marketplace. "Undeniable", sent to Christian radio as a download, was, rather ironically, a successful song on US Christian radio. "It's a song about God and people and love - it's about life," he said. "It's totally vertical and all of that at the same time. I wouldn't pin it down and say it's just about a girl; it's definitely about my faith. I wrote 'Undeniable' about this kid. We were hanging out with him, loving on him and encouraging him. We invited him to be a part of the recording session. He was about 13 and going through this crazy time; they were tearing down his school. They were tearing down this old building and building this beautiful school in its place. He was going through these trials, but there's this beauty from ashes story in his life."

 

Still, there's not a lot of clarity in Kearney's songs of poetic yearning - is it a girl or God for whom he'd "take a bullet"? Which does he mean when he sings, "I will wait for you"? But Kearney's not sure he needs or wants to say what all these references mean definitively. "It's a funny thing," he said. "C S Lewis said that romantic love is what proved to him that God existed. So I think that sometimes there's a healthy blurring of lines between the love a man feels for a woman and the love that we experience for God. That's why the Song of Solomon exists (in Sacred Writ); it's God's way of showing us his love, by putting people that you love on earth."

 

http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Mat_Kearney__Looks_like_Dave_Gorman_sounds_like_Chris_Martin/27709/p1/

Kerching!!££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$:P

i've said before...

but this guy's voice sounds a lot like Chri's.

I heard it first on Grey's Anatomy.

funny thing. every time i hear a band i don't know compared to coldplay, i automatically kind of hate them. nothing against coldplay obviously, but damn. people need to stop making those comparisons, it makes the band they're trying to hype sound boring. way to bring down the coolness of oregon.

Oh wait, holdup...this dude is from Eugene (Oregon)?? How am I always last to learn of up and coming homegrown talent?? Will definitely check him out.

 

...the coolness of oregon.

heh. I love you. :P

Never heard of him.

 

Sounds like another Singer-Songwriter and we have enough of those already

heh. I love you. :P

 

i only speak the truth :)

i fucking LOVE this guy!!!! first heard him on grey's anatomy:)

I like mat Kearney

 

I didnt know anyone knew of him though :P

Its funny, the whole time I was away I was thinking, "Ive got to make a Mat Kearney thread when I get back." Looks like I was beat to it.

 

Mat Kearney is probably my second favorite artist after Coldplay. His music is insightful, fresh, relaxing, and very Coldplay-ish. He's like a cross between Coldplay and John Mayer, with other things added in too. He's a great singer/songwriter that incorporates faith and love into his true and heartfelt lyrics. I wold strongly reccommend "Nothing left to Lose" to anyone here. I especially recommend the songs: Nothing Left to Lose, Undeniable, Crashing Down (very Coldplay-ish), In the Middle, All I Need, Where We Gonna Go From Here, and Breathe In Breathe Out. That's a lot but theyre all fantastic songs. Oh and of course the acoustic version of Bullet. Just a fantastic song.

 

I also like Mat Kearney because his music is tons of fun to play. plus Ive been told my voice sounds a lot like his, and also that I look like him. Picture a short Mat Kearney with less beard and a slightly neater haircut. that's pretty much me.:)

 

Viva Mat Kearney.

^ acoustic version of bullet? where'd you get that?

 

i'd say i've managed to get nearly all of his songs, even from his older recordings, lol, he is probably my second favourite artist behind coldplay aswell:)

 

and ITA with 2732:D

has anyone heard the new single "Closer To Love"?

 

 

 

It's fantastic! New album May 19th, should be great!:cool:

 

 

http://matkearney.com/

Love the new single!:heart:

Carla! We have to get Coldplayers informed! Everyone needs to know about Mat!:D

Agreed!

 

 

BTW I like the new single so much that I'm listening to one song from the album and "Closer To Love"... been doing it the whole afternoon!:D

I know, I've already listened like a million times.:D

 

 

 

And maybe Ian can help us, he obviously loves Mat. Did you read his first few posts in this thread?:lol:

yeah I did... actually I've checked on this thread before... like 2 hours ago :rolleyes:!

 

 

Makes me wonder if Ian has heard the new single already?:thinking:

Mat Kearney Hasn't Lost A Thing

 

He's an acoustic singer-songwriter. He's hip-hop spoken word. He sings like Coldplay's Chris Martin and is reminiscent of Johnny Cash. Mat Kearney may be a lot of things, but bored at life, that he is not.

 

Ask singer-songwriter Mat Kearney why he only has one "T" in his name and he'll probably tell you that his mom was on drugs when she named him. He's joking of course, his mother is a children's pastor; she would never do something like that, shame on you for even thinking it. One thing that is for sure though, despite his name's missing letter, Mat lacks nothing when it comes to making good music.

 

Growing up in Eugene, Oregon, Mat never dreamed of being a musician. It wasn't until his early years at Chico State University in California that he first picked up a guitar, his roommates' actually, and cautiously taught himself to play in secret. Combining his new musical abilities and innate love for written words, he soon was creating his own unique style of music.

 

"I used to sneak into the school of music at Chico State and they used to have this piano that sat up on this stage and I knew where the light was," Mat explains. "So I'd go in at 2 in the morning and play piano for hours and teach myself songs. So I'm not a very amazing piano player, but I learned how to write songs on the piano."

 

And write songs he did. Good songs in fact. Following what almost seemed like a pre-destined path set before him, Mat soon ended up in Nashville where he was given a number of label offers. Humbly he turned them down though, not because he was arrogant, but because he didn't feel he was ready for it yet. Instead, he wrote and co-produced his first album, Bullet, independently which allowed him to continue to grow as a songwriter, something that was very important to him. "My uncle told me," Mat says, "If your vibe ever outweighs your substance you're destined to be a novelty."

 

Eventually, as though the planets aligned and all signs finally pointed to 'yes,' he signed with Aware/Columbia, and released his first major label album Nothing Left To Lose. The album can be described as a Britpop inspired, hip-hop influenced, singer-songwriter folkish collection of melodies. His songs have been used in TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Friday Night Lights, and he's appeared on AOL Music's Artist Spotlight. Recently he appeared at the Media Club in Vancouver and has been sharing the stage with such acts as The Fray, John Mayer and Sheryl Crow as well as headlining his own share of tour dates across North America.

 

"The hardest thing about being on the road is being away from people that love and support you," he says. "You get really good at building relationships over the phone." Despite his whirlwind of his current lifestyle, he wouldn't have it any other way.

 

"To think of my life without music would be strange."

 

 

 

 

Ask singer-songwriter Mat Kearney why he only has one "T" in his name and he'll probably tell you that his mom was on drugs when she named him. ood music.

 

 

:lol:

 

 

 

Mat is hot!:rolleyes:

I think mat looks a lot like me:P