Although singer-songwriter Mat Kearney didn’t put musical pen to paper until late into his college years, he’s managed to make up for such a late start. Bullet, his 2004 debut release, was quickly followed up in 2006 by Nothing Left to Lose, which brought Kearney some much needed promotional help in the form of major support by music channel VH1. His video for the single "Nothing Left to Lose" held its own on the popular music channel for an astonishing 45 weeks, tying the record for most weeks in rotation. With this success under his belt, television licensing deals with shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Friday Night Lights and Bones, as well as other opportunities, followed closely behind.
Seeing a light appear at the end of the tunnel, Kearney called on friends and fellow artists around his new hometown of Nashville to help craft his 2009 CD City of Black & White, which was released on Aware/Columbia Records. Reflecting on the creative process behind City of Black & White, Kearney offered “I was also listening to a lot of early U2 and Tom Petty, and songwriters like Randy Newman to try to figure out how they could be so concise and profound at the same time. If the last record was more stream-of-consciousness with lots of words and images, City of Black & White feels intentional and refined, attempting to be classic as well as grandiose. I didn’t want to hold anything back.”
Mat Kearney will be performing at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall with fellow VH1 success story Ingrid Michaelson on Thursday, March 25th. For ticket information, contact the Ruth Eckerd Hall box office for more details.
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This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2010.
