Mathew William Kearney (; born December 1, 1978) is an American musician born in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, and based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. So far, he has a total of five top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart. ''

Just Kids ''Just Kids'' is a memoir by Patti Smith, published on January 19, 2010, documenting her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. "I didn't write it to be cathartic," she noted. "I wrote it because Robert asked me to… Our relationship w ...

'' was released on February 24, 2015. The album's first single, "Heartbeat", was released on November 4, 2014. ''Crazytalk'' was released on May 4, 2018.

Biography

Early life

Kearney was born on December 1, 1978 and raised in

, with his two brothers. At

South Eugene High School South Eugene High School is a public high school located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. History The school was founded as Eugene High School around 1900, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that late ...

, Kearney was a soccer player. He attended

California State University, Chico California State University, Chico, or commonly, Chico State, is a public university in Chico, California. Founded in 1887, it is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had ...

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

, on an athletic scholarship and majored in literature, playing soccer until his junior year. Kearney first became interested in music after traveling to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

with music producer Robert Marvin. Using a roommate's guitar, he tried covering songs by other artists, but realized he was not very good at it, and began writing his own. Though things were going well for Kearney at school, the partying atmosphere at Chico caught up to him. In an interview, Kearney said, "I guess I lived it up and did what everyone said you should do in college. 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." Kearney began focusing on music fusing his simple guitar playing with spoken word or rap. He started to play at coffee shops and soon began to make small amounts of money. At this time, Kearney had met friend and future producer, Robert Marvin. The two began to make music together, but Marvin had plans to move to

. Marvin asked Kearney to help with the move and he accepted. Kearney says, "I helped him pack up his trailer and we put a mattress on the back of his truck. We basically drove cross-country and slept in the back. When we pulled into Nashville we slept in a school parking lot for three days until we finally rented this apartment where the roof was caving in and mice were crawling all over." Kearney decided to stay in Nashville to record a few demos with Marvin and after a few months, Kearney had no plans on returning. "By the end of the summer, we had three or four songs and I realized this is what I wanted to do. It just clicked. So I called home to Oregon and said, 'I'm not coming back' and I never left Nashville."

Recording career

On April 18, 2006, Kearney's second album and major-label debut, titled '' Nothing Left to Lose'', was released. It contains several reworked songs from Kearney's first album ''

Bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

'', as well as some new material, and has sold over 450,000 copies to date. The title track "Nothing Left to Lose" was the first single from the album, peaking at No. 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week of February 10, 2007. The single has sold over 500,000 copies and won numerous BMI awards. The track "All I Need" was featured on ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'' and '' NCIS''. It peaked at No. 94 on the ''Billboard'' Pop 100. To promote ''Nothing Left to Lose'', Kearney toured with

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

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, Meiko, and Cary Brothers throughout 2005, '06, and '07; he also headlined VH1's first ever "You Oughta Know Tour" in early 2007. Kearney's following album, ''

City of Black & White ''City of Black & White'' is the third studio album by Mat Kearney. Released on May 19, 2009, it follows his 2006 major-label debut, '' Nothing Left to Lose''. The first single, " Closer to Love", was released on March 10, 2009, as a digital down ...

'', was released through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

on May 19, 2009. He collaborated with Nashville artists such as

Trent Dabbs Trent Dabbs is an American singer-songwriter who was raised in Jackson, Mississippi and is based in Nashville for his professional career. As a solo artist, Dabbs has released eleven albums, including his latest album, ''Positano'', as well as ...

Matthew Perryman Jones Matthew Perryman Jones (born 1973) is an American singer and songwriter. Career Jones began his music career in 1997, playing his first public performances at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia. In 2000, Jones issued his first solo release, ' ...

, Kate York,

Paul Moak Paul Moak (born July 8, 1979) is an American producer, engineer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Paul Greer Moak, III was born in Jackson, MS on July 8, 1979. He learned music at a young a ...

, Daniel James, Will Sayles, and Josiah Bell. Robert Marvin (

tobyMac Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was first known f ...

Britt Nicole Brittany Nicole Waddell, better known by her stage name Britt Nicole (born August 2, 1984) is an American vocalist, songwriter and recording artist. She has mainly charted as a Christian pop artist, but in 2012 found her debut mainstream single, ...

), the producer of Kearney's previous albums and EPs, joined him yet again. The lead single was " Closer To Love", and it received much airplay, on both secular and Christian outlets. His second single is "All I Have", the last song he wrote before releasing the album. In May 2009, Kearney toured with Keane and The Helio Sequence for several weeks to promote ''

''. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 at No. 13. He toured with

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, who created the project while experimenting with music in his pa ...

and

Unwed Sailor Unwed Sailor is an American, mostly instrumental band, formed in 1998 by Johnathon Ford, with recordings that range from instrumental rock to ambient drones. The band's touring and recording lineups have largely been in rotation over the years, ...

on Owl City's "All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour". '' Young Love'' was released August 2, 2011. The album's first single, "Hey Mama", was released on May 10, 2011. "Hey Mama" charted in the Top 40 of Adult Pop Songs at No. 22. The second single "Down" charted as high as No. 23 on the

Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs ...

chart. ''

'', was released on February 24, 2015. The album's first single, "Heartbeat", was released on November 4, 2014. He toured with both Judah and the Lion and Parachute during his "Just Kids" tour in 2015. From August 17, 2016 through November 12, 2016, Kearney toured with

Needtobreathe Needtobreathe (stylized as NEEDTOBREATHE) is an American rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The band is composed of Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Seth Bolt (backing vocals, bass), Josh Lovelace (backing vocals, keys), Randall H ...

for their second annual Tour de Compadres, where he performed songs from his albums '' Nothing Left to Lose'', '' Young Love'', and ''

''. On December 13, 2016, Kearney signed with independent music company Big Loud Mountain Management. On February 3, 2017, Kearney released a song with

Filous Matthias Oldofredi (born 4 March 1997), known by his stage name Filous (stylised in all lowercase), is an Austrian music producer, disc jockey and remixer. Career Oldofredi first published his remixes on YouTube and SoundCloud and thus became ...

, titled "Goodbye". Kearney released a self-titled EP on December 22, 2017, previewing new tracks from his forthcoming album, ''Crazy Talk''. Mat Kearney released his sixth album, ''Crazytalk'', May 4, 2018 to average reviews. Kearney did a two-month long Crazytalk tour starting the third week of February 2018. The album's single, "Better Than I Used to be", released on November 10, 2017 and reached No. 27 on the Viral 50 chart. To celebrate the ten year anniversary of his second album, ''The City of Black and White'', Kearney released ''The City of Black and White Revisited'' EP in June 2019. He promoted the project with an acoustic concert tour beginning that Fall.

Band

* Mat Kearney – vocals, guitar, piano * Chad Kinner – drums, percussion (2011–present) * Fred Williams – piano, keys * Adam Keafer – bass (2010–2015) * Nathan Spicer – guitar (2010–present) * Tyler Burkum – guitar, vocals (2009–present) * Phil Moore – bass (2015–present) * M.D. Miller – bass (2005–2009) * Jeremy Lutito – drums (2009–2012) * Aaron Farmer – keys (2016)

Musical style

Kearney's music incorporates hip hop and

folk-pop Folk-pop is a musical style that may be 1) contemporary folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or 2) pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Recording production values created a unblemished style that appealed to ...

. A notable exception to this was on his third album ''The City of Black and White'' where the hip-hop element was downplayed with Kearney explaining that he was trying to make a "more mature, more adult contemporary" album with his next album though he would return to his normal mix of genres. He recalls that upon the release of his major label debut, "it got totally trashed by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' because I was blending hip-hop stuff into my music." Inspired by his hero,

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

, Kearney tries to make each of his albums have a distinct sound stating, "usually if I did one thing on one record, I tend to somewhat be the other extreme on the next one." The album ''Crazytalk'' notably features the inclusion of

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

into his music.

Personal life

Kearney currently resides in

with his wife Annie, whom he married in 2010. Kearney has stated that his legal name is Mathew due to a nurse's error on his birth certificate. He discovered the error while in the 8th grade when he noticed how his mom corrected the error with ink, never legally correcting it. Since then, he embraced the one "T" in his legal name. On January 4, 2017, Kearney and his wife had their first child, a girl named Olive Sims Kearney. Their second daughter was born on March 25, 2020, and named Violet River Kearney.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Live concerts

* ''Mat Kearney: Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco'' (2010)

Singles

Other appearances

Awards

GMA Dove Awards

Media appearances

Kearney's songs have appeared on the following television series: ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...

'', ''

Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which ...

'', ''

Dirty Sexy Money ''Dirty Sexy Money'' is an American prime time drama television series created by Craig Wright. It ran on ABC from September 26, 2007, to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios. Wright served as an e ...

'', ''

Kyle XY ''Kyle XY'' is an American science fiction television series produced by ABC Family. The central character is a teenage boy (Matt Dallas) who awakens naked in a forest outside Seattle, Washington, with no more knowledge or abilities than a newbo ...

'', ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled aft ...

'', ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'', ''

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

'', '' The Hills'', ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

'', ''

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

'', '' Friday Night Lights'', ''

Wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

'', ''

What About Brian ''What About Brian?'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Dana Stevens and co-produced by J. J. Abrams' company Bad Robot Productions. The series premiered on April 16, 2006, on ABC, as a mid-season replacement and concluded ...

'', ''

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

'', ''

8th & Ocean ''8th & Ocean'' is an American reality series about a group of models living in Miami, Florida that premiered on MTV on March 7, 2006. The series aired for ten episodes, ending its run on May 9, 2006. The creators of ''8th & Ocean'' are also respo ...

'', ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'', '' Scrubs'', ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an Television in the United States, American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator o ...

'', '' NCIS'', ''

Life Unexpected ''Life Unexpected'' is an American teen drama television series that aired for two seasons from January 18, 2010 to January 18, 2011. It was produced by Best Day Ever Productions and Mojo Films in association with CBS Productions and Warner Br ...

'', ''

'', '' Parenthood'', ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

'', ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'' and '' A to Z''. His song "Runaway" is featured on the ''

Soul Surfer A soul surfer (term invented during the 1960s) is a surfer who surfs for the sheer pleasure of surfing. Although they may still enter competitions, winning is not the soul surfer's main motive, since they scorn the commercialization of surfing. T ...

'' movie soundtrack. Kearney's song "Sooner or Later" provides the background music to the WWDC 2013 and Google's Zeitgeist 2011: Year in Review video, which was uploaded to YouTube on December 14, 2011. He was also on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'' performing the song "Billion". In an interview with ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'',

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...

included Kearney on his "Must List", stating "This singer-songwriter does spoken word that sounds like French hip-hop."

Notes and references

External links

* *
Breakfast with the Arts on A&E (1992, TV Show)

Review of City of Black and White

Kearney goes home

Sims-Kearney vows planned in Tennessee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Mat 1978 births Living people 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters American performers of Christian music Musicians from Eugene, Oregon People from Chico, California Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Oregon South Eugene High School alumni California State University, Chico alumni Inpop Records artists