Matthew Carl Ferguson (born in

Conyers, Georgia Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and is a part of t ...

) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer and songwriter known professionally as Matt Kennon. He has co-written a song for

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...

and has released one album for BamaJam Records. This album includes the top 40 hit "The Call".

Biography

Matthew Carl Ferguson was born in

. He was adopted at birth by two parents, who had previously lost three of their four biological children to a house fire. Kennon's birth mother, who already had another son, made a decision to have an abortion, but she arrived at her doctor's office two weeks too late and was told she had to carry the child to full term. He began playing the drums at age seven, and went on to play drums in high school

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bands. Later on, he began performing at clubs in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia area, playing

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of country and

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

songs. In the late 2000s, Kennon self-released an album of his music, which he began selling at his concerts. He then moved to

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 ...

, where he met

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...

's former manager Gary Falcon, who recommended him to

Kyle Lehning Kyle Lehning is an American record producer whose work is mainly in the field of country music. He has produced virtually every album released by Randy Travis, who described their partnership "an interesting relationship." The only exceptions are ...

, a record producer known for his work with

. After Travis recorded Kennon's "Turn It Around" and released it as a single, Kennon was signed to a publishing contract. He also began working with another producer,

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...

. Later in 2009, Kennon signed to BamaJam Records in association with

Stroudavarious Records R&J Records is an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was founded in May 2011 by James Stroud and Rick Carter. Stroud is a record producer and former president of Giant Records and DreamWorks Records. In 2008, Stro ...

(which Stroud owns) and released his debut single "The Call," which he wrote with Jeremy Campbell and Noah Gordon. The song debuted at number 55 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts dated for the week of October 17, 2009. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song a mostly-favorable review, saying that he did not enjoy the song upon first listen because of Kennon's voice, but said that the lyrics are "where it shines." Kennon's self-titled debut album was released on May 11, 2010. In advance of the album's release, he released a three-song

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

featuring "The Call" and two other songs from the album. In April 2011, Kennon self-released a second album titled ''77''. In October 2012, Kennon self-released a third album titled ''Makin Music That Matters''. In August 2013, Kennon also released an extended play titled ''Four on the Floor'', which included four new songs and a previously recorded track.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennon, Matt American country singer-songwriters Living people R&J Records artists People from Conyers, Georgia Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)