Matthew Stewart Wertz (born February 17, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter. Originally from Liberty, Missouri, as of 2014 he lives 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 ...

Life and career

Born and raised a Christian in Liberty, Missouri, Wertz's interest in visual art led him to study at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

where he graduated with a degree in industrial design. While there, his musical talents and ambitions grew. He started writing songs his first year of college. After graduation in 2001, Wertz moved to Nashville gained a considerable fan base by performing at Young Life camps, after releasing his first album, ''Somedays'', produced by Steve Wilson. His next studio album, ''Twenty Three Places'' (2003) was produced with

Ed Cash Edmond Martin Cash (born August 6, 1971) is a producer, songwriter, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. AllMusic/ref> He was named the "Producer of the Year" at the Gospel Music Awards for four consecutive years (2004–2007) and gains recogn ...

. ''Today & Tomorrow'' was produced by Wertz and best friend

Dave Barnes David Mckee Barnes (born June 20, 1978) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released eight studio albums, including two Christmas albums. His most recent full-length album, ''Dreaming in Electri ...

in 2005, and thanks to his constant touring, the singer was signed to

Nettwerk Records Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

. On September 19, 2006, Wertz released his third studio album, ''Everything in Between''. In late 2007, he went back on the road with fellow singer-songwriter and friend

. Their aptly named tour, Two Birds/One Stone, toured around the US, ending in Nashville. In December 2007, Wertz signed with

Universal Republic Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and released ''Under Summer Sun'' in September 2008 featuring some new material as well as cuts off ''Everything in Between''. In November 2009, Wertz announced on his website that he is no longer with Universal Republic and to celebrate, he began giving away ''If It Ain't Broke...'', recorded live at

The Triple Door The Triple Door is a dinner theater, lounge and music venue founded in the fall of 2003, located at 216 Union Street in Seattle, Washington. The building often hosts concerts for Folk music, folk, independent music, indie, and World music groups. ...

in Seattle on May 28, 2008, as a free album. In January 2011, Wertz released the single, "Feels So Right", as part of his album, ''Weights & Wings'', released on March 15, 2011. He began a tour to promote the album on March 25, 2011, in New York City. He also released a holiday-themed album, ''Snowglobe'', in late 2011. In anticipation of ''Wherever/Whenever'' EP, released on April 1, 2013, Matt Wertz gave away a collection of his personal favorite songs from his celebrated 13-year career on

NoiseTrade NoiseTrade is a global online audio and book direct-to-fan distribution platform. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee. It enables its users to upload original music and books and give away for free without digital rights management to anyone w ...

. ''Heatwave'' was released on August 27, 2013. Its first single is "Get to You". Wertz has toured with such acts as

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

, Jon McLaughlin,

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...

, Gavin Degraw,

Matt Nathanson Matthew Adam Nathanson (born March 28, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock and roll music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic (sometimes a 12-string) and electric guitar, and has played both sol ...

Five For Fighting Vladimir John Ondrasik III (born January 7, 1965), also known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He is best known for his piano-based soft rock ballads, such as the top 40 hits " Superman (It's No ...

O.A.R. O.A.R. (short for Of A Revolution) is an American rock band, founded in 1996 in Rockville, Maryland. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman, saxophonist/guitar ...

Ben Rector Benjamin Evans Rector (born November 6, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has released seven studio albums, including '' Brand New'' (2015), which peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' ...

and Jars of Clay, and has headlined several tours nationally in the early-to-mid-2000s (decade).

Discography

Albums

Singles

(selective) *2006: "Carolina" *2011: "Feels So Right" *2013: "Get to You"

As featured artist

*2019: Fences

References

External links

*
Matt Wertz collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Wertz, Matt Singer-songwriters from Missouri Essential Records (Christian) artists Monstercat artists Nettwerk Records artists 1979 births Living people 21st-century American singers Nettwerk Music Group artists