Mat Weddle (born January 3, 1983), better known by his stage and recording name Obadiah Parker, is a singer-songwriter from
Scottsdale, Arizona. He has released an
EP, a live CD which contains a mixture of
covers and original material, an EP of covers, and a full-length
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
of original material. Weddle also appeared in a
viral
Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents).
Viral may also refer to:
Viral behavior, or virality
Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example:
* Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...
YouTube video playing an acoustic cover of
Outkast's "
Hey Ya!".
History
Obadiah Parker began as a three person band composed of Mat Weddle (vocals, guitar), Jessie Young (piano/keyboards, trumpet, vocals), and Daniel Zehring (bass, vocals). After meeting at a local church youth group, Weddle, Young, and Zehring began playing together in various local bands. Together, the band released "Salvation Jam" EP on October 2, 2006, and "Obadiah Parker Live" on April 2, 2007, via
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
.
After the band's split, Weddle retained the name Obadiah Parker for his solo act. He has since released an acoustic EP of cover songs, "The Tip Jar, Vol. 1", as well as his first full-length, studio album, "The Siren and The Saint", recorded in
Nashville, Tennessee with Grammy award winning producer Mitch Dane.
"Hey Ya"
In 2006, a video of Weddle performing a cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya" became a viral sensation.
In a 2007 interview, Weddle estimated that over 1 million people had viewed the video,
but, as of 2011, the video has been viewed over 8 million times. The performance was recorded at a local
Open mic night, then obtained by a fan who mixed it with the original Outkast music video and uploaded it to YouTube.
Over the 5 years since the video was introduced, the song has earned nationwide media attention and radio play. It has been featured on
The Howard Stern Show and was an answer to a question on
Jeopardy!. It has reached the No. 1 spot on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter Charts in the UK, France, and multiple other countries.
And, in 2009,
Sam Lloyd of
The Blanks (the actor who plays
Ted Buckland
TED may refer to:
Economics and finance
* TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar
Education
* ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association
** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey
** Transvaal Education Dep ...
) covered the song on an episode of Scrubs entitled
My Soul On Fire, Part 2.
Discography
* 2006: ''
Obadiah Parker EP''
* 2007: ''
Obadiah Parker Live''
* 2008: ''
The Tip Jar, Vol. I''
* 2011: ''
The Siren and the Saint
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
''
* 2014: ''
The Tip Jar, Vol. II''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Obadiah
1983 births
Living people
Musicians from Scottsdale, Arizona
American folk singers
21st-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from Arizona