Mat Kearney (CARN-ee) is a singer/songwriter based out of Nashville, TN, originally from Eugene, Oregon. His music has an acoustic base fused with hip hop. He is signed to Aware/Columbia Records. In addition to singing, he also plays guitar, piano and harmonica.
Aside from his solo tours, Mat was introduced to new fans when he was the opening act for John Mayer’s 2006 Summer Tour.
Before venturing to release Bullet in 2004, Mat was working as a youth pastor. Mat’s buzz comes from his gift for fresh, marketable songs that are as relevant to secular audiences as they are to Christians. The former youth pastor spent years honing his sound, searching for a way to combine his love of pop melody, guitar, and piano with rap rhymes. The result is something that probably wouldn’t work for most other artists—mellow Brit pop that’s eerily similar to early Coldplay (Kearney’s vocals closely resemble Chris Martin’s) with some rapped lyrics that recall Everlast, Paul Wright, and early Beck. Yet Mat somehow pulled it off with Bullet, and only seems to improve on it for Nothing Left to Lose. |
