Soul Music: Mat Kearney

       For a while now, I've been wanting to introduce you to some of the songs and artists that I feel play such an integral part of my life. A surprise birthday gift gave me the perfect opportunity to do this. Richard shocked me with tickets to a Mat Kearney concert! Let me tell you a little bit about why we're such big fans.

        Kearney (pronounced CARN-nee) hails from Eugene, Oregon. His latest album, "Just Kids" is perhaps his most autobiographical so far. You can hear a little bit about his inspiration for it in this brief interview. Kearney is a gifted storyteller. Often the setting plays a major role in these stories and is identified in great detail. It transports the listener right into the shoes of the singer, seeing what he sees, smelling the same smells and hearing the same sounds, sharing the same feelings. Consider these lines from a track on his first album: "I can still hear the trains out my window, from Hobart street to here in Nashville. I can still smell the pomegranates grow. And I don't know how hard this wind will blow, or where we'll go. . . "
        So many of his songs are irresistibly upbeat, toe-tapping melodies. But still many have a haunting, kind of bittersweet rawness to them, with lyrics that provoke deeper reflection. I love both kinds. Two of my favorite up-tempo tracks from his newest album are "Billion" and "Heartbeat". My favorite line from Heartbeat, "Ain't bringing you no games, ain't leanin' on no cliches. If you sharin' my bed then baby you sharin' my name."

"You Can Count on Me" - an example of the upbeat.

       If you want to hear some of his more melancholy tunes, try "Ghost" or "Rochester".  Richard and I were thrilled when "Ships in the Night" was performed as an encore at the concert. That one's got a hand-clapping beat and stirring melody with provocative lyrics. One of our favorites.


       I read that his first name was misspelled by the hospital nurse on his birth certificate as "Mathew". His parents had always corrected it on paperwork, though never changed it legally. So when he became older, he decided to embrace the one "t" version. In 2010 he was married to a model/actress Annie Sims. She now stars in many of his music videos.
     

Mat and Annie Kearney

       Mat has a unique talent for combining singing, rap and even the spoken word in many of his songs. The result is a distinct and poignant sound, appealing to a versatile audience and breaking free of the short-lived fads of pop music. He's not an artist I've heard much about in the media so I was surprised when we arrived at the venue to see that the line stretched out longer than a city block! We knew there were 2 concerts in progress, so we wanted to make sure that we weren't waiting in the wrong line. At the first bend in the line at the street corner we asked those waiting if they were there to see Mat Kearney. Indeed they were. I peered out over the sea of concert-goers. The line continued around another corner, back behind other buildings. You couldn't see the end of it. That's how much fans appreciate his music. This was not a sit-down event. There was no stadium seating. Once you finally made it into the concert hall, you stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, craning your neck to see over the rows and rows of bobbing heads in front of you. Fortunately for us, those concert-goers we asked to see if we were in the right line looked at my bulging belly, just a month and and half shy of my due date and said, "You can't wait in this long line! Here, you two cut right in front of us here. You need to get in there as soon as possible!" I was totally taken aback by the offer - but readily accepted! How grateful we were to them. (I'd foolishly worn cowboy boots since they looked best with my outfit and my swollen feet were already screaming at me that this was a bad decision.) So that gives you an idea of what kind of fans this musician attracts - dedicated and kind souls!
     

       I will admit that both Richard and I felt his live performance was not the caliber that we'd hoped for. He played all the songs we loved, but he didn't interact with the audience in the same way we'd appreciated at the last concert we attended. He didn't seem as genuine in person as his songs feel. Isn't that strange? Yet at the same time, perhaps that's more to be expected. If he bares so much of his soul in his music, any other type of interaction may seem comparatively shallow.
       But regardless, we had a fantastic time. We purchased his newest album at the concert and have enjoyed listening to it with our kids for about 3 weeks straight!

       Hope you've enjoyed this first installment of the Soul Music series! Give the songs a listen and tell me which were your favorites by leaving a comment.