Interview with Mat Kearney

Jenn Cohen | February 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

by Jenn Cohen

Mat Kearney (pronounced Car-nee). You may know of him from his “Nothing Left to Lose,” track, or you may just be hearing about him from his hit, “Hey Mama.” Truth is, whether you know it or not, you’ve most likely heard him on any number of television shows, including his latest release, “Ships in the Night” which is the intro for the new NBC show, Awake.

Kearney is set to start the second half of his tour to support Young Love, including three shows in Colorado; 2/9/12 at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs, 2/10/12 at the Ogden in Denver, and 2/11/12 at the Belly Up in Aspen, “Played there once. I just remember being out of breath the whole time.”

Kearney describes his music as, “Beat-driven, story telling, and emotive.” After listening to Young Love straight through, I felt like I had read a story; one with characters that were familiar, relatable, flawed, and loveable in spite of it all. “I really set out on this record to have a story to it. There’s a journey you go on as a listener.”

Kearney was an English major in college before he got into music, so if he wasn’t writing music he says, “I think I’d be teaching or trying to write movies.” What kind? “Good ones, probably just similar, honest, vulnerable. Story pieces about humanity and people—those are the kind of movies I love. In college, I wanted to be a cinematographer, but I wanted to write screenplays as well—which I kinda do. I write these three-minute movies. You know, a lot of imagery and a lot of specific places and people and characters.”

Are all of these songs influenced by his life experiences? “Some more than others,” says Kearney. “On this record, I wanted to write about songs that were real close to home—lyrics that you can taste, touch and feel. I was really going after songs that were within an arm’s reach of me.”

The last track on Young Love extends beyond the familiar happy place that Kearney’s songs usually lead to. “My grandfather ran an illegal gambling ring in Rochester, NY, with the town bookie. I wrote [“Rochester”] about my father’s experience growing up with that. He was a tough dude–my grandpa–so it’s kinda written from my dad’s perspective.”

Kearney spent many years playing house shows and handing out CDs to anyone who would take them. I asked him if there was a clear moment when he went from self-promotion to people knocking on his door. “It seemed overnight, and also it seemed like it took a good 7-8 years, you know? “Nothing Left to Lose” was obviously a really big first song, and it took almost a year to get going on radio. It was really just a process of a bunch of little victories along the way. Playing shows by myself in front of 50 people and having them tell their friends, and a lot of licensing on TV. There was no silver bullet that put me over the top. It was a lot of hard work and a lot of breaks going my way.”

Kearney’s advice for other musicians busting their butts to get their music heard? “That’s a good question. I think a lot of it, for me, revolves around the writing. I think someone’s gotta find a voice that’s their own; that’s the arena where you can develop the most and really show who you are.”

In addition to being on the Adele bandwagon, Kearney’s ideal tour lineup would be Adele, Springsteen, and Drake. “That would be the dream lineup. I’d open for that tour.”

For more info check out www.matkearney.com and check CMB’s February Issue for a complete review and photos of Mat’s show at the Ogden.