Mat Kearney did not seriously take on music until his college years, although the inspiration for the career choice came in high school. Kearney – who was not a good student – had written a poem and was summoned by his teacher to discuss it. Expecting to be in trouble, he was surprised when the teacher told him, “You’re really, really good at this. You need to write.”
Moving to Chico, California from Oregon to attend Cal State Chico, Kearney studied literature and played soccer. He remembers, “I remember sitting down with a guitar and starting to write songs and feeling like the whole world fit.” This thing this teacher told him, and this world of music he grew up completely moved by, it just came together. “And it was like, ‘Okay, this makes sense and I want to do this.’”
Mat Kearney and his friend and producer Robert Marvin decided to move to Nashville to record a few songs. That turned into a permanent move and a now two decade plus career
Kearney’s first record Nothing Left to Lose in 2007 propelled the singer’s career. He benefited from music placement on the hit TV series Gray’s Anatomy. which introduced a large audience to his music. Over the years he has placed five songs on the pop charts and had success on the Christian music charts, too.
The pandemic gave Kearney plenty of time to think about his next album, which became the recently released January Flower, and ask himself big questions like what kind of music he wants to make and what matters most to him about his music. It meant returning to his roots and old fried and producer Robert Marvin.
“Robert’s one of my best friends. We moved to Nashville together and he said, ‘Hey, if you’ll help me drive across the country, I’ll help you record some of your songs.’ So he’s the first person I ever sang on a microphone in front of,” Kearney says. “He’s been there since the very beginning, and like any great behind-the-band documentary, we had a weird falling out over some dumb business stuff after the Young Love record.”
