Mat Kearney Quotes

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Mat Kearney

Profession : Musician

Birth : December 1, 1978

I think coming from the Northwest is something that's born in your blood. On my mom's side, I'm, like, a sixth-generation Oregonian. My family came over in the covered wagons, 'Oregon Trail'-video-game style. Maybe the pioneer mentality runs in my blood because they were all pioneers.

Mat Kearney

I love what I do. I love playing music.

Mat Kearney

The first year I moved to Nashville, I started playing these songwriter nights with people like Nickel Creek, Duncan Sheik, and even Ryan Adams... That was the first place I really started playing music, and I had to really step up my game. Really quick. Or get kicked off the stage.

Mat Kearney

Getting married and really digging in with another human being can point out your greatest strengths and your greatest weaknesses.

Mat Kearney

I grew up in Oregon, so there was always a lot of that folksy, Bob Marley stuff. There was a mural of Bob Marley on a wall at my high school.

Mat Kearney

I can't help but do things my own way.

Mat Kearney

There are a lot of great recording artists, like Jack White and Jack Johnson, who stay confined inside a very small box, but I'm more like Bon Iver, who recorded an album with programmed drums, and the next record was totally organic. I get that.

Mat Kearney

The problem in this country is people gravitate toward one genre, and that's what they embrace. I don't understand that. If you hit me with Bell Biv Devoe meets country, well, I like the sound of that concept.

Mat Kearney

It's been awesome going indie. I don't need to be on a major label. I love not having to walk into a specific radio person's office to try to convince someone to play my songs. At the end of the day, it's more work, but I've discovered that I like to get my hands dirty.

Mat Kearney

I don't spend afternoons practicing my guitar to get better. I do read, though, to get inspiration for my lyrics.

Mat Kearney

I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.

Mat Kearney

The criticism people could have of my music maybe is that it's somewhat schizophrenic at times. And if you don't like that, it could bother you.

Mat Kearney

You go to a Springsteen show, and half of the people are there to party and forget about their cares, and they're being drawn to this visceral experience. And then the other half, you know, has lived and died with his 'Nebraska' album and considers him one of the greatest poets.

Mat Kearney

I've always been a writer. I've always done writing or spoken-word, hip-hop stuff with my friends.

Mat Kearney

When I started forming my own taste, there was a period in high school when I listened to only rap and hip-hop, like A Tribe Called Quest.

Mat Kearney

I think, in a lot of ways, hip-hop is interesting to me because it's like the modern-day folk music.

Mat Kearney

The first album was literally the first 12 songs I've ever written.

Mat Kearney

It's a job, and it's challenging. But I love music and creating. That's why I got into music.

Mat Kearney

Generally, the songs that are the scariest ones are the ones that people connect to.

Mat Kearney

I had the lyric 'Chip Don't Go' and a few words, and my wife came in and said that it sounded like a good song. I thought I'd finish writing it up and posting it to YouTube. I didn't realize it was going to take off like it did.

Mat Kearney