mattkennonmusic's Profile

• Profile
• Videos
• Favorites
• Playlists

Music has been a part of rising country star Matt Kennons life for as long as he can remember.The first record I played was the Eagles The Long Run, he recalls. I was three or four years old. It wasnt so much about the words, it was about the feel of the music.The words did come though, and when they did they came in spades. Matts personal, yet universally accessible, songwriting is part of what defines him.Raised in music-fertile Georgia, he discovered homegrown country artists like Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson. I remember being home sick from school one day listening to my clock radio and I heard Travis Tritts Im Gonna Be Somebody come on and then Alan Jacksons Chasin That Neon Rainbow, he remembers. Thats when I really felt that country music was cool and might be the road I needed to travel down.Matts album, which includes songs he wrote with master tunesmiths Rob Crosby, Noah Gordon and Brian White, among others, features his own unique blend of music.Its country, but its got a hint of rock n roll mixed in, Matt says. Indeed, guests on the project include Mark Slaughter of Slaughter and Jimi Jamison of Survivor, the band that sparked Matts performing fire years earlier. Its just good American music, Matt contends.As a songwriter, his lyrics tell his story and the stories of countless others who have been challenged by life and have overcome the odds to achieve success. As a singer, the passion behind his life experience is in every note. I dont want to sing about anything that I havent been through, he says. Its honest and its real.Matts breakthrough single, The Call, is a perfect example. Written with Noah Gordon and Jeremy Campbell, the song speaks to the saving power of a well-timed phone call. Ive known people who have committed suicide and I knew girls that had abortions, Matt says. Were not going to bring anybody back with this song, but hopefully we can save lives. A lot of people are longing to talk and to be heard, he adds.The whiskey-voiced Georgian has a story to tell and songs to sing. I put my life story all over my body, the heavily tattooed Kennon says. You can just look at me and know Ive lived a pretty wild life. Gods going to use that as a testimony.Matts mother, a poor woman who could barely support one young son, made the painful decision to abort him. She arrived at her doctor's office two weeks too late to have the abortion performed, and was told she had no choice but to carry the baby full term. The same doctor had another patient, a mother of four who had tragically lost three of her children in a house fire. Unable to have more children, the woman jumped at the chance to adopt Matt.It was his adoptive parents that instilled in him a sense of right and wrong and fostered his musical leanings. Indeed, the fast-paced thumper Mama Raised The Hell Outta Me is a story of maternal influence that hits close to home.While he went through a rebellious phase that saw him chasing wine, whiskey, women and worse, he came out the other side intact. The good Lords been watching out for me, Matt says. I was raised in a Christian home; we went to church twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday. There was a rebellious side, but that upbringing stuck with me.Im the prodigal son, he adds. I was living differently than the way I was raised. Thats why I put mama tried right here, he says, pointing to his right forearm. It wasnt her fault.Im a walking contradiction, he adds with a smile. Its that contradiction that makes his major label debut both satisfying and unique.To wit, the rocking Drive It Like You Stole It speaks to living life to the fullest while Thats Love is a touching tribute to the power of sacrifice.Likewise, Some People Piss Me Off is an in-your-face statement about respect of our fellow humans and the driving The Man I Used To Be tells Matts true-life story of growth through hard times.I want to touch people with my music, Matt says. This is my calling. This is what God put me on this earth to do. Whether its a hundred people or a million, I want to have an impact.