PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA RECORDS
WITH SINGER-SONGWRITER MAT KEARNEY
Nashville-grown artist Mat Kearney makes a stop in Lawrence tonight during his U.S. headlining tour. Kearney's hit single, "Nothing Left To Lose" has been playing non-stop on the radio, and five of his other songs have made it onto the tube on such hits as "Grey's Anatomy," "Friday Night Lights" and "Bones."
Q: YOUR MUSIC HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS POP, FOLK, BLUES AND HIP HOP. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC?
Kearney: I try not to describe it. You just kind of have to hear it. It's great songs — that's what I try to write — and different styles, since I was influenced by different people.
Q: WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST MUSICAL INFLUENCES?
Kearney: Everything from Bob Dylan to U2 to Bob Marley and Johnny Cash.
Q: HOW DID YOU LEARN TO RAP?
Q: HOW DID YOU LEARN TO RAP?
Kearney: I was an English major in college and wrote poetry and some of that is just respect for the spoken word.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG ON YOUR ALBUM, NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE?
Kearney: You know, that's funny because it changes every day. Different moments in life, different cities, different people, what mood, what state emotionally I'm in — it just resonates with what I'm doing at that time.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG TO PLAY?
Kearney: It just depends. Some nights it's the epic ones and other nights it's the slow, ballad ones. I love sitting down at the piano and playing "Middle" or "All I Need." That's fun for me.
Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS OR WEIRD THINGS YOU DO BEFORE YOU GO ON STAGE?
Kearney: Not really, I don't have too many. I'll definitely run through my weird vocal exercises, and some nights we'll do some group yoga as a band (laughs).
Q: WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST HELP IN PROMOTING YOUR MUSIC?
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Kearney: If there's one thing I've learned in this industry, it's that there's not one thing that will make you or break you. Shows help huge, radio helps huge.TV has been really fun.Grey's Anatomy has, like, adopted me as their soundtrack.Actually, I think they're using another song this week. It's all really important.Not one thing is your big break, it's like a series and a team of people who make this label that help.
Q: HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE ON THE RADIO?
Kearny: It was surreal. It's not so strange to hear your song on the radio. The strange part is when the DJs and the people say your name and talk about you between songs, because I'm used to sending in demos and working in the studio. Then you start hearing people say your name, butcher your name, after your song's on the radio.
Q: HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN PEOPLE MISSPELL OR MISPRONOUNCE YOUR NAME? (IT'S PRONOUNCED KAR-nee.)
Kearney: Oh, you know, my mom had to make it difficult on me by spelling it weird, and my name looks like it would be pronounced "KER-nee," but you know I blame my Irish heritage.
Q: IF YOU HAD TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
Kearney: I would have started writing and singing earlier in my life. I didn't start until I was a junior in college, but you know, honestly I don't have any regrets in my music career. I've been very patient. Anytime I've gotten myself in trouble is when I wasn't patient.
Mat Kearney will perform tonight at the Granada,
1020 Massachusetts St., at 8 p.m.
13> JAYPLAY 10.19.2006
Kim Wallace