Interview Flashback - Making The Call With Matt Kennon

I have been blessed to write contributions/reviews/interviews/opinion pieces for several country music and roots-oriented websites and publications over the years including Saving Country Music, Nashville Scene, Country California, Country Weekly, American Noise, The 9513 and Engine 145. As a regular contributor to the last two in that list, I did close to a 100 interviews with different artists- and since both of those great sites have come down, I will reprint some of those interviews here to give them a home in perpetuity. This interview was originally published in April 2010 on The 9513.

Matt Kennon is blessed with one of those voices that, good or bad, sets him apart from the rest of the radio dial. From the minute he opens his mouth on his new song “The Call,” it’s clear that the gravelly and deep voiced Kennon is working with a different instrument than most. It took nearly half a lifetime to find out the genetics of where it came from, however.

He tells a little bit of that story in his brand new song on radio. The second chorus of “The Call” deals with a young mother grappling with the heart wrenching decision of keeping a baby or not and it was from his own personal experience of being that baby that the song’s lyrics took root.

Matt’s birth mother was in an unfortunate economic situation and had made the painful decision to abort him. The doctor that was seeing his mother knew of another patient, a mother who had lost three of her children in a terrible house fire, who had just found out she was unable to conceive more children. The doctor matched up the two mothers and the new family adopted Matt. It makes the fodder for a great country story.

The 9513 had an opportunity to sit down and make a call with Matt Kennon and talk a little about genealogy and about his upcoming album release on BamaJam Records.

KEN MORTON, JR.: With “The Call” racing up the charts, we’ll start there. As I was reading through your bio, I was surprised to learn that part of that song is autobiographical with your own adoption and own birth mom. Would you mind giving some background on that?

MATT KENNON: Actually, there have been a lot of phone calls in my life that have changed me. Not only in my personal life, but in my career as well. My birth mother couldn’t afford to bring me into this world and take care of me. Through the divine intervention of The Lord, there happened to be a family out there waiting to take care of me. They had lost three children in a house fire. So I was very blessed to be placed in that home with that doctor agreeing to carry me to full term. That’s what that second verse of “The Call” was about. I wrote the song with two guys, both of them that had serious illnesses. Jeremy Campbell had had lung cancer at the age of fourteen. He had it for six years and beat it. Noah, my other co-writer has Crohn’s disease. So when I had this idea for this song for a phone call, we had friends that had lost things like jobs and that- and we all had had phone calls that have changed our lives. When they were dealing with their illnesses and all that, a lot of calls kept them hanging on. We decided we hadn’t heard too many songs about a phone call and especially one that changed so many things.

Matt Kennon To Release Leaving Ain't Letting Go On July 15

Artist: Matt Kennon
Album: Leaving Ain't Letting Go
Label: Roaddawg Records
Release date: July 15, 2016

As a songwriter, Matt Kennon has centered around lyrics and songs to 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 don’t want to sing about anything that I haven’t been through,” he says. “It’s honest and it’s real.”

He's back telling another batch of new stories with the July 15 release of Leaving Ain't Letting Go.

Matt’s breakthrough single off his self-titled major label 2010 album release, “The Call,” is a perfect example. Written with Noah Gordon and Jeremy Campbell, the song spoke to the saving power of a well-timed phone call. “I’ve known people who have committed suicide and I knew girls that had abortions,” Matt says. “We’re 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 I’ve lived a pretty wild life. God’s going to use that as a testimony.”

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 Lord’s 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.

“I’m a walking contradiction,” he adds with a smile.

“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 it’s a hundred people or a million, I want to have an impact.”

Travis Tritt, Marty Stuart, Rodney Crowell, Matt Kennon and Jeff Bates All Unveil New Projects

Five distinctively different male country music artists unveiled projects this week. Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart are working on a collaborative duo project, Rodney Crowell and Jeff Bates have announced new album releases and Matt Kennon has an EP that will be shipping soon.

First things first, there are few country artists with as long of a modern legacy as Tritt and Stuart. Tritt has been relevant for 25 years now and Stuart's 80's and 90's success has propelled him to be the current face of the Grand Ole Opry in Little Jimmy Dickens' old age. It was at a 25th anniversary concert celebration this past weekend at the historic Ryman Auditorium, that hallowed hall of the Opry, that Tritt brought up on stage his good friend Stuart and they announced that they will be releasing a new duet project together by the end of 2014.  Eric Parker of MusicRow.com shared, "The honky-tonk outlaws have already co-produced four sides for a forthcoming album, which may be available by the end of the year. “The new project is real close to unplugged – getting back to the root of things,” he said. The comrades previewed Tritt’s first instrumental song, “Pickin’ At It,” which is expected for inclusion on the upcoming duet project.

Fresh off of Rodney Crowell’s critically lauded collaboration with Emmylou Harris, which is nominated for a 2014 Grammy Award and was named 2013 Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association, the singer/songwriter has teamed up with New West Records to release Tarpaper Sky, his new self-produced album.  Tarpaper Sky will be available April 15, 2014. From the press release:

Crowell has created an album that harkens back to some of his most revered and loved works.  Tarpaper Sky would sit comfortably on the shelf right between the chart-topping fan favorite Diamonds and Dirt (1988) and Life Is Messy (1992).  This album marks a reunion of the creative partnership of Crowell and musical accomplice Steuart Smith, who was an integral part of his overall sound during the late ‘80s.  The lyrics and message behind the bittersweet "Long Journey Home" sum it up best, “the simple life tastes sweeter now, you have no need to roam". The songs and vibe of Tarpaper Sky are full of warmth and familiarity as if it were a favorite record you would have worn out years ago.  “Frankie Please,” an ode to falling fast for a fast woman rocks like a jukebox classic, as does the two-step ready focus track “Fever on the Bayou” while the touching “God I’m Missing You” and “Grandma Loved That Old Man” resonate with themes that lovers of Crowell have long been drawn to – vivid characters, heartbreak and sentiment for life’s lessons.

Jeff Bates doesn't have quite the longevity of the veterans above, but he has charted seven different hits on the Billboard country charts, of which three reached top 40: "The Love Song" (his highest, at No. 8), "I Wanna Make You Cry" at No. 23, and "Long, Slow Kisses" at No. 17. He has announced that he is close to releasing a new independent project dedicated to his biggest influence, Conway Twitty, appropriately named Me and Conway. The collection will include six original tunes, as well as six Conway Twitty classics, including some possible duets.

“As an artist, I have certain goals at this point in my life, and that is to make the music that I want to make, without anybody saying it needs to be this way or you should do this,” says Bates. “I know I have the best fans in the world. They’ve been loyal, and they’ve been with me through thick and thin. I know what they ask for and what they want to hear, so I want to make that kind of music. I want to make music that I’m proud of – just once – without it being filtered through everybody else’s creative mind. My fans have screamed for years for me to record some Conway Twitty songs,” Bates says.

While only his "The Call" has cracked the Billboard country charts, Matt Kennon's southern rock live show and distinctive low voice has allowed him to put out three different albums and two EP's, with another EP now on the way. The new EP will be called Simplified and Kennon calls it "bare bones songwriting sessions." He recently went to Facebook and unveiled a new track called "Til' He Was Gone" that you can listen to HERE.  The EP will be available digitally in February. 

New Music Video From Matt Kennon- "Real Good"

CD Album Review- Matt Kennon- 77

The Background-
Just a year after making some country music chart noise with a semi-autobiographical story of how a phone call saved his life as a baby with “The Call” as well as a parting with his BamaJam music label, Kennon returns with this independent album titled after the year he was born.

The Review-
Matt Kennon is blessed with one of those voices that, for better or for worse, sets him apart from the rest of the radio dial; from the minute he opens his mouth on his hit song “The Call,” it was clear that the gravelly and deep voiced Kennon is working with a different instrument than most. It took nearly half a lifetime, however, to find out the genetics of where it came from.

In an interview that I did with Kennon over at The 9513 a year ago, he told of that story in “The Call,” the second chorus of which deals with a young mother grappling with the heart wrenching decision of whether or not to keep her new baby. It was from Kennon’s own personal experience of being that baby that the song’s lyrics took root. Kennon’s birth mother was in an unfortunate economic situation and had made the painful decision to abort him. The doctor that was seeing his mother knew of another patient, a mother who had lost three of her children in a terrible house fire, who had just found out she was unable to conceive more children. The doctor matched up the two mothers and the new family adopted Matt.

Why that is important is for two reasons. First, “The Call” and four other songs from his debut album have been rerecorded and included on 77. Secondly, that theme of an edgy smoke-stained and breathless voice paired with a song themed with a positive message carries over into his second album. Kennon has a place in no-man’s land- a rocker’s voice in a country song- and pushing a cause. “You Had To Pick On Me” tackles bullying, “Wake Up Dancin’” celebrates his faith and obviously “The Call.” It’s an interesting combination of an edgy country-rock driven with electric guitar sound with sometimes syrupy lyrics. The message songs are combined with up-tempo southern rock songs that sometimes lean on cliché’s a little too much such as on “Too Loud”- “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” They’re designed to get you on your feet in a bar room and they’re probably successful in that forum. Critically, they can come off a bit bombastic. It would have been interesting to hear Kennon provide a couple of stripped down acoustic pieces or a couple of extra ballads to help balance the album out. The one new stand-out track for this listener was the one traditional honky-tonk tale of heartache and loss, “I Can’t Get Back.”

Sounds Like-
Movie voice-over guy Don LaFontaine singing country music

Suggested downloads-
I Can’t Get Back
The Call

The Verdict-
Two and a half stars out of five

CMA Music Festival & iTunes Team Up To Give Ten Free Country Songs

Just in time for CMA Music Festival, the Country Music Association and iTunes have teamed up to offer you another incredible FREE digital music sampler to say thanks for being a fan! Feed your iTunes library right now with this special collection of songs. Click HERE to download the ten tracks below:

Chris Young - Voices
Randy Houser - Whistlin Dixie
Matt Kennon - The Call
Sammy Kershaw - The Snow White Rows Of Arlington
Steve Azar - Sinkin’ or Swimin’ (with you)
Frankie Ballard - Tell Me You Get Lonely
Radney Foster - Angel Flight
David Ball - Houston Again
Randy Montana - Ain't Much Left Of Lovin' You
John Cowan - Carry On

Free Country Music Downloads From People Magazine

PEOPLE Magazine has teamed up with iTunes to offer a free download from a number of the young and up & coming acts in country music. Artists giving fans free music this week include Danny Gokey, Katie Armiger, Colt Ford & Jamey Johnson, Mindy McCready, Josh Abbot Band, Sammy Kershaw, Matt Kennon, Blaine Larson and Christian Kane. The playlist is below:

•Crazy Not To – Danny Gokey
•Kiss Me Now – Katie Armiger
•Cold Beer – Colt Ford (feat. Jamey Johnson)
•I Want A Man – Mindy McCready
•She’s Like Texas – Josh Abbott Band
•Bring On The Love – Coldwater Jane
•Better Than I Used To Be – Sammy Kershaw
•The Call – Matt Kennon
•Baby You Get Me – Blaine Larsen
•The House Rules – Christian Kane

Click HERE to get your FREE playlist from the magazine.

An Interview With Matt Kennon Over At The 9513

Matt Kennon is blessed with one of those voices that, for better or for worse, sets him apart from the rest of the radio dial; from the minute he opens his mouth on his new song “The Call,” it’s clear that the gravelly and deep voiced Kennon is working with a different instrument than most. It took nearly half a lifetime, however, to find out the genetics of where it came from.

He tells a little bit of that story in “The Call,” the second chorus of which deals with a young mother grappling with the heart wrenching decision of whether or not to keep her new baby. It was from Kennon’s own personal experience of being that baby that the song’s lyrics took root.

I had an opportunity to talk to Matt while he was travelling through Alabama on a bus about his roots and his upcoming new album. You can read the entire feature interview HERE after looking at a snippet below.

Well, there’s a handful of songs–probably a six pack–that I call “life.” They’re things that I’ve been through, things that I’ve seen and that are important to me. I’ve had the opportunity to write eight of the 12 songs that are on the record. But I don’t think you’ll hear a whole lot of difference between the songs I wrote and the songs I didn’t. I found songs on stuff that I had been through written by others too. You’ll hear some impact songs, some ballads on there and balls-to-the-wall country rocking stuff. We call it country rock and roll.

I cut my teeth playing drums, so there’s a little bit of stage rock influence on there–especially live. We had Mark Slaughter come play guitar and sing on the record. I had one of my dear friends Jimi Jamison, the lead singer of Survivor, come sing on there too. He was one of [the] biggest influences on me–he was the first concert I ever saw. You’ll hear his voice on there on half a dozen songs.