Mathew William Kearney (; born December 1, 1978) is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, and based in Nashville, Tennessee. So far, he has a total of five top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart.
Just Kids was released on February 24, 2015. The album's first single, "Heartbeat", was released on November 4, 2014. Crazytalk was released on May 4, 2018, and January Flower was released on Jan 29, 2021.
Biography Early life Kearney was born on December 1, 1978, and raised in Eugene, Oregon, with his two brothers. At South Eugene High School, Kearney was a soccer player.
He attended California State University, Chico on an athletic scholarship and majored in literature, playing soccer until his junior year. Kearney first became interested in music after traveling to Nashville with music producer Robert Marvin. Using a roommate's guitar, he tried covering songs by other artists, but realized he was not very good at it, and began writing his own. Though things were going well for Kearney at school, the partying atmosphere at Chico caught up to him. In an interview, Kearney said, "I guess I lived it up and did what everyone said you should do in college. I discovered the depth of depravity, the bleakness of that lifestyle. It just wasn't working. I finally started understanding there must be more to life."
Kearney began focusing on music fusing his simple guitar playing with spoken word or rap. He started to play at coffee shops and soon began to make small amounts of money. At this time, Kearney had met friend and future producer, Robert Marvin. The two began to make music together, but Marvin had plans to move to Nashville, Tennessee. Marvin asked Kearney to help with the move and he accepted. Kearney says, "I helped him pack up his trailer and we put a mattress on the back of his truck. We basically drove cross-country and slept in the back. When we pulled into Nashville we slept in a school parking lot for three days until we finally rented this apartment where the roof was caving in and mice were crawling all over." Kearney decided to stay in Nashville to record a few demos with Marvin and after a few months, Kearney had no plans on returning. "By the end of the summer, we had three or four songs and I realized this is what I wanted to do. It just clicked. So I called home to Oregon and said, 'I'm not coming back' and I never left Nashville."
Recording career On April 18, 2006, Kearney's second album and major-label debut, titled Nothing Left to Lose, was released. It contains several reworked songs from Kearney's first album Bullet, as well as some new material, and has sold over 450,000 copies to date. The title track "Nothing Left to Lose" was the first single from the album, peaking at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of February 10, 2007. The single has sold over 500,000 copies and won numerous BMI awards. The track "All I Need" was featured on Grey's Anatomy and NCIS. It peaked at No. 94 on the Billboard Pop 100. To promote Nothing Left to Lose, Kearney toured with John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Train, Mutemath, Meiko, and Cary Brothers throughout 2005, '06, and '07; he also headlined VH1's first ever "You Oughta Know Tour" in early 2007.
Kearney's following album, City of Black & White, was released through Columbia Records on May 19, 2009. He collaborated with Nashville artists such as Trent Dabbs, Matthew Perryman Jones, Kate York, Paul Moak, Daniel James, Will Sayles, and Josiah Bell. Robert Marvin (tobyMac, Britt Nicole), the producer of Kearney's previous albums and EPs, joined him yet again. The lead single was "Closer To Love", and it received much airplay, on both secular and Christian outlets. His second single is "All I Have", the last song he wrote before releasing the album.
In May 2009, Kearney toured with Keane and The Helio Sequence for several weeks to promote City of Black & White. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 13. He toured with Owl City and Unwed Sailor on Owl City's "All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour".
Young Love was released August 2, 2011. The album's first single, "Hey Mama", was released on May 10, 2011. "Hey Mama" charted in the Top 40 of Adult Pop Songs at No. 22. The second single "Down" charted as high as No. 23 on the Christian Songs chart. Just Kids, was released on February 24, 2015. The album's first single, "Heartbeat", was released on November 4, 2014. He toured with both Judah and the Lion and Parachute during his "Just Kids" tour in 2015.
From August 17, 2016, through November 12, 2016, Kearney toured with Needtobreathe for their second annual Tour de Compadres, where he performed songs from his albums Nothing Left to Lose, Young Love, and Just Kids.
On December 13, 2016, Kearney signed with independent music company Big Loud Mountain Management. On February 3, 2017, Kearney released a song with Filous, titled "Goodbye". Kearney released a self-titled EP on December 22, 2017, previewing new tracks from his forthcoming album, Crazy Talk.
Mat Kearney released his sixth album, Crazytalk, May 4, 2018, to average reviews. Kearney did a two-month long Crazytalk tour starting the third week of February 2018. The album's single, "Better Than I Used to be", released on November 10, 2017, and reached No. 27 on the Viral 50 chart.
To celebrate the ten year anniversary of his second album, The City of Black and White, Kearney released The City of Black and White Revisited EP in June 2019. He promoted the project with an acoustic concert tour beginning that Fall.
Kearney released his self-titled album on May 17, 2024 via Middle Kid Records.
In June 2026, Mat Kearney announced his new album Hanging by a Heartstring, set for release on October 9.
Band
Mat Kearney – vocals, guitar, piano Chad Kinner – drums, percussion (2011–present) Fred Williams – piano, keys Adam Keafer – bass (2010–2015) Nathan Spicer – guitar (2010–present) Tyler Burkum – guitar, vocals (2009–present) Phil Moore – bass (2015–present) M.D. Miller – bass (2005–2009) Jeremy Lutito – drums (2009–2012) Aaron Farmer – keys (2016)
Musical style Kearney's music incorporates hip hop and folk-pop. A notable exception to this was on his third album The City of Black and White where the hip-hop element was downplayed with Kearney explaining that he was trying to make a "more mature, more adult contemporary" album with his next album though he would return to his normal mix of genres. He recalls that upon the release of his major label debut, "it got totally trashed by Rolling Stone because I was blending hip-hop stuff into my music." Inspired by his hero, Paul Simon, Kearney tries to make each of his albums have a distinct sound stating, "usually if I did one thing on one record, I tend to somewhat be the other extreme on the next one." The album Crazytalk notably features the inclusion of EDM into his music.
Personal life Kearney married his wife Annie in 2010 and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kearney has stated that his legal name is Mathew due to a nurse's error on his birth certificate. He discovered the error while in the 8th grade when he noticed how his mother corrected the error with ink, never legally correcting it. Since then, he embraced the one "T" in his legal name.
On January 4, 2017, Kearney and his wife had their first child, a girl named Olive Sims Kearney. Their second daughter was born on March 25, 2020, and named Violet River Kearney. The couple welcomed their third daughter, Ruby Josephine Kearney, on March 28, 2022.
Discography Studio albums Title Details Peak chart positions Sales US USChrist. US Rock CAN Bullet Release date: October 19, 2004 Label: Inpop Formats: CD, digital download — — — — Nothing Left to Lose Release date: April 18, 2006 Label: Aware/Columbia Formats: CD, digital download 109 4 — — City of Black & White Release date: May 19, 2009 Label: Aware/Columbia Formats: CD, digital download 13 1 3 — Young Love Release date: August 2, 2011 Label: Aware/Universal Republic Formats: CD, digital download 4 1 1 20 US: 213,000 Just Kids Release date: February 24, 2015 Label: Republic Formats: CD, digital download 20 2 — — Crazytalk Release date: May 4, 2018 Label: Tomorrow Music Formats: CD, digital download 60 — — — January Flower Release date: May 21, 2021 Label: Tomorrow Music Formats: CD, vinyl, digital download, streaming — 4 — — Mat Kearney Release date: May 15, 2024 Label: Middle Kid Records Formats: CD, vinyl, digital download, streaming Still Drowning in Nostalgia Release date: February 21, 2025 Label: Middle Kid TBA colspan="4" "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Live albums Title Details Until We Meet Again... (Live Unplugged) Release date: October 9, 2020 Label: Tomorrow Music Formats: LP, digital download
Extended plays Title Details Peak chart positions Sales US US Christ. USIndie US Rock Revive Us Released: 2002 Label: Independent — — — — West In November Released: 2003 Label: Independent — — — — The Chicago EP Released: 2005 Label: Aware/Columbia/Inpop — — — — Rhapsody Originals Release date: February 20, 2007 Label: Aware/Columbia Format: Digital download — — — — Acoustic Session (iTunes Exclusive) Release date: April 17, 2007 Label: Aware Format: Digital download — — — — Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) Release date: December 8, 2009 Label: Aware Format: Digital download — 30 — — Black Swan Shadow Release date: 2010 Label: Aware Format: Vinyl — — — — iTunes Sessions Release date: July 31, 2012 Label: Aware/Columbia Format: Digital download 103 2 — 35 Mat Kearney Release date: December 8, 2017 Label: Tomorrow Music — — 46 — City of Black & White Revisited Release date: June 28, 2019 Label: Tomorrow Music Format: Vinyl / Digital download — 40 — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Live concerts Mat Kearney: Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco (2010)
Singles Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications(sales threshold) Album US US Adult Pop US Christ. USPop AUS 2006 "Nothing Left to Lose" 41 7 21 36 — RIAA: Platinum Nothing Left to Lose "Undeniable" — 16 — 30 — "All I Need" — — — — — 2007 "Breathe In, Breathe Out" — 18 — — 66 Nothing Left to Lose (2007 Reissue) 2009 "Closer to Love" 91 12 7 — — RIAA: Gold City of Black & White "All I Have" — — — — — 2010 "Head or Your Heart" — — — — —non-album single "Edge of the World (A Children's Song)" — — — — — 2011 "Hey Mama" — 18 — — — Young Love "Down" — — 21 — — "Ships in the Night" 87 22 10 — — RIAA: Gold 2014 "Heartbeat" — 31 — — — Just Kids 2015 "Billion" — 39 — — — "One Heart" — 16 34 — — "Air I Breathe" — 33 8 — — 2017 "Better Than I Used To Be" — — — — — Crazytalk 2018 "Kings & Queens" — 21 — — — "Face to Face" — — 23 — — "Memorized" — — — — — 2020 "Grand Canyon" — — — — — January Flower "Can't Look Back" — — — — — 2021 "Powerless" — — — — — "Pontiac" — — 40 — — 2023"Christmas Miracle"–––––Christmas Miracle / White Christmas"White Christmas"–––––2026"Catch A Fire"–––––2026"Big Man" –––––2026"Gotta Have You"–––––2026"Fall On Me"–––––2026"Weakness"–––––"—" denotes releases that did not chart
Other appearances + List of compilation and guest appearances Year Artist Album Title Additional info 2001 DJ Maj Full Plates: Mixtape .002 "Gung Ho" Also featuring Knowdaverbs 2002 Stacie Orrico Say It Again "Security" 2003 ZOEgirl Different Kind of Free "Different Kind of Free" 2011 Various Mercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us "Walking Over the Water" Harmony vocals by Jennifer Knapp 2013 Brad Paisley Wheelhouse "Pressing on a Bruise" 2014 Ingrid Michaelson Lights Out "One Night Town" 2015 Various The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto: A Musical Companion "I Want To Love You" 2017 Filous For Love "Vienna by the Sea" "Goodbye" 2020 ROZES Crazy "Walls" 2021 Echosmith Tell Her You Love Her - single "Tell Her You Love Her" (featuring Mat Kearney) New version of Echosmith's song from their 2013 debut album Talking Dreams 2025 Ben Rector The Richest Man In The World "Praying For Me"