Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" I've never been one to learn scales and do exercises. Maybe I'm lazy, but I just don't take to that kind of thing. Learning other people's songs is enjoyable, and my fingers tend to go to new places because I'm not playing my music, the stuff that comes naturally to me. "

Mat Kearney

Music

People

Lazy

Related Quotes:

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

" I was an English major, and I always wrote poems. "

" New Yorkers are historically tough crowds. "

" 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. "

" When I first started writing music, it was to express that. I was trying to find God and trying to find meaning in my life. That's what my music was about. It wasn't to entertain. "

" 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

You

Experience

" When I barely got into college, the one thing I could do was write, so I became an English major. "

" I'm actually named Matthew William Kearney: my middle name is named after my grandfather. "

" I am a micromanager, and I love being involved in every detail of my life, but in the big picture, you realize how little control you have. 'Air I Breathe' is about those moments of surrender where you get to something that is bigger than you, and you don't have answers for it. "

" The first record blew up and sold really well. 'City of Black & White' didn't sell as well, and that's when you wonder, 'Did I peak already?' "

" I thought my second record was good, but it didn't have that smash hit we did on the first one that somehow found its way onto tons of formats of radio stations. "

" I think my faith is a huge part of my music. But for me, it didn't make sense to be in any specific market. I write songs for a lot of different kinds of people. "

" When we tour, there's always this unique quality to every town you visit... Touring, you get a sense of a collective identity for different cities. That's one of the things I love about my job. "

" I'm a '90s music kid. "

Mat Kearney

Kid

Music

" It's silly to throw things out or label things. You know, is U2 a Christian band, or was Johnny Cash a Christian country singer? I don't know, but they're pretty open about their faith. "

" For my father, he didn't know what 'Grey's Anatomy' was. He didn't know who John Mayer was. But when I showed up on the 'Law & Order' TNT promo spot, he thought, 'Wow, my son has made it.' "

" From my experience, I've been honest about who I am and what I believe and the motivation behind my music. But I've played it in arenas that are for all people. I've pretty much stuck to that model my whole career. "

" Golf was big in my family. "

" I love what I do. I love playing music. "

" 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. "

" When I was in college, I wanted to study film. My first passion was to be a cinematographer. So maybe there's something innate in my music where it partners well with images. "

" 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. "

" I started writing music in a season of my life where people were telling me I wasn't defined by mistakes, and God really loved me and was fighting for me, and there was a journey to be had with that. And I don't know of a more important message. "

" Somehow, my music really suits doctors making out in the syringe room. "

" Growing up in Eugene, Oregon, there was everything from The Notorious B.I.G. to Weezer playing in my car. "

Mat Kearney

Car

Growing

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

" All of my acoustic playing came from my songwriting. All of the chords I've learned and all of the voicings I play them in are a direct result of composing. "

" Ultimately, when you write from a vantage point of faith, humility, and openness to the world around you, people have to respond because those same truths are instilled in them. "

" When 'Young Love' came out, I was really excited, and it has been really special. "

" 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. "