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A turning point in the beginning of Mat Kearney’s career came when he helped a friend and future producer with a residential move to Nashville. He started recording there and then just never left, eventually calling home to Oregon to share the news. He might make definitive choices when it comes to places to live, but he is certainly more on the move in his latest music video.

 

The video for the song “Ships in the Night”, off of his 2011 album Young Love, was shot in 165 locations across 2,445 miles (which is noted at the video’s opening). Locations span from train tracks to school bus parking lots, in front of merry-go-rounds and empty roads, where Mat is singing about an elusive love: “Like ships in the night / You keep passing me by...” His outfits change with the various days and locations, but his facial hair not so much -- he’s pretty consistent there.

 

 

 

The song itself gives off the hopeful vibe that, at some point, he’ll get the girl in one place. Sometimes his singing turns to a bit of rapping. He has a knack for expressing vulnerable emotions while remaining appealing and never gets too sappy. That precision of expression and relatable feeling is exactly why Mat’s songs have been featured in at least 22 TV shows. His music is to the point, and it makes good ones. Young Love is his fourth studio album and his hits have crossed over between the Christian charts in addition to the mainstream market.

 

If you’ve been wondering about the missing 'T' in Mat, a nurse’s error on his birth certificate is responsible for that. He embraced the spelling when he saw his birth certificate in eighth grade and never looked back.

 

You can catch Mat in concert this summer -- he will be joining Train (again) on their U.S. tour this July to September, which begins in Charlotte, NC, and ends in Phoenix, AZ. He also has two festival appearances that you can watch him perform at before then: the Addison Music and Arts Festival in Addison, TX, and the Taos Solar Music Festival in Taos, NM. 

 

 

 

- Kate Ferguson, YH Staff