‘Young Love’ by Mat Kearney – CD Review

In the almost two years that I have been reviewing on my blog, this is the first time I have reviewed a CD. I was given the opportunity to review ‘Young Love’ by Mat Kearney. I have several friends who are fans of his, although I was not familiar with his music. Since I trust my friends’ judgment, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

Here is Mat’s biography, as taken from Wikipedia:

Mathew Kearney (pronounced /ˈkɑrni/; born December 1, 1978) is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Kearney has received critical acclaim and widespread recognition for his Columbia Records debut, Nothing Left to Lose. So far, he has a total of four top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart.

Mat was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon with his two brothers. In high school, Mat devoted much of his time to painting, graffiti, soccer, poetry, and music, though he was not playing music at the time. His favorite artists growing up ranged from A Tribe Called Quest to Bob Dylan.

He attended California State University, Chico in Chico, California where he majored in literature and played soccer until his junior year. It was also at this time when Mat picked up a guitar for the first time. Using a roommate's guitar, he tried covering other songs. Realizing he was not too good at it, he began writing his own. Though things were going well for Kearney at school, Chico caught up to him. At a school known for its partying, Mat fit right in. In an interview, Mat 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." Mat continued, "God found me when I was at my lowest point. That was the first time in my life when I really felt like I understood who Jesus was- it was more than knowing about Him, I felt like He met me in that time and place."

As stated in that section, Mat is a Christian. However, he is not classified as a  Christian singer/songwriter. Often, that classification can be restrictive to the artist in terms of whether or not people will be accepting and willing to listen. So Mat has the advantage of being able to share his faith with those who may never hear the Good News.

Here is an interview with Mat as he discusses making music:

Seems like a really cool guy!

I really love Mat’s voice! It is rich and full, and passionate. And his lyrics are Many CDs are released when there are only a few worthwhile tracks. I found all of them to be incredible! My favorite one is ‘Sooner or Later.’ Here is a live version of that catchy tune!:

This is Mat’s third release; the other two are ‘Nothing Left to Lose’ and ‘City of Black & White.’ From what I have learned, this CD is in keeping with those two releases. As much as I enjoyed this one, I plan on getting my hands on those two also!

You can order this CD here.

This CD was released by Universal Republic and provided by One2One Network for review purposes.