Matt Nathanson

Today I get to introduce you to an artist I have now known for almost 3 years! Time is flying be isn’t it? Matt Nathanson however has been in the music industry for much longer. In 1993 he released his first Album – quite a while ago. But unfortunately he still is waiting for the big breakthrough (at least here in Europe, the US is a bit kinder to him ;)). But like you always hear, patience usually pays off.

I first heard about him when his single “Come on Get Higher” came out. Since I often listen to US radio stations I happen to stumble upon musicians that aren’t that well known in Europe. Matt Nathanson was one of them. The mixture of his raspy but at the same time soft voice with the smooth acoustic guitar tunes is great. A lot of musicians in the Folk/Pop genre often tend to be a bit monotone. Not so this musician. On his albums you can find ballads, up-tempo songs with catchy tunes. My personal fave is “Car Crash

I was lucky enough to see Matt live while he was supporting Train on their European tour last year. I can say, he is one of those artists that I personally like better live than on CD. The energy and the talent to entertain people with only the own voice and an instrument is not something everyone can do. Here’s a clip of that show I went to (ignore the babble in the background):

In July his 8th album was released. “Last of the Great Pretenders”  continues where Modern Love had stopped. Classic Pop Songs with some Indie-influences every now and then. Even though he is still handled as a Mainstream Artist I think there is something special about him that won’t let you put him in that genre. What do you think, mainstream or not?