Matt Stell epitomises everything great about modern Country music artists; the ability to be multi genre within the ever expanding genre of Country music itself. It’s one of the few genres of music that is all encompassing with great examples of modern love songs standing shoulder to shoulder with music that edges towards pop, music that has an edgy rock feel and traditional Country music.
It really is a genre that can be all things to all people which is why it seems to be getting more and more popular in the UK every year, even our very own Ed Sheeran was excited to jump on stage with Country superstar Luke Combs earlier in the year at Country2Country Festival and at a recent Morgan Evans gig in London’s swanky Lafayette the crowd was both refreshingly young and old.
Matt Stell is perhaps best known for his break out love song hit ‘Prayed for You’ which spent two weeks at number one and was the only debut single to top the Billboard Country Airplay chart in 2019 and has gone on to rack up over 270 million streams, Platinum certification and a video with over 20 million views. However, he is keen to not be confined to one particular category of song and feels that his music since then has gone a long way to prove how multi-dimensional his music can be. He is quoted as saying:
“If you cut a groove too deep, it’s hard to get out of it. I’ve never wanted to be some one dimensional artist……I’m determined to show that there is much more to me than just a guy who can sing a love song”
Matt Stell seems to be able to rock out an anthem like ‘If I Was a Bar’ just as easily as sing stunning love songs like ‘Look at Me Now’ and fill in all the spaces in between with his ability to do what all the very best Country singers do and create memories with the way he phrases the lyrics of a song. Song writing is something very close to the artist’s heart and he has said: “song writing is a craft that can get better the more time you put into it” but he is also very collaborative too and some of his other songs are co-written or come from outside writers. The fact is that, irrespective of the source, there is something very distinctive about a Matt Stell song and the way he can bring a lyric and a melody to life.
His song ‘Man Made’ is a great example of this lyrical ability with words like “if a man made anything it’s because a woman made that man” and a hugely moving video which shows Matt singing his song to a video scrapbook background of all the important, influential and uplifting women that helped their various men achieve their life goals. This is a love song with a difference because it’s a love song to all the women in our lives and the beautiful video really brings those emotions to visual life.
This Autumn, Matt Stell is going to be able to bring his myriad of Country music to the UK and will be performing a co headline tour with Elvie Shane whose brilliant breakout song ‘My Boy’ is another incredible example of how Country music can bring deep emotions to lyrical form to create something which will deeply resonate with any man who finds themselves father to a boy who might not be theirs by blood. It’s a song he played to stunning and emotional effect at his Grand Ole Opry debut.
The chance to see these two men perform their very special brand of Country music live in London, Manchester and Glasgow this October is most certainly one not to be missed. They promise to be nights filled with that beautiful thing Country music stands for; three chords and the truth!
Check out Matt Stell and his music online on his official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Stream and download ‘Man Made’ here. Tickets and further information are available on his official website. Watch the video for ‘Man Made’ here.
