A few weeks ago I was scrolling through my i-tunes; when I reached artists starting with (M); I had a special moment. I realized just how many songwriters there were out there that share the great name, Matt. Rather than get defensive and try to get my name to stand out in the crowd (I’m getting lost in a sea of songwriters named Matt), I decided to embrase my fellow Matts. I really do get inspiration from many of them. So, thus, my grand idea (maybe not so grand….), of dedicating a week of covers to songs by Matts, sang by yours truly. Enjoy!
It’s that time of year again. Christmas, with a little bit of chaos in the air. Christmas decorations are out, tree is up, lights on the house, people are flocking to the mall, online shopping like crazy, getting ready to travel. It’s a great time of year, I really do love it, but sometimes I find it difficult to see past the seasonal chaos, to the real purpose of Christmas.
While walking through the mall the other day I caught myself in deep thought as I squeezed between crazed shoppers hyped-up on Starbucks and then dodged a lady with her arms full of bags of what I’m sure were really great presents. I personally love giving and of course, I do enjoy receiving presents too, who doesn’t!? As I kept walking through the mall, I couldn’t help but think, man, some people are going to get some pretty nifty gifts this year. And then I switched gears and thought about those who are not in a place to give or receive presents this year? I realized, you know what, it doesn’t even matter if we get anything else from here on out, because we have already been given the greatest gift of all, the “real” reason for the season. We celebrate Christmas to celebrate the birth of God’s only son, Jesus, sent to save us. I’m very grateful for this time of year and wanted to give the gift of music. Here is one song that helps me get into the moment of the season.
click here to receive your free Christmas gift; a download of O Holy Night.
This past weekend I had my first opportunity to play out in Michigan since moving here a few months ago. Haslett is overall a pretty small town, so it was a great opportunity to get involved and start meeting some people. The event was helping to raise money for the move of Haslett Library, and it sounds like they raised a good amount of money. I met a lot of great people and had a blast. Check out the video to see a snapshot of what I learned from the day…
With the birth of our son Timothy James on April 22nd, 2011; my wife Steph and I felt like we were being called to move out of our home to be a bit closer to family. Champaign has truly been home for the last 8 years and we are really going to miss all of our friends who have become like family. I put this video together just to say goodbye to ya’ll, don’t worry, we’ll be back to visit for sure! We love you.
14 January 2012 @matthewatkins this is a super late reply, haha, but I miss you too man, we are loving michigan....and you are getting closer to being dad!
13 January 2012 @andycherry awesome...I saw that yesterday afternoon on my radio...complements of Air 1
