All Photos by Alan Mercer except where otherwise credited
Country singer/songwriter Matt Caldwell hails from the small town of Nevada, Texas. Matt has had six singles on the Texas Charts. Accomplishing 1 Number 1, 4 top 10’s and 11 top 20 songs!
35 of his songs have been cut by artists including: Clay Walker, Granger Smith and Josh Ward. Matt has opened for acts such as: Mark Chesnutt, Tracy Byrd, Tracy Lawrence, Miranda Lambert, Granger Smith, Cody Johnson, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, the Eli Young Band, Wade Bowen & David Allen Coe.
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Photo: Root Squared Photography
He started singing as a boy in church, in his hometown of Nevada, Texas. While in high school, sports was a bigger draw and music got set aside for a while. He played baseball, basketball and was the starting quarterback of the football team. But by his senior year, music was creeping back into his life. Matt gave up sports to front a band called ‘Texas’ Most Wanted.’ The band hit the road for a few years.
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Photo: Gabriel Muniz
Eventually, he moved to Nashville to focus on songwriting and becoming a better artist. About six years ago, he gave up on Nashville and headed home to Texas, settling in his hometown of Nevada.
Matt gained national attention as a cast member of the syndicated TV show “Troubadour Texas” on the CW Network from 2012-2015. His easiness in front of a crowd, approachability and honest-to-goodness humble nature makes it hard to tell who is having more fun…the audience or Matt. He is currently touring Texas and the Midwest while working on his next album.
I met Matt in Bartonville, Texas at a huge Texas sized restaurant, bar and concert venue called ‘Marty B’s.’ We hung out and talked about his latest album, life with a new baby and how rough Nashville can be…and I took a few photos.
Alan Mercer: Matt, you have such a nice voice. Did you always know you had a great voice?
Matt Caldwell: I didn’t know that at first. I thought I was OK. I came from a small town so being a good singer from a small town does not make you a great singer. It wasn’t until I moved to Nashville that I realized not only was I not as good as I thought I was, but that everyone in Nashville is so good! It was the greatest thing for me to realize that.
AM: You’ve been singing all your life, right?
MC: I learned to sing in church. My grandparents on my dad’s side were in choir, but it was my mom’s mom and all her sisters that got me going. All of them can sing except my mom. I had to have gotten that from them. It’s been something that I have honed over the years and worked really hard to get better at. I still remember seeing somebody in one of the first concert I went to as a kid and they didn’t sound anything like they did on their record. It was so disappointing.
AM: That is a bummer.
MC: I swore right then if I was ever on a concert stage I would sound just like my records.
AM: I love that you work with Wes Hightower.
MC: Yes, he is the most recorded man in music history. He has sung background vocals on 240 million records sold, and 170 million downloads. That’s a pretty cool thing to me.
AM: You also have a very soulful voice. Not something I would expect.
MC: That comes from listening to all the different genres of music that I listen to. My mom used to listen to that song, ‘Lost In Love’ by Air Supply on cassette. I will never forget being a young kid listening to Lionel Richie so I learned how to sing listening to guys like that. Naturally since I’m from Nevada, I’m very much a country boy.
AM: When did you start writing songs?
MC: I graduated high school and moved to Nashville. I didn’t start writing for three more years after moving there.
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AM: Wow, what was Nashville like for you?
MC: When I got to Nashville, I was told to get a day job because I wasn’t that good. I have to tell you. It’s difficult to have a day job and then go out at night and play and promote yourself. After I was in Nashville for a while I decided to move back to Texas and think about what I wanted to do with my career.
AM: And you came from the world of sports where you were really good.
MC: I’ve always been a sports guy. All through high school, it was all I did. It was my thing.
AM: So, did you want to play sports as a career?
MC: Obviously I think every kid wants to play professional sports, but I got knocked out in a football game and my dad said, “No more, you better stick to singing.” That’s when my life started changing. I realized I was better than average at playing guitar and singing. I was better than average at sports and I worked on it and got better. I figured I would do the same thing with music. I applied that mentality to it.
AM: That is so smart.
MC: The better people you surround yourself with, the better you get. I will write with guys that are so much better at it than me. I’ve written two songs with Chris Stapleton.
AM: That is so awesome.
MC: My favorite writer of all time, Jim McBride, was the first one to take a chance on me. He wrote songs like ‘Rose In Paradise’ for Waylon Jennings and ‘Chasing That Neon Rainbow’ for Alan Jackson and so many others. He really opened up and showed me what he did.
AM: What a blessing that must have been for you.
MC: I love storytelling. To this day, my favorite thing to do is me and my guitar telling stories about the songs.
AM: That does seem like you.
MC: My manager tells me not to talk so much.
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AM: It depends on if it’s boring or interesting.
MC: I try to make it real. Some of the best songs I’ve written have never been recorded.
AM: And why is that?
MC: Some are too long, and some are too sad.
AM: They would fit in a concept album.
MC: That’s a great idea. Here’s the songs you’ll never hear because radio won’t play them.
AM: I never get tired of hearing your songs. I can listen to them over and over again.
MC: Thank you so much. That means the world to me.
AM: You and the people who work with are all such top-quality artists.
MC: Oh yes, I always give credit to everyone. It’s the same with my band. No one really knows how good a band is. Usually the band is more talented than the artist.
AM: If you surround yourself with the best you will be the best. Only insecure people do not do this.
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MC: Life is too short to be an egomaniac.
AM: I’ve been around so many show business types and being normal is so rare.
MC: It’s the way I was raised by my parents and grandparents. Everybody worked hard for everything they had.
AM: Tell me about your most recent album.
MC: It’s called ‘The Likes Of Me.’ I’m proud of it but we are already working on the next one.
AM: Good! I love hearing that.
MC: I love this album, but I am really looking forward to the next one. There are some great songs on that one.
AM: You’ve opened a lot of shows for a variety of artists haven’ you?
MC: Yes, I’ve opened for people like Luke Bryant, Eric Church, and everybody under the sun.
AM: Matt, you are recently married to Fiona Gorostiza.
MC: Yes, she worked in Santa Barbara, California and she turned down being the Weather Girl in San Diego to stay in Texas with me. Now she does a TV Show in San Antonio. She was the Fox 4 Weather Girl.
AM: You are also a new father?
MC: Yes, I have one daughter from a previous marriage, and she is seven and now I have a four-month-old. I haven’t slept in months. My wife has that show she has to do, so I take the night shift.
