Matthew West
Matthew West was raised in a suburb of Chicago, IL., where he discovered music at an early age. The son of a minister, he grew up in the front pew listening to his mom harmonize and following her lead. By the time he reached high school, Matthew remained involved in music, but was more interested in sports, hoping to oneday play baseball in college. Well, he never did get the call from the big leagues, but instead received a scholarship to study music at Millikin University in Illinois.
It was during his first year of college, that Matthew began playing guitar and writing songs. Soon, his new songs began catching the ears of other students, and Matthew found himself playing concerts all over. By Matthew's senior year, he was playing at every venue imaginable, from Fraternity houses to churches, and youth groups.
While Matthew was still in college, he had caught the attention of Word Music Publishing. The helped in his development, and he signed an exclusive songwriting deal only a week after graduating and making the move to Nashville. He began developing his songwriting ability by writing songs for other artists, and in his first three years enjoyed some good success. His songs have been recorded by various artists including Rachel Lampa's most recent single, "Savior Song," which was Matthew's first top-5 song as a writer. Some other highlights were having songs placed on the platinum selling WoW 2002 project and also having his song, "Heart of Every Man recorded for the World Youth Day 2000 official soundtrack.
Along with his growing career as a writer, Matthew continued pursuing his dream of singing his own songs. In his first three years out of college, he found himself right back on campus, well actually about 250 campuses. Matthew had the opportunity to travel to universities across the country, and quickly began building up a steady following. With the help of Word Music and Extreme Writers Group, Matthew recorded an independent CD called, "Sellout," which caught the attention of Universal South Records.
Matthew has recently signed a record deal with Universal South, which includes a marketing deal with Sparrow Records, and has begun recording his debut project for the label this Christmas. About the new deal Matthew said, "I am so excited to have this opportunity with Universal South! I am thankful for the three years I had to develop my songwriting and artistry on my own, and now I am ready for this next step in my path." |
