A singer/songwriter who plays guitar and piano, he released an EP early this year that he went to Nashville to record. He talks during this interview about the crowdfunding campaign he ran in the lead up to the EP. Plus, he discusses performing on the fairs and festivals circuit. At the time of this interview he was ranked #1 on ReverbNation in his area for his genre. He also talks about juggling being a husband, father, and school music teacher while trying to further his career as a recording artist.
“I recommend that, if you’re in the area – the southeastern part of the United States – I would recommend going – if you’re pursuing music – going and meeting people. Not necessarily having to jump up and move, because, with Internet and social media and all of that, you don’t necessarily have to move to Nashville, unless you get the ball rolling really well and you need to move up there for a label or for a publishing contract. But I highly recommend going up there at least every other month.”
“As he was sitting down and mastering (my songs) he was like, ‘Ya’ know, there’s meat to these lyrics, as opposed to… the beer and truck songs’ that are saturating the radio.”
“I have a little notebook, I’ll write down the positives. You forget the negatives – write down the positives, so that when you have all these negatives coming at you, you can just open up that book and see when someone said something nice about you.”
“You do have to separate yourself. I’m Matt Hines the person, and then the Matt Hines the recording artist is a business. You have to separate that so that your emotions don’t get into it… Still keep your virtues, as far as how you go about campaigning (for crowdfunding).”
“If you’re in this business, there’s no point to be doing it just for yourself. The whole reason you’re doing it is so other people can enjoy something. And so, it’s just best to give back.”
“If you’re a huge superstar or if you’re just some guy playing in a bar you need to be an advocate for trying to get your stuff paid for. I don’t know of many jobs that they give their services away for free.”
“(teaching) is probably one of the most rewarding things, I think, somebody can do, that’s involved in music.”
"Southern Sky"
"You Might Be Right"