He's a straightforward guy who tends to see things black and white - at least for now. With City of Black & White, Mat Kearney is traveling the States for a bit longer as he adds more adventures through the fall. While hits from his previous album are still jamming through radio stations incessantly, City of Black & White was released in May and proved that the Oregon native and Nashville recruit can prepare many different sounds. Gone is the folksy twang approach that the Chico State alum first brought to the table with his mainstream production and second full blown set, Nothing Left to Lose, an Aware / Columbia records release from 2006 that still gets air time. Instead, shop online and beholders of Mat Kearney tickets will revel in licks like "Closer to Love" and "All I Have." Kearney first small summer jaunt hit stadiums and amphitheatres in May and finishes up July 25 at the Hurley US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach before returning to the stage in late September in Columbus, Ohio for the first of what will be 32 concert dates throughout small clubs and local joints in spots like New York's Fillmore, DC's 9:30 Club, Chicago's House of Blues, Nashville's Cannery Ballroom, Louisville's Headliners Music Hall and more. City of White & Black isn't a country album, rather it focuses on sweet melodies that allow placement in shows like Grey's Anatomy, Bones and Friday Night Lights. Though he works with Nashville's best producers via Columbia, like Trent Dabbs, Matthew Perryman Jones and Kate York, the set is anything but full country. Working around the clock on the set three years after Nothing Left to Lose made his a household name, City of Black & White wasn't thrown together, but it didn't develop as traditionally as other Kearney favorites. As Nothing remains a fan favorite, the man behind the licks like "Undeniable" and its title track remained on tour for most of those three years in support of the breakthrough set but also worked tirelessly to write, record and support the latest. As a result, City of Black & White combines the efforts and experiences Kearney felt while on the road. "At its core, this record is about community - finding it and losing it. There's definitely the theme of this traveling/ sojourner / vagabond kind of guy landing in the midst of people that he loves, and who love him - guy/ girl, musician, old people, all of that. It feels as if the traveling sojourner of Nothing Left to Lose has found a home, a group of companions, and a love. Many of the songs deal with what happens after that - after someone digs roots, allows himself to fall in love, to clasp arms with a brother, to dig in through high moments as well as the painful ones. It speaks of vulnerability more than distance - a place where someone can be pinned down to perseverance and heartbreak," he says via matkearney website.
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