Matthew Carl Ferguson (born in

Conyers, Georgia Conyers is a city and the county seat of Rockdale County, Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of downtown Atlanta and is a part of the Metro Atlanta, Atlanta metropolitan area. As of 2020 United States census, 202 ...

) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer and songwriter known professionally as Matt Kennon. He has co-written a song for Randy Travis and has released one album for BamaJam Records. This album includes the top 40 hit "The Call".

Biography

Matthew Carl Ferguson was born in

. He was adopted at birth by two parents who had previously lost three of their four biological children to a house fire. Kennon's birth mother, who already had another son, made a decision to have an abortion, but she arrived at her doctor's office two weeks too late and was told she had to carry the child to full term. He began playing the drums at age seven, and went on to play drums in high school

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bands. Later on, he began performing at clubs in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia area, playing

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of country and southern rock songs. In the late 2000s, Kennon self-released an album of his music, which he began selling at his concerts. He then moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, where he met Travis Tritt's former manager Gary Falcon, who recommended him to Kyle Lehning, a record producer known for his work with Randy Travis. After Travis recorded Kennon's "Turn It Around" and released it as a single, Kennon was signed to a publishing contract. He also began working with another producer,

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant ...

. Later in 2009, Kennon signed to BamaJam Records in association with Stroudavarious Records (which Stroud owns) and released his debut single "The Call," which he wrote with Jeremy Campbell and Noah Gordon. The song debuted at number 55 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts dated for the week of October 17, 2009. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song a mostly-favorable review, saying that he did not enjoy the song upon first listen because of Kennon's voice, but said that the lyrics are "where it shines." Kennon's self-titled debut album was released on May 11, 2010. In advance of the album's release, he released a three-song

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

featuring "The Call" and two other songs from the album. In April 2011, Kennon self-released a second album titled ''77''. In October 2012, Kennon self-released a third album titled ''Makin Music That Matters''. In August 2013, Kennon also released an extended play titled ''Four on the Floor'', which included four new songs and a previously recorded track.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennon, Matt American country singer-songwriters Living people R&J Records artists People from Conyers, Georgia Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)