Staying in the Game
Despite several near strikeouts in his pursuit of a recording contract, Matthew West's dreams have come true according to God's plans.
by Andy Argyrakis | posted 3/15/2004
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As a boy, Matthew West dreamed of playing for his hometown Chicago Cubs, but after a few college-aged curveballs, he wound up with a notepad in one hand and a guitar in the other. After graduation, he linked up with Word Publishing to pen songs for the likes of Salvador, Rachael Lampa, Jump5, and Billy Ray Cyrus, eventually touring on his own and recording an indie CD. Meanwhile, his singles written for other acts kept charting, and offers for record deals came in from Universal South in the mainstream and Sparrow on the Christian side. An accident nearly washed West's musical hopes down the drain, but now he's back in the game with his national debut CD, Happy.
You're wearing a guitar strap, not a Cubs uniform. What happened to your diamond dreams?
Matthew WestI grew up in the Chicago suburbs and baseball was it! Our favorite team was the Cubs, and all my friends and I were huge baseball fans. Growing up through high school, I had gotten pretty good at it. When I was a senior, I was captain of the baseball team and I was even listed as a top college prospect by the Chicago Sun-Times. So I thought I might have a shot of continuing, at least at the college level. But I never got the scholarship offer I had hoped. So that really forced me to get into college somehow, and I wasn't an honor student by any means. I wound up on a music scholarship at Millikin University in Illinois and was trained classically for four years.
How did you react to the change of direction?
WestGod redirected my path, giving me signs that I wasn't supposed to follow baseball. And it threw me into a tailspin. But I can look back now and see why that was important. It helped me refocus and develop one of my other gifts, which was music. I remember singing in church constantly and working on church musicals. My mom taught me how to sing harmony, and my dad was a pastor. I wrote most of my first songs in the sanctuary of the church he pastored when I was home on college breaks.
What was your first big break in terms of transitioning to music full-time?
WestJust before I was about to graduate from Millikin (in 1999), a guy who worked at my university told me about a Christian artists seminar in Colorado sponsored by GMA (Gospel Music Association). It's an event where aspiring musicians and songwriters are critiqued by industry professionals. This guy said, "I think you need to go to this." I didn't really know the guy, plus I saw the price tag at $1,000 and knew I could never afford it. I said, "Thanks but no thanks." And he said, "It's already paid for and your name's already registered. All you need to do is say 'yes.' " He and some other people, whom I've never met to this day, felt called to help me out.
What did you gain from that experience?
WestI met a representative from Word Publishing, and I went to the finals in a competition there. One of the reps took an interest in me, kept in touch until I graduated, and offered me a songwriting deal five weeks after college. I was fortunate to be in that minority where I was actually moving to Nashville and heading to something. But there was another curveball, because it was songwriting—and I had thought I'd get attention as an artist. But for some reason they took notice of the songwriting potential and really encouraged me to build my career by learning how to write great songs.
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