Who Is Matt Schuster? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

Today we are shining our spotlight on singer-songwriter Matt Schuster. The buzz-worthy artist has found success via social media, where he has grown both a loyal fanbase and praise by one of country music’s most talked about artists of late, Zach Bryan.

Schuster grew up in Charleston, Illinois, just five hours north of Nashville, Tennessee. “I’m a country boy at heart, I just always have been. The country lifestyle was just very appealing to me and I was really passionate about it,” despite not necessarily having the quintessential country upbringing.

“When I was young, young, I was like I’m either going to be a professional athlete or I’m going to be a country star… Music was just always something special.” Although he didn’t come from a musical family, Schuster knew he loved music, specifically country music. “My introduction to country music was not from a person, it was through the media. […] Country music was everywhere. […] When I was 8 or 9, I just started listening to it and fell in love with it.”

While Schuster enjoys the likes of many artists in the country genre today, Keith Urban was a game-changer for him in his youth. “I just started listening and then really, really quickly after that, Keith Urban came into my life. I realized at that time that you could fall in love with a song or you could fall in love with an artist, and I fell in love with an artist.”

The Turning Point:

Upon graduating high school, the singer-songwriter headed to college for one year before dropping out and pursuing a different career. He quickly realized that he did not love being a cars salesmen, so I decided to re-enroll in school again, around the same time his music was starting to gain traction on social media.

“I always told myself that if music was something that would happen for me that it would happen through TikTok or some sort of online platform. I looked at people like Luke Combs and Shawn Mendes and how they kind of took off via social media platforms,” he began. “I just started doing Instagram in high school, and got to college, and TikTok started working out.”

During his second year of college, Schuster found his management team. I found management, and we came up with a game plan and were like ‘okay let’s get to Nashville’,” he shared, adding, “The game-plan when we came to Nashville was write. I’m just going to write, write, write. I know how to promote my music and I have people that are ready to consume it and are fans of me and my music.”

After coming to Nashville for weeks and months at at a time, Schuster finally decided to make the move to continue to advance in his growing career.

Today:

Flash forward to today, Schuster just released his biggest song to date. His track, “Wasted Prayers” is a heartfelt song that is full of charisma, emotion, and incredible lyrics. “I really think regardless of the numbers “Wasted Prayers” is my favorite song that I have out. I feel like I’m getting to a place that I can be so proud of every single song that has come and will come.”

Schuster wrote the song with two co-writers, drawing from his own inspiration in the writer’s room. “I love a good title, and typically, for some reason, the first thing that clicks for me is the title. […] I felt like I laid the concrete for that song with the title, and that title just stems from “Wasted Prayers,” and I thought that was a cool spin,” he began. “I remember being wasted at the end of a night, and I just kind of had this thought of like “I’m not in the best place mentally, but I’m here doing the thing.” We all cope sometimes in not the best ways in moments and seasons. […] Sometimes it’s just going out and forgetting about it. […] But often times, you end up having those thoughts at a bar and a club anyway. It definitely stemmed from those feelings.”

For fans of Schuster, the singer has more songs coming down the pipeline soon, and possibly his first project too. He also anticipates getting out on the road and playing more writer’s round to continue to cultivate his brand, spread his music, and connect with his ever-growing fanbase.

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