After almost three years without releasing a new record, Matt Wertz returns to the music scene with his new album, “Weights & Wings.”
“I had the name of the album before I had any songs,” Wertz said. “It kind of guided the writing of what the songs were going to be.” “Weights” represent the hardships in life and “wings” the hope and lightness that keep you going.
As March 15, the release date for “Weights & Wings,” approached, Wertz adopted an offbeat strategy to get his fans pumped up and excited for the new record. Fans could access one new song per day from the not-yet-released album by visiting Wertz’s Ping page on iTunes. This method allowed visitors to listen to the new songs for free and with no limit.
“We wanted to utilize social media as much as possible and engage people daily,” he said. Did it work? “People really responded to the album. I think it was a good thing to do.”
Anyone who has been to a Matt Wertz concert in the last five years will know about his support for The Mocha Club, a non-profit organization that runs community projects in Africa.
“The Mocha Club was started by a friend of mine, Barrett [Ward],” Wertz said. “The idea is to give $7 a month – so the cost of two mochas. It’s a minimal sacrifice for a big impact.” To make matters even better, Wertz offers his album for free to those who sign up.
Wertz, originally from Liberty, Mo., has for the past seven years made his home in Nashville, a city known for its music scene. We wanted to know what long-term plans the 32-year-old songwriter had.
“If you’re asking if I have any career goals, I really don’t,” he said, “But I’d love to have a family someday. That’s probably is the biggest goal that I have.” After a moment of reminiscing about childhood road trips, Wertz talked about what he does when he’s not working. “I like to just hang out with friends, throw some Frisbee, watch snowboarding in the wintertime, play golf. I’ve got an old truck too that I love to just drive around. Pretty simple, I guess.”
Matt Wertz will be playing the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco on April 14.