Matt Lopez grew up on a Northern Wyoming cattle ranch outside a small community near the town of Sheridan. His home address read Wolf, but he and his graduating class of 39 classmates attended high school in the neighboring town of Dayton, located at the base of the beautiful Big Horn Mountains.
After one semester at Montana State University, Matt packed his Geo Metro and headed out to the East Coast to chase his music dreams in what he considered to be a more realistic way. Waiting tables and playing his guitar in the New York City subway stations is where Matt began to write songs. While living 3,000 miles from home, Matt began to draw from his roots for inspiration, writing about things back in Wyoming that he missed and had taken for granted. Ironically it took living in the city for the 'country' to really start coming out in his music.
He made several contacts there in the New York area and even recorded a few demos, but was ultimately encouraged to relocate to Nashville. So in the summer of 1998, he once again packed up his car and made the trek to Music City.
From the moment he first pulled into town, to present day, Matt has been on an incredible rollercoaster-journey both personally and musically. In 1999 he left Nashville and moved back West for a few years, but came back in 2003 and has steadily continued to build his career and try to make a name for himself in the music business.
In the spring of 2003, Matt was introduced to songwriter/producer Jason Deere, who quickly recognized Matt's potential and signed Matt to his first songwriting deal later that year. Matt has been a signed staff writer since that time, writing for Glass Box Music, Dimensional Music Publishing and S1 Songs, where he is currently employed.
Matt has played acoustic guitar, toured as a sideman, written songs and performed with artists such as Tracey Lawrence, Lori Morgan, Kelly Coffee, Dan Truman of Diamond Rio, Michael Peterson, Danielle Peck, Susan Ashton, Dave Robbins and Henry Paul of Blackhawk, Kristyn Osborn of SHeDAISY, Lady Antebellum and others.
In April of 2008, Matt had his first commercial release on Capitol Nashville Recording Artists Lady Antebellum. "Love's Lookin' Good On You", co-written with Victoria Shaw and Jason Deere, has been mentioned with great critical acclaim in both Billboard and People Magazines. The group's debut album featuring the song has sold over 1,000,000 copies, ranking it certified PLATINUM status.
Matt now makes up one third of the Country trio Due West, where he continues to strive not only as a talented songwriter, but as a gifted singer and musician. He considers himself extremely blessed to be in the group with two of his best friends, Brad Hull and Tim Gates. He's also grateful to still be working with Jason Deere, now a friend for life, who produces Due West and is still one of Matt's favorite co-writers.
Though Matt's accomplishments to this point in his career are notable, he humbly proclaims "It's all a journey that is just getting started."
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