Getting to know SiriusXM Top of the Country Finalist – Matt Lang

We were lucky enough to meet Matt Lang last summer on his home turf at the Festival Country de Lotbinière. Little did we know then that he had only just started to learn English. At the time he was just a name to us but when we passed each other, he was on his way to the stage and I was on my way to interview Brett Kissel, he stopped introduced himself and took the time to say hello. This single action spoke volumes to me about his character. Brett and I interrupted our chat to listen to parts of Matt’s set and, I think, we both knew that there was something special on the stage. Fast forward almost a year later and two other industry friends of ours, Tebey and Jill Snell, also took notice of Matt’s talent and quickly made him the first artist signing to their new label.

Matt’s English may still be in the works but he’s ready to represent la belle province across Canada as the lone francophone finalist in the 2019 SiriusXM Top of the Country competition. We caught up with Matt while he was touring across Quebec promoting his debut English language EP

SCE: You’ve developed quite the name for yourself in Quebec over the past few years and now you’re ready to take on Canada and the world. The biggest news of the past few months, for you, is being the inaugural signing for a new Canadian record label founded by Tebey and Jill Snell, Jayward Artist Group. Tell us a little about how that came about and what it means for the future of your music.

Matt: I met Tebey in Nashville through my producer Danick Dupelle. We hit it off instantly, and he and Jill showed interest in helping me develop my career outside of Quebec. I feel very lucky to have people like Jill and Tebey on board to take my career to the next level. I couldn’t ask for a better team. I know we will accomplish great things together!

SCE: We met almost a year ago at Festival Country de Lotbinière, this festival is widely recognized as being a driving force for the country music genre in Quebec. Fast forward to this summer and there are, almost, as many country music festivals in Quebec as there are in Ontario. Will this explosion of country music in Quebec bring more opportunities for artists, like yourself, to get more exposure within the province and do you feel it will mean more opportunities for Quebecois artists across Canada?

Matt: Country music has always been very popular in Quebec, but I would say traditional, french, almost western country. New country is definitely growing and more and more people want to listen to that type of music and live shows are where they can do that. We don’t have a lot of country music on the radio here, especially not in English. So artists like me are very lucky to have all of those festivals to perform at. We have a lot of Canadian artists coming this summer as well, for example at Festival New Country Brome in July, we have Tebey, Meghan Patrick and Jess Moskaluke performing. I think it’s a great opportunity for everybody and I’m definitely looking forward to performing at festivals in the rest of Canada too!

SCE: If you could own any make, model or style of vehicle what would you own?

Matt: Chevrolet Camaro 1966 or an old Mustang

SCE: Your ideal brain food?

Matt: Does beer count as brain food?

SCE: If you could see any artist in concert, who would you see (living or dead)?

Matt: Johnny Cash

SCE: iPhone, Android or Pixel?

Matt: iPhone

SCE: What is the best advice you’ve been given?

Matt: My dad and my grandfather have always told me to never give up. They introduced me to country music and I started playing music with them when I was just a kid. They have always been there and have always believed in me. I owe them a lot and will do everything to make them proud.

SCE: Stress management: hit man, spa vacation or Prozac?

Matt: Spa vacation

SCE: If you could be any superhero who would you be?

Matt: Thor

SCE: Multiple Part Question: Star Trek or Star Wars? If Star Trek pick from the following (Original Series, TNG, Deep Space Nine, Voyageur, Enterprise, Discovery or all of them I’m a Trekkie). If Star Wars pick from the following (Original Trilogy, Second Trilogy (aka Episodes I-III), Third Trilogy, spin offs, or all of them I love Star Wars and I’ll watch it as long as it has the words Star Wars on it)

Matt: Definitely Star Wars.  The Original Series

SCE: In “Matt Lang, Story of My Life” – The Movie, who would play you?

Matt: Bradley Cooper playing Jackson Maine from A Star is Born, playing Matt Lang 🙂  (But without the addictions and with a happier ending!) Bradley speaks French, he a great performer and when I play my guitar and my hair product fails, we have the same hair!

SCE: What’s been the highlight of your career to date?

Matt: I released my first English, country music EP last September to a sold-out crowd at La Tulipe in Montreal. There were over 700 people cheering, singing my brand new songs, people from Montreal, Maniwaki, Gatineau…It was the beginning of everything and I will never forget that moment. Seeing my album reaching the top the of charts and seeing it got almost 3 million streams on Spotify so far is also surreal and an incredible feeling. I can’t thank people enough. And also doing my first English TV interview in May 2019 since I only started learning English a year ago. Pretty proud of that!

SCE: Many artists we’ve worked with have crazy pre-show traditions or superstitions that they must partake in before they’ll set foot on the stage. What is a must for you before every show?

Matt: No traditions or superstitions but I always like having a moment for myself right before the show starts. I go behind the curtain, take a moment of silence and take it all in.

SCE: Take a moment to tell country fans across Canada why they should vote for you to be Canada’s next Top Country Star!

Matt: I can’t really tell fans why they should vote for me, I can tell them what I’ve done so far and that I would be so proud to have this opportunity! I am the only french artist in this contest which isn’t so impressive, but when I set out to make this EP I decided to record and sing in English which made it very hard for me in Quebec as there are very few outlets for English music but I knew I had to do this if I wanted to be able to get my music heard outside of Quebec. Being the next Top Country Star will give me this chance that I want so much!

SCE: When the dust clears on Top of The Country and festival season what’s next for Matt Lang?

Matt: I’m actually on tour all across Quebec for the next few months and doing a lot of festivals during the summer. I’m also working on my next EP and should be releasing new music from that EP this summer!

Do yourself a favour and go and check Matt out and give his music a listen, you might discover a new favourite. You can visit his website for all his information www.mattlangmusic.com. Naturally if you want to help Matt woo the hearts of Canadian’s coast to coast and help showcase the talent that comes from Quebec then don’t forget to vote for him daily until Friday. You can vote here: https://topcountry.siriusxm.ca/

We wish Matt and his, new found, team at Jayward all the best of luck in this competition as well as in the coming months. We look forward to crossing paths again soon, hopefully as soon as this summer!