Matt Stell Shares A Taste Of What’s To Come On His New Album With ‘One Of Us’

“This is the kind of song that I moved to town to cut,” Stell says.

By

Madeleine O’Connell

| Posted on

September 30, 2022

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11:13 am

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Matt Stell; Photo by Wide Open Music

When Matt Stell first heard his latest release, “One Of Us,” he instantly felt like it checked off all the boxes for what a country song should be, so he knew he had to record it and add his own personal touch.

This track has an addicting melody that fans can’t help but sing along to as it describes all the best parts about growing up in a small town. 

Matt Stell One Of Us
Matt Stell One Of Us

One of us got a chain if you get stuck / One of us got a cooler full of cold Bud in the back of his truck / And if that sounds like you then you might be one of us,” he sings in the chorus. 

Between his soothing vocals and nostalgic rendering, “One Of Us” is a breath of fresh air that captures just what the Arkansas native was searching for when he moved to Nashville back in 2014.

“Just immediately when I heard it, I was like, this is the kind of music I make,” he told Country Now. “The writers did such a great job on it that I knew it’d fit right in, and it would be a great taste of this direction that we’re going in.”

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Songwriters James Barker, Travis Wood, Gavin Slate and Jim McCormick took the reins on writing “One Of Us,” but Stell made it his own as a co-producer alongside Ash Bowers. 

“I heard this song I was like, ‘man, this is a jam.’ This is the kind of song that I moved to town to cut, that makes sense when you hear it in a truck, that makes you want to go see it live and, you know, it’s high energy, it hits heavy and it’s just my favorite kind of music.”

Stell has produced or co-produced pretty much everything he’s cut so far because it gives him another outlet to express his creativity through.  

“With this song, for sure, I knew how I wanted it to sound. It was pretty close to how the demo was, but I knew, you know, I had in my mind how I wanted it to sound and being able to have a hand kind of guiding it that way was a lot of fun.”

This release follows Stell’s back-to-back No. 1’s “Prayed For You” and “Everywhere But On” along with his fan-favorite, “Man Made,” which will serve as the leading track off his upcoming project that’s set to drop in the coming months.

“I can’t wait for the rest of the project to come together. I think it’s gonna be really special and I can’t wait to get back in the studio and cut a few more, it’s gonna be incredible,” he shared. “I think it’s gonna be just kind of me figuring out more of what it is I do and what I want to do and really kind of following that and being true to that more so than I ever have been able to.”

He added, “I think it’s just gonna kind of be more of a snapshot of where I am now creatively, because, you know, that’s what projects always tend to be, a thing in the moment. So, I’m excited about this moment.”

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“Man Made” has already become a crowd favorite in Stell’s live shows, but “One Of Us” isn’t falling far behind as it’s quickly started to gain more traction in the set. 

We’ve had ‘One Of Us’ in the set for a little while ‘cause we loved it so much, and what’s really cool is it has this moment in it when we’re playing it live where the song starts off kind of chill and then when the chorus hits and it just sounds like a car wreck and we love it, man. It hits hard and it gets people’s attention and it gets that energy up and then we kind of carry it on through the song and we love those dynamics a lot.”

Curating a balanced setlist is especially important as Stell launches his 17-city headlining Man Made tour. He’s been playing plenty shows with enough room for larger crowds this summer, but he still has a special place in his heart for the more intimate venues. 

“This summer’s been great. We played some great fairs and festivals, we’ve played in some big arenas and that’s always fun and it’s great, but still some of my favorite music I’ve ever seen as a fan and favorite shows I’ve ever played is when we’re playing theaters and when we’re playing concert venues like this tour is. Packing a club out and having everybody there ready to jam out and rock, not only is the energy so hot, but it also kind of sounds the best that it can, in those kind of rooms. So we’re really looking forward to getting back out there.”

He’ll be joined by special guests George Birge and Kyle Clark and will also have a few co-headlining dates with rising country artist Chase Matthew. Stell teased that he and Matthew have been spending time getting to know each other through their shows, which has also led to some writing sessions. 

“I’m a huge fan of his he’s so talented,” Stell said in talking about Matthew. “He’s blowing up right now and it’s fun to watch. I can’t wait to play these shows together.”

Matt Stell will be kicking off this trek on Sept. 30 in Tuscaloosa, AL and will continue into the beginning of December. 

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Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.