Since first entering Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart with his 2004 chart-topper “More,” Matthew West has earned 11 No. 1 singles as an artist on that chart. But over the past 17 years, he’s also written songs recorded by artists including Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Scotty McCreery, Rascal Flatts, Maddie & Tae, Casting Crowns, Mandisa, Billy Ray Cyrus and more.
This year, West earned several hits as both an artist and a writer, co-writing hits for Casting Crowns (“Scars in Heaven”), Anne Wilson (“My Jesus”) and Tasha Layton (“Look What You’ve Done”), while notching a five-week No. 1 Christian Airplay hit with his own single “Truth Be Told” and following it with another No. 1, “What If.”
West’s string of songwriting credits landed him at No. 1 on Billboard’s year-end Christian Songwriters chart for 2021.
The artist, who is signed with Combustion Music as a writer, has more than 130 songwriting credits to his name, and is a multiple ASCAP Christian music award winner. He also picked up a GMA Dove Award win for songwriter of the year (artist) in 2018.
“I didn’t come to Nashville intending to be a songwriter for other projects at first,” Illinois native West tells Billboard while on break during a Nashville co-writing session. “But by way of trying to get a record deal and getting turned down, I really just turned my focus toward the craft of writing and became a staff writer at a publishing company and discovered this world of all these songwriters who work behind the scenes every day. I fell in love with songwriting as much as I did artistry. I feel like I have two full-time jobs now, and I love them both equally.”
West taught himself to play guitar during his freshman year of college, and soon began playing campus events and fraternity parties, where he would mix in a few of his original songs between covers of popular hits. During his junior year, an anonymous donor paid for West to attend the Christian music festival Seminar in the Rockies in Estes Park, Colo. Through that event, West met other songwriters and music publishers, and later signed his first music publishing deal two weeks before college graduation.
“I graduated from college with a diploma in one hand and a publishing deal in the other,” West says. “I moved straight to Nashville and never looked back.”
Prior to his breakthrough success as an artist, West spent years in honing his craft in Nashville’s writing community, where he not only recognized the talent, but the ambition. That spurred West to become a well-rounded songwriter.
“One day you might need to lead the way lyrically. Another day you might be writing with artists who don’t play instruments,” he says. “I want to be proficient enough on guitar and piano, with what chord progressions are working right now, to lead that way. I’ve had this analogy, that if I was locked out of my house, I would find another way in. I used to hear songwriters talk in exclusive terms — ‘I only write with a title first’ or ‘I only write lyrics first.’ I decided to keep working on all those different ways of writing, so that if songwriting is the house, I have less of a chance of getting locked out of the house.”
West eventually did get that artist deal, and in 2004, his single “More” (co-written with Jason Houser and Kenny Greenberg) spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Christian Airplay chart. He quickly followed with more Christian Airplay chart toppers, including the eight-week leader “You Are Everything” (penned with Sam Mizell), his 14-week leader “The Motions” (penned with Houser and Mizell) and the 17-week No. 1 “Hello, My Name Is,” a solo write from West.
“I try to write every day,” West says of his process. “It might not be a complete song, but there’s a note on my phone with a lyric idea, or a voice memo of a melody. Or as I’m getting my coffee in the morning, I sit down at the piano, press ‘record’ and play the first thing that comes to mind. When I’m writing for other artists, it’s about hearing what they are communicating. You’re in a different seat in those sessions. It’s special and I don’t take lightly the chance to be part of what they do.”
West credits Combustion Music’s Chris Farren with encouraging him to continue solo writing sessions alongside his co-writing sessions.
“Years ago, he told me to write at least a few songs by myself every year to preserve that ability. What he didn’t realize is that I took those words to heart and I started booking in-town retreats. I would rent a cabin out in Leipers Fork and I would go there to force myself to see a song through from start to finish.”
That habit would prove beneficial when West began work on 2010’s The Story of Your Life, a concept project filled with mostly solo-written songs, based on life stories fans shared with him. His 2012 album Into the Light followed a similar process, and included his hits “Hello, My Name Is” and “Forgiveness.”
“I went to a cabin with a guitar, piano and thousands of people’s stories they’ve shared with me,” West said. “Really, the writing of the songs by myself felt out of necessity. There are some songs you just feel like you need to write yourself. Seeing all of those letters from people, writing those songs was my way of writing back to them.”
By contrast, West co-wrote nearly every track on his recent albums All In and Brand New.
“I didn’t want to fall in love with any one process,” says the five-time Grammy nominee. “If I’ve had longevity in my career, it’s thanks in part to great collaborators that stretch me in ways that keep my music from sounding like the same song over and over again.”
Along the way, he’s diversified his paths for sharing his stories. He’s released five books, and last year, he launched The Matthew West Podcast. In 2016, West launched the multifaceted company Story House Collective to help musicians, storytellers and creatives share their tales. The company offers management services, artist development, music publishing and more.
While the bulk of West’s music is focused on Contemporary Christian, he grew up listening to country music. Earlier this year, West welcomed Carly Pearce to record a new version of “Truth Be Told.” “The Waiter,” an older West co-write with Scotty McCreery, appears on the American Idol season 10 champ’s new album Same Truck. (West previously contributed a track to McCreery’s See You Tonight project.) West also co-wrote a track with Maddie & Tae for their holiday album, and his song “The Day Before You” was recorded by Rascal Flatts for their Feels Like Today album. West has also had songs recorded by Diamond Rio and Montgomery Gentry.
“I love it and it’s fun, but I have to have realistic expectations,” says West, who estimates 10% of his time is dedicated to writing country songs. “There are so many great country writers that are doing this day in and day out on Music Row. It’s something that I’m always open to, but I feel like the full-time part of what I do as a creator is firmly planted in inspirational and Christian music.”
As for his own music, West promises “a bunch of new songs” in the works for next year. He also hints that a new project could follow a country music trend made popular by artists such as Lady A, Morgan Wallen and Cody Johnson over the past two years: the double album.
“Nobody in Christian music has done it yet,” says West, who is currently signed to Provident Label Group. “Let’s just say that I’ve been reminding my record label that somebody in Christian music has to do it, so we’ll see.”
