MATT JORDAN

                                                              "Steering Wheel"  

                                                               Independent Release

Though there really isn’t a clear-cut blueprint to success for an independent artist to follow, St. Louis native Matt Jordan is certainly laying down proper foundations while climbing up the ladder with each step he takes.

His refreshing brand of heartland inspired country rock has already earned him several accolades, a strong grassroot following, and very high acclaim on his debut full-length, The Gamble, which featured his breakout hit “The Good Fight.”

This summer has been quite the busy one for the rising star, intriguingly previewing things to come from his upcoming project (due out Feb 2024) with a teaser being released each month; “Always A Girl,” “Anyone But Me,” and now, “Steering Wheel.”

The song, co-written by Matt and Jarrett Hartness, presents a love letter to his son that’s chalked full of passed down wisdom that speaks to the importance of slowing down to savor the youthful moments you’re given before they pass you by and the real world tries to bend and break you.

The drive of the rhythm wrapped into the melody adds the perfect edge to the naturally gravel tilts of Jordan’s voice to fluidly work off one another and inject the heartfelt honesty and conversational tone into the lyrics.

Knowingly playing on the notion that freedom is a tank of gas when you’re younger, Jordan digs deeper than the surface of leaving your hometown behind to find out who you are on the open road, although he does touch on that wild spirited attitude as well.

He instead leans more so into the life altering, unexpected moments that can shake you, such as your first kiss and first heartbreak coming courtesy of the same girl and leaving their well worth-it mark, while factually stating that no matter how far you away from home you go, your headlights are always pointing right back to it.

With encouragement embedded into his tonality, he punches the true depth into the song with two very well-placed lines that lift the same idea, “Don’t forget how that innocence feels” and “soak in the seconds that just last a minute.”

Within this teachable moment from father to son, Matt Jordan also carries a pull of looking back regret in the delivery of his vocal which signifies that perhaps these lessons he’s teaching from his today’s perspective are the exact opposite of what he himself did, which is why he’s sharing them with generation next and trying to steer them in a different direction.

While there’s so many independent artists on the country music circuit today who are all trying to find their place, Matt Jordan stands brightly in the spotlight through a raw honesty wrapped into his gifted songwriting prowess as he connects the proper emotions into such relatable lyrics that the listener clamors to his songs as he resonates his story with theirs; something he’s absolutely done again with “Steering Wheel.”

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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