Review of Matthew Wests concert in Cheyenne, WY, April 25, 2014

By Karen Cotton, editor of Life is as Sweet as Cotton Candy
Karencottonwriter@gmail.com

It’s safe to say that Matthew West is a master storyteller and musician after seeing him in concert last night in Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA.
The Christian musician and pastor’s son, had a sold out audience at Cheyenne Hills Church captivated with his acoustic show on his birthday. The four-time Grammy nominee is on tour promoting his latest album “Into the Light.”

During the first part of his show he talked about his first concert, at Barnes and Noble, when he was an independent artist. He said he was so excited, even though the only audience members were his parents. The book store manager even got his name wrong on the poster “Mark West.” His payment — a complimentary bag of coffee and a 20 dollar bill that his father had put in the tip jar to attract more tippers. Those were his humble beginnings.

Now he is best known for his songs that are huge hits on contemporary Christian radio; “Strong Enough,” “The Motions,” “My Own Little World,” “More,” and “You Are Everything.”

More recently West’s song, “Hello, My Name is” spent 17 weeks at #1 on the National Christian Artist Chart, according to the updates page on his website, http://www.matthewwest.com . “Do Something,” is his current hit single and is found at the number ten spot on KLOVE radio’s Top Songs list.

Some of his songs are written from personal experiences, yet since 2010 they have been based on true stories of his fans from all over the world.

At his show he laughed when he talked about his call for submissions of stories on Twitter and Facebook for his 2010 album, “The Story of Your Life” and he thought nobody would respond. But, on a more serious, note he was in for a much different outcome —more than 10,000 stories flooded his inbox. So many, that those stories also inspired his latest album’s songs, “Into the Light.”

More to come ….