Matt Westin, award winning singer/songwriter, joins David Delmar to share his experiences persevering through adversity with his conscious being his motivator. He tells about the struggles of moving forward after his dad passed away from Leukemia. He was revealing when he describes the day after leaving his engineering job when he decided he was going to pursue his music dreams. And how it was his dad who was the catalyst for getting his first album finished dedicating it to his dad adding it to his legacy and now starting one of his own. So listen in and get advice from a very reliable source about how to stay true and become a musically conscious being.

Hello. This is David Delmar your host of SuperPower Creatives, and you’re listening to our episode A Musically Conscious Being.

I believe everyone is a creator, and it’s an inherit birth right that’s the source of our super powers. Stepping into this personal authority is scary though. This show celebrates creatives that stay true to who they really are making a living using their creative super powers. The stories they share will excite and inspire listeners to do the same making positive change in the world.

I’m filled with joy to introduce and welcome our guest of today’s show. He’s a very talented musician and creator who shows up for life confident, powerfully motivated, and driven to be an outstanding kind of artist that he is today. An artist that his fans and audiences adore, respect, and support so he can continue to thrive with his musical mission and message.

Matt Westin was born and raised in a blue collar family in the middle class suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From a young age he pursued various passions, and after years of searching Matt found true fulfilment with his acting and singing, dedicating himself to his art, even walking away from a promising career in engineering. Influencers like Johnny Cash and Garth Brooks all the way to Frank Sinatra helped Matt find his voice. The thrill of live performance fed his desires. Honing his vocal ability in bars and clubs around Pittsburgh for over a decade his obvious drive and talent quickly won over his family’s initial disapproval of his walking away from an engineering career. They became his biggest supporters.

Tragically, after a bravely fought battle with leukemia, Matt’s father succumbed to complications of chemotherapy in April of 2016. As a true family man Matt was utterly devastated and struggled day to day with the reality of his father’s death. After months of depression, instead of self destructing, Matt decided to honor his father’s memory by finally pursuing his music career as his father has encouraged.

Deciding to make a country record in his father’s honor, and being introduced by a mutual friend to world class musician, songwriter, and producer Bryan Cole, the stage was set. Bryan took on the project as producer, believing in his talent and vision, guiding Matt to make a first class country record.

Bryan recruited a long time friend and mix engineer, Doug Kasper, for recording and mixing the record at nearby Tonic Recording Studios with radio ready songs. Legendary musicians like Mike Brignardello, from Big and Rich, to Blake Shelton, their bass player, and Steve Hinson, the steel guitar player for Dolly Parton and Luke Bryan, and an amazing up and coming musician Adam Ernst worked with Matt, dedicating an entire year together making the record he and his father would be proud of.

Matt, hello. Thank you so much for being here today, Matt, I really appreciate it.

Oh, it’s really my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Well, you’re very welcome, and I also just want to say thank you for you staying true to who you really are, and not abandoning your dream, and your gifts, and instead saying yes to what life really wanted for you. And so, that’s what this show is all about, and we celebrate that in the biggest way we know how to.

And today we’re talking about our show A Musically Conscious Being, to which Matt most certainly is. In particular how he finds music increases his inner knowing of himself as an artist, and as a person, and what has that awareness provided him that has helped he excel in his craft.

So, Matt how we like to start the show is with the same question for each guest, and it’s possibly an obvious one, but here it is: What is your creative super power?

Well, I probably have a bunch of them-

You do really.

Singing seems to be my strongest super power.

Smaller ones and bigger ones, but I think you were right it’s pretty obvious that singing seems to be my strongest super power.

That’s a good one.

I think I have some songwriting super powers too that are kind of hidden away a little bit, but they’ll become apparent very soon.

Well, absolutely. I mean, the joy of singing and just what that fills the body and the soul with when you’re able to do that, and even in front of a live audience who are connecting with you, and loving your singing, and just the joy to sing anyway it’s just one of the greatest gifts, I believe, that we have been allowed to enjoy as humans walking this beautiful earth here for sure.

Let me ask you this, Matt. Why do you do what you do with your super powers?

Well, it took me awhile to get here. Everybody has a crazy path that their life takes, and mine is no different. Like what was mentioned in my bio, I was an engineer, but I was miserable ’cause I was living in a cubicle. I wasn’t able to express myself at all, and actually when I did I would get in trouble because it was a pretty uptight environment. So, I was miserable there, and when I ended up losing my job, and I decided not to go back it was a risky decision, but I knew that I had to follow myself, my true, my heart, my soul, and be who I was meant to be. Or at least try to be. And so, I’m doing this not for fame or for anything like that, I’m doing it because I love it, and it fulfills me in a way that nothing else does. And I get to reach other people, and touch other people in deep emotional ways that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

So, it’s a win-win, I think.

Well, that’s well said. I mean, it definitely sounds like it’s a win-win for sure.

What was that … Maybe take us in a little bit more with that moment where you knew. Like this is the moment that I’m making the decision that I’m going to press forward with my music. What was that experience like for you? What were some of the challenges, and some of the victories from that experience for you Matt?

I just knew in my heart and soul that I had to pursue music.

Well, it was a brave new world for me. I was coming from a very, very dark place that was … Honestly, it was dangerous because I was becoming a person that I didn’t want to be, and not the man that my dad raised me to be. And losing my dad just put me in this tailspin that I had a hard time getting out of, but one day, and I can’t really put my finger on it, I just knew. I describe it as almost a spiritual experience. I just knew in my heart and soul that I had to pursue music, and I had to create an album, and dedicate it to my father. It was like an epiphany almost, but also it helped to pull me out of that deep dark hole that I was in. Creating the album actually helped me to heal, and to put a smile back on my face. It gave me something to focus on other than the pain that I was going through, and I turned it into a positive, and now I’m able to help other people with it with my message.

So, in the end life is pretty twisted like that. It’s very bittersweet, because my father’s not here and I can’t share it with him, but his passing is the catalyst for all of this, and it’s changing my entire future. So, it’s a crazy story, but I’m very happy to be here. I’m very happy to be speaking with you, and doing what I’m doing, and I know someday I’ll see my dad again, but he’s proud of me and I know that.

Well, there’s no doubt about that. He is certainly, and it’s almost … As I hear you share that it’s almost as if he knew the big picture, what it already looked like.

Yes. I think he did.

‘Cause I’m hearing that he did. Well, it’s very powerful, very amazing stuff for sure.

We’re going to take a quick break. ‘Cause I want to dive in further with you Matt with what you’re sharing here today, and just for our listeners how they might be able to find something that’s relatable from your story, what you’re sharing, that might be able to help them in a forward direction, and in a stronger way.

But before we do jump into a break let’s tell people where they can go to find out more about you.

Oh, you can find me at mattwestin.com. That’s my website. And I’m also on Facebook, and Twitter, and I have a YouTube channel as well, and you can find my music on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and every other online streaming retailer that there is anywhere. Just Google me, basically, you’ll find me.

Absolutely. And so, everybody listening make sure you Google, because you’re going to want to be going gaga for Matt. I promise you.

Well, we’re going to go ahead and move into our break, and when we get back we’re going to just kind of continue along this fun journey with you today.

Visit SuperPowerExperts.com/theNET for more!

To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.

Music Credit: Words and Music written and performed by David Delmar. Engineered and produced by John Keenan.