Music

New Orleans’s Mute Math was formed in 2003. I love the group for its eclectic sound, a mix of alternative, electro, and psychdellic rock with ambient vocals. They’re also one of the few bands that actually uses a keytar. Their music can be heard on “Transformers” and “Twilight” soundtracks. Mute Math also has some of the most artistically shot music videos.

One Repubic was formed in 2002 by frontman/songwriter/record producer Ryan Tedder with high school friend Zack Filkins. The band had exposure on MySpace and quickly caught the attention of Timbaland, which resulted to the 2007 Timabaland remix of “Appologize.” I’d describe them as a more urban Coldplay because of Tedder’s history with Hip Hop and R&B and writing songs for such artists.

In 2004, Mat Kearney released his first album which caught the attention of the CCM market, but not the mainstream one.  It wasn’t until the release of his sophomore album in 2006 that people started receiving his music. Since then, Kearney could be heard on such shows as Grey’s Anatomy, Kyle XY, Scrubs, and Royal Pains. Kearney is a talented singer/songwriter who mixes acoustic sounds with mid rap/spoken word ll within deep poetic lyrics.

Shawn McDonald is one of my favorite Christian singers who had an unbelievable lifestory. He used to get drunk, do drugs, and sell drugs as well. It wasn’t until one fateful day that he turned his life around. Since then he’s been writing songs. His songs reflect a deep message, one that caters to the soul. He has an acoustic sound acompanied by a company of classical instruments.