Almost every musician dreams of the day when they can produce an album. And while Matter of Days dreams of recording the one song which will allow them to travel the world, they are equally excited about performing their debut album at Memphis On Main Friday.
Matter of Days recorded 12 songs written by lead singer Jason Wetherholt at SCP Studios in January. Wetherholt joined talents with childhood friend Todd Zastrow in 2012 to write the songs about his alcoholic father who left, appreciation for his mother and love for his wife and daughters.
Wetherholt also wrote “Superman,” a song about Mahomet resident Jeremiah King as he fought through a coma after being hit by a car while training for the Mahomet 5K with his family in 2012.
“In some ways the album is a chance to cement what we’ve done here,” he said. “It’s a chance for us to have something from it, for us to share with family and friends, and hopefully when people listen to it, they will have a frame of reference for who we are.”
Matter of Days became familiar with Mahomet crowds as they performed at JT Walker’s and Uncle Buck’s over the winter months.
With 12 original songs under their belt, Matter of Days had a hard time discovering the performance demands at the beginning of their time together. Their four-hour shows were often filled with repeat original songs to fill up the time.
The band also realized crowds interacted with the band when they played cover songs. As the scale began to tip from mostly originals to cover songs, Wetherholdt said the group focused on creating a balanced and versatile show.
“By far, our favorite aspect of playing music is sharing what we’ve created with the world,” Wetherholt said.
“I recently told my wife that I don’t love to perform; I love to entertain, he said. “It’s actually not that much fun for me to play music at people for four hours, get paid and go home. What I love are the nights we can interact with the crowd and make fun of each other on stage. (I like) when we can change the set list on the fly to fit the mood and taste of everyone in the venue that night.”
Although band members have changed throughout their 48-shows together, Matter of Days continues to use music to convey a message of hope.
“Our sincere desire is that we might be able to use music to convey a message that things could turn around for you at any moment. That no matter how bad things get today, tomorrow will be different. That maybe for four hours on a Friday night everything else could melt away while you remember there’s a lot of good out there worth living for.”
Matter of Days will kick off the CD Release Show with a few covers at 8 p.m. They will introduce their album at 9 p.m. in “storytellers” style, giving the meaning behind each of the songs. After mingling with the crowd, Matter of Days plans to finish the evening with a few covers.
“Matter of Days” is also available for purchase through iTunes and Amazon.
