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With musical talent oozing from his pores as a child, Maher’s parents nurtured this by encouraging him to take up piano lessons. Maher went on to play in concerts, jazz ensembles, sing in choirs and even a garage rock band, before being awarded a scholarship from the Jazz Department of Arizona State University. The musician subsequently studied jazz piano which he funded by playing the piano in a nearby hotel. Following his degree and a move to Mesa, Arizona, Maher became acquainted with the songwriter Tom Booth, who aided the release of his debut album “The End and the Beginning” in 2001. The independent label Spirit and Song issued the record, as well as his two subsequent releases 2003’s “Welcome to Life” and 2006’s “Overflow”.
The albums led to Maher signing a publishing deal with EMI and a recording deal with Essential Records, greatly increasing the singer’s national exposure. In 2008 Maher released his major-label debut album “Empty and Beautiful”, which became his first album to chart on the Christian Billboard Albums Chart landing at No. 12. Due to his strong messages and thoughtful delivery, later in 2008 Maher was asked to lead a worship for thousands of young Christians at the Rally for Youth event when Pope Benedict XVI visited in April.
The singer-songwriter’s fifth full-length album “Alive Again” arrived in 2009 charting at No. 6 on the Christian Billboard Chart. The album earned favourable reviews from the critical press aided by the Top 20 charting singles “Alive Again”, “Hold Us Together”, and “Christ Is Risen”. 2011’s “The Love in Between” was another another impressively charting album reaching No. 7 on the Christian Albums Chart and is noted for giving a voice to those suffering, in doubt or in pain. “All the People Said Amen” followed in 2013, once again released on Essential Records, led by the single "Lord I Need You". In 2015 Maher released his most successful album to date “Saints and Sinners” to unrivalled reviews. The album charted at No. 52 on the Billboard 200, No. 2 on the US Christian Albums, and spawned the single “Because He Lives (Amen)”.
I saw Matt Maher live at World Youth Day in 2013. The audience was in tears, listening to his spiritually loving music. The spirit of God truly flowed through him and his music. Every lyric of his songs contained a nugget of love and spiritual truth to it.
His voice was excellent and elevated his music to a whole other level. His guitar playing was excellent and he really knew how to make a chord resonate for God. We all raised our hands and swayed to his loving, reassuring music of love and harmony in the name of the Lord.
The whole audience had a feeling of love and spiritual energy to it as we all swayed together. He played acoustic songs about the spirit that were blessed and anointed. It was impossible not to feel the loving energy of the spirit in the crowd and in his music.
There have been few times in my life when I have felt the spirit the way that I did when listening to Matt Maher perform. His performance raised praise to the Lord and flowed throughout the world. I cannot recommend seeing Matt Maher highly enough, it is a fantastic, spiritual experience for everyone involved.
The singer/songwriter industry is extremely competitive, from artists singing on street corners, to singing in their church bands, but John Mark McMillan managed to break away from this and make his mark with his alternative rock, and contemporary worship music. He opened the show by introducing himself and his band, and immediately jumping down off the stage to play a track right in the middle of the audience. He asked us to raise our hands in the air and sing along with him. It was an incredible start to the show, and the entire audience were united straight away.
Even the songs that I didn’t know, I found myself singing along with everyone, as his choruses are incredibly catchy, which was wonderful. His band were also incredible, and watching the violinist who seemed incredibly young playing some incredible riffs whilst singing along was a showcase of genuine talent. McMillan is also an incredibly talented guitarist, and it was great to see him play live, rather than just on the recordings.
The harmonies that all of the instrumentalists provided on top of McMillan’s vocals were wonderful, and added another layer of beauty to his songs. He focused mainly on Borderland, his newest album, which was a great choice, as many people hadn’t heard it performed live before.
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