Jason Matthews   -  Biography

Jason Matthews was born in Harrells Store, N.C., and decided to pursue a career in music as a teenager, when he saw Eric Clapton on television. He graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in English and worked for a while as a high school English teacher. Then he moved to Nashville in 1995 to work as a songwriter and roadie for comedy duo Pinkard & Bowden. While working in a plumbing warehouse, his first songwriting success came in 2002 with the Kevin Denney single, "That's Just Jessie." He signed a deal with EMI, then got cuts by Julie Roberts, Travis Tritt, Trace Adkins, Tammy Cochran, Phil Vassar, Dusty Drake, Chuck Wicks, Jo Dee Messina, Randy Travis and James Otto. Matthews also co-wrote a No. 1 single for Billy Currington, "Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right." The same week that song went to No. 1, Matthews lost his publishing deal with EMI but signed another one with Universal Music Publishing. Matthews released his own album, Hicotine, in 2008.