Latest / The GOA Speakers Podcast / Matt Hammitt: Lead Me, Bowen’s Miracle, and Fighting for Faith, Family, and Life :: Ep 3 GOA Speakers Podcast
Transcript
- 0:02Unknown: The geoa speakers podcast begins now.
- 0:07Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the Goa
- 0:10speakers podcast. We're so glad you're here with us. I'm your
- 0:13host. Abigail Garrett, joined by my co host, Greg all
- 0:16Hey, it's good to be here today with we've got a great guest for
- 0:21you today, Matt Hammett, who is Grammy nominated singer
- 0:25songwriter, author and speaker. This is his book. Lead me and
- 0:30welcome Matt.
- 0:30It's good to be here. Thanks for taking time to do this. Yeah, of
- 0:34course. So excited.
- 0:36Well, we obviously are familiar with your story, but it never
- 0:41gets old. So I would love to hear from your perspective, just
- 0:46a little bit of your background of being in the music industry,
- 0:49and kind of how the Lord brought you to today, being still in the
- 0:52music industry, but speaking and yeah, I'd love to hear just that
- 0:56journey.
- 0:57Yeah, it's been, it's been exciting, because I've had an
- 1:01opportunity over the past. Wow, I guess I might want to age
- 1:05myself here, but 25 plus years of just being able to use, I
- 1:11guess, my creative gifts in a lot of ways that I did expect
- 1:16and in ways I didn't expect. And you know, when I was 16, I
- 1:20started the band Sanctus reel with my friends in high school,
- 1:25me Mark and Chris got together in Chris' parents basement and
- 1:31just started making a lot of noise. Thank God for parents who
- 1:35allowed drums in their basement and guitar amps and in 2019 just
- 1:41three years after we started, the band started getting some
- 1:46attention from Nashville. The first group of people who really
- 1:52started investing in us was a group called Audio adrenaline,
- 1:56which you might remember, and so Mark, their singer, is still
- 2:00very good friend of mine. So we like to reminisce about those
- 2:04days. They actually came to visit us in Toledo and tried to
- 2:08get us to sign with Flickr records, which we were very open
- 2:11to. But the Lord, throughout the course of that year or two, as
- 2:16we were starting to look at record labels, signed with
- 2:18Sparrow records, okay, and so from 2000 to 2016 we made six
- 2:27records of Sparrow. And as some of your listeners will know, had
- 2:32a lot of songs at Radio, toured the world as a band, and then in
- 2:372016 is what for me, when I really knew that I had to make
- 2:45my family my first priority. Yeah, it was just I was so tired
- 2:48of missing birthdays and special occasions and being gone for
- 2:52weeks on end and having these little short breaks and trying
- 2:55to fit really the most important things into this tiny window of
- 3:02my life, yeah, and I think we were gone probably 200 days out
- 3:07of the year, or more, usually more actually, because, you
- 3:11know, you put it was like 150 to 200 tour dates. And then on top
- 3:17of that, making an album, writing an album, all the promo
- 3:19you guys know how it goes. You've got a travel day,
- 3:21musicians in your world travel days.
- 3:23And this was International. You
- 3:25said, Yeah, we would go up now, not a lot of international, but
- 3:28every year too, we would go and do some international things.
- 3:30And so it was so much. And I had four kids at home, yeah. And,
- 3:36you know, really a pivotal part of that for me was the story
- 3:40that's in my book lead me, which is titled after the song lead
- 3:46me. And you know, when I wrote that song and it came out in
- 3:502010 it was really at a time when we were watching the dream
- 3:57that we had as a band really take off. You know, the song
- 4:01lead me was number one for three months at Radio, and we were
- 4:06starting to get all the all the things we dreamed of, from the
- 4:10sales and the radio to the tours. But at that same time in
- 4:14my life, my wife, Sarah and I were struggling because our son,
- 4:18Bowen, was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, only
- 4:22half of a heart during that season. And so we knew before he
- 4:27was born, and knew that once he was born, he would have to have
- 4:30multiple heart surgeries. And so it was really an odd time,
- 4:34because I had written this song that was number one about being
- 4:38a more present husband and father. I was probably going
- 4:41through the most trying portion of my life, in that regard, with
- 4:46what I really wanted to be as a leader for my family during that
- 4:50time, and even even through that was so torn by the band dream.
- 4:56So I'd written this song about being more present husband for.
- 5:00Father, and during the time of my life when I really felt the
- 5:02greatest need to be present, the success of that song was still
- 5:08taking me away from home more than ever, and took me a lot of
- 5:13years to really reconcile that family dream versus band dream.
- 5:18And that was really the tension of lead me. My desire in that
- 5:22song was to be the man and father and the husband that I'm
- 5:27called to be. And so the question became, how do I use my
- 5:30gifts in a way that honors God with the gifts he gave me, but
- 5:35also honors my family? And I took one big step toward that in
- 5:392016 when I stepped away from Sanctus real Yeah, so that I
- 5:43could make those decisions with with my family's help, you know,
- 5:50make those decisions together, me and Sarah, to be able to talk
- 5:53to the things not to be dictated by this thing that we had grown
- 5:58that, and it was wonderful. So don't get me wrong, it was
- 6:03amazing. But in any business or anything that we build, there
- 6:07are seasons when it can get so big that it's like you can feel
- 6:11like you're Yeah, it's consuming and your schedule's handed to
- 6:15you, yeah? And this is what's required of you for this thing
- 6:18to survive, yeah. And I knew for me that I needed it to be
- 6:22something where Sarah and I made those decisions together. So I
- 6:25stepped away in 2016 and they brought in a new lead singer,
- 6:30and they're still out there crushing it, doing great things
- 6:33and making music, and still out there doing shows. And I've had
- 6:37the great opportunity to not only continue to do music on my
- 6:40own, but met some really instrumental people in my life,
- 6:45one of them being Greg Oliver, who kind of came around me as I
- 6:50started exploring not just writing music that could fit
- 6:54into a four minute song, but expanding that message into
- 6:56something that could reach deeper and reach further. And
- 7:00that's when we started working together on speaking dates, and
- 7:06have been building that over the past 10 years. And so it's been
- 7:09a really unexpected turn and my life and my creativity to be
- 7:14able to move not only just in music, but also in the speaking
- 7:19side of that and share my story with people in a more long form
- 7:25way that can be more personal and I think sometimes even more
- 7:28impactful.
- 7:28Yeah, I wanted to go back, if you, if you don't mind, tell us
- 7:32how you wrote the song lead me, and what went into that.
- 7:37Yeah, so how that came
- 7:38to be, yeah, 2008
- 7:42I believe was the year that I wrote the first draft of lead
- 7:46me. It was after a very long season of touring, and I came
- 7:52home worn out, needing a break. And not only, oh, I guess I
- 7:59wasn't the only one that needed a break. Sarah also needed a
- 8:02break. It's like I had long days and sleepless nights on the
- 8:07road. Sarah had long days and sleepless nights at home, and so
- 8:11we were just both exhausted, and I maybe knew it at the time, but
- 8:18wasn't aware of just how much I was struggling to be mentally
- 8:23and emotionally present at home. And Sarah said the words when I
- 8:29came home that I always say that every husband longs to hear we
- 8:34need to talk. I know it's like, yeah, you feel the weight of
- 8:40that just drop, and you're like, Okay. And we sat down and had a
- 8:47conversation that became a life defining conversation. Through
- 8:51tears, I really saw her, her brokenness, and what me being
- 8:57gone so much, but not just me being gone, the impact that it
- 9:00had had on me, and the stress that it had in our personal life
- 9:04when I was home, and how I was carrying that through the door,
- 9:06and how that had impacted her. And I think I really was able to
- 9:13have the grace to hear her heart Yeah, and to see how much she
- 9:19was hurting, what she needed for me. And after our conversation,
- 9:25as I was really soaking in her words, which two of those words
- 9:29that she said to me were I need you to lead me, it just hit me,
- 9:34in a way, and as a songwriter, I did. What songwriters do? You
- 9:38know, that night, I picked up my guitar and wrote the first draft
- 9:42of lead me, but I also knew, and I hesitate to say this because I
- 9:50think it's funny. Some people stare at me when I say this.
- 9:53They're like, Oh, wow. Like, like Sarah and I both laugh at
- 9:56this now, but I remember showing her the song. That day, I called
- 10:00her back in, and I was like, Hey, I wrote this song and
- 10:04thinking it's this beautiful expression of, I heard your
- 10:06heart, and so I sang it. And I think she said something along
- 10:10the lines of like,
- 10:13oh, so it's a song that you thought I wanted.
- 10:17Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow, yeah, it was like, Okay, we got a song now.
- 10:25Now what, you know, it's like, you can't just do the song and
- 10:29dance. I think it's a very literal example of, you know, we
- 10:33can sometimes think, Oh, we do the song, we do the dance, and
- 10:36it's great. Everything goes back to normal. But what we really
- 10:39needed was some kind of change, and that's where God worked on
- 10:42me to start speaking to me about what it really meant to be a
- 10:48leader in my home. And I think the one thing that I did put my
- 10:51book, and I often talk about, is that that day, I realized that
- 10:56my good intentions were worthless until they became
- 10:59action. Yeah, yeah, based on the reality of what it was that
- 11:02Sarah and my family really need, needed from me, and based on
- 11:07what God was calling me to be and to do and my greatest call.
- 11:11So that really started to lead me journey from there. The other
- 11:15crazy thing about that song is that not only did I write it
- 11:20with that heart of being more present? And then we talked
- 11:23about how the irony is that it took me away from home even
- 11:25more, but it also became the song where her words and my
- 11:30prayer sang back to me every night for six years. And it was
- 11:33also those words that really called me home, yeah, so
- 11:36probably kind
- 11:36of anchored you in that time, yeah, before you fully stepped
- 11:40away.
- 11:40Yeah, so I have a question. Did Sarah get? Did you give her co
- 11:45write on that song?
- 11:47You know what? Not on the song royalty, but we did have her
- 11:53write in the book, so we have her voice in here. And so, yeah,
- 11:58it's really, it's really neat to see in the book that not only do
- 12:03I get to tell my story, but then Sarah kind of steps in from time
- 12:07to time to give her perspective. And that was, that was a really
- 12:10fun idea that that we had had, and so glad that we did that,
- 12:14because I think that's really a neat part of the journey of this
- 12:17book. Yeah, yeah.
- 12:19What was the timing of when Bowen was born, and this song,
- 12:25yeah, can't remember exactly.
- 12:27So while lead me was number one at Christian radio, I was in the
- 12:32hospital with Sarah and Bowen after he was born. So he was
- 12:36born on September 9, 2010 and within five days of his birth,
- 12:43he had to have his first open heart surgery. So for us, we're
- 12:48like, going, okay, great. Like we had this number one song on
- 12:51the radio. It was our first number one on, you know, the top
- 12:5740 main Christian chart, the AC chart, and which is the one you
- 13:02always want to see, you know, your song, they had all these
- 13:04little charts back then, and we'd have plenty number ones on
- 13:07all these, like Rock chart or CHR, you know, as we call it,
- 13:10christianate radio and but Adult Contemporary, it was like,
- 13:13that's the main chart. Was the number one. So we've been going
- 13:15for and so during that time, that should have been a big
- 13:19celebration for all of us. You know, the song was nominated for
- 13:23a Grammy during that time, and so it was one of those things
- 13:26where it was like, Man, I just really thought that it would be
- 13:30a time of just pure celebration for us, but I was caught
- 13:35wondering if my son was even going to live. And so that was a
- 13:38very hard especially six months, because we were in the hospital
- 13:44for four out of the first six months of his life, and two of
- 13:48his three surgeries were in that time. And you know, when I when
- 13:52I speak, I share the story of how we thought we lost him at
- 13:57one point, and we just day, day by day. Didn't know it was going
- 14:02to happen during that season. So it was very there was a
- 14:07dichotomy there of the two things happening that were very
- 14:11exciting in my my professional career and band career. And
- 14:15things are very difficult on the home front.
- 14:18Yeah, yeah, I can. My story is not quite as dramatic as maybe
- 14:25that, but my son had something called cranial senatosis, and
- 14:30it's basically where his kind of head grows like a football, and
- 14:34they had to go in and cut and you know, when you hand your 18
- 14:38month old or your newborn or whatever to a doctor, and you're
- 14:41just trusting that they know what they're doing, and that you
- 14:44had just have to trust the Lord in that. And that's I feel for
- 14:49you on that for sure.
- 14:51I think one of the things I least expected, or I guess I
- 14:54never even thought about, was not just what we were going to
- 14:58go through, but. Once we got in the hospital, we became close
- 15:03with other families who were in the hospital with us, going
- 15:06through similar things. And we had several families during that
- 15:10time that left the hospital empty handed. You know, you'd
- 15:15see them walking out with stroller or, you know, a bag of
- 15:20clothes or and it just, I didn't know the pain we would also feel
- 15:26kind of peripheral, peripherally, just being in
- 15:29proximity to these families and loving them so much, and they're
- 15:32losing kids. So it's like you're dealing with what your own child
- 15:35is going through, and then you're living kind of these
- 15:38stories with all these other people as well. And when you
- 15:41see, you know, multiple kids who don't make it again, it like,
- 15:45just presses on you, you know. And, yeah, it's, it's wild. So,
- 15:50yeah, I hear a story like yours too. And it's like, man, just
- 15:52think of all the people too that were walking without both of us
- 15:55through those things, you know, and experiencing that pain with
- 15:57us. It's, feels like it's its own kind of battle zone.
- 16:02Yeah. Tell us more about Bowen and how he's doing now and the
- 16:06other surgeries he's had to have his had multiple surgeries,
- 16:10right?
- 16:10Yeah. So he had his first two surgeries in that six months,
- 16:14and then we waited till he was almost nine years old to have
- 16:18his third surgery, and that was probably the most difficult,
- 16:23because he was such an ingrained part of our family. When you
- 16:28have a brand new baby, you love that baby so much, but you don't
- 16:32know them yet, you know. So you're kind of like you're just
- 16:34getting to know this child. And although your love is
- 16:37unconditional, it's like, how much more does that love grow
- 16:39over the eight years, and now this child's like sibling to his
- 16:43brothers and sisters, and he's a big brother now, and you know,
- 16:46it's so it was really difficult for the whole family to walk
- 16:50through that at that point, just emotionally. But the third
- 16:53surgery went fantastic. It technically completed. What was
- 16:58his three surgery repair for this season of his life. We
- 17:02don't know for sure if that's the last surgery he has to have.
- 17:08Forever. There's possibilities that he could at some point,
- 17:12need other surgeries or maybe even a heart transplant. But
- 17:16right now, he's 15 years old, and he's doing incredible. He
- 17:20has really been thriving. He's actually not on any medication.
- 17:25Wow. And it's, it is a huge blessing. We do not take it for
- 17:31granted. You know, every day we meet people whose stories don't
- 17:35turn out that way. And so not not one day are we not thankful
- 17:43for what we have and grateful because we know, you know,
- 17:45tomorrow could be another story we only get today.
- 17:48So and around that whole story of Bowen and the things that you
- 17:53guys have walked through as you've kind of made a little bit
- 17:57of a transition to doing a lot more speaking in the pro life
- 18:00world and for different nonprofits and that sort of
- 18:03thing, you've been able to share this story, right?
- 18:05Yeah, yeah, that's been a really amazing part of what I get to
- 18:11do. I love being a champion and an advocate for life. You know,
- 18:18with what we went through with boa and one of the things that
- 18:20we faced was during the pregnancy, Sarah's pregnancy
- 18:26with him, we were very much pressured by some specialists to
- 18:33end Bowen's life, and that was something that we weren't
- 18:39expecting at that time. We thought, we're going to these
- 18:41doctors for them to help us save bones life. And when they said,
- 18:45Hey, we should end it, that was the right thing to do, or the
- 18:49loving thing to do, even at moments, got kind of edgy with
- 18:55us, and Sarah saying, Hey, this is gonna ruin your family,
- 18:57telling us, actually, that there were a lot of other things wrong
- 19:01with Bowen that ended up not being wrong with him. And so you
- 19:05know, for us, we believe that every life is a precious gift
- 19:11from God, and that wasn't an option for us, and so we fought
- 19:14for him. And so now it's really a joy of my life to be able to
- 19:20help fight for other children and other mothers and fathers
- 19:25who are in situations where they feel hopeless or helpless or
- 19:28scared. One of the things that I love about working with
- 19:33pregnancy resource centers is that they see a legacy where
- 19:37other people see uncertainty, they see a future, you know, and
- 19:42they find ways to love that reality of what they see into
- 19:49the people that walk through their doors to give them hope.
- 19:52And I just love getting to go to these centers not only tell my
- 19:56story, but champion them in front of. Donors and the people
- 20:01that are there to support them, to be able to honor them and
- 20:05just celebrate the work that they do every single day. That's
- 20:09not easy, but it's awesome, because you get to often see the
- 20:13mothers and the babies and the fathers, and you get to actually
- 20:16see these little kids with names. They're little, these
- 20:19beautiful people that have been brought into the world because
- 20:22of the work that these centers have done, and so that's been
- 20:25something that I've just
- 20:28it's meant so much to me to do it. Yeah,
- 20:31yeah. It's great. Yeah. One of my favorite things about you and
- 20:35your ministries, I feel like it's so comprehensive, because
- 20:38it's so, you know, it's hard when there's these women who
- 20:42are, you know, maybe single moms, or they don't have family
- 20:46around them, and you know, the world can tell them like, well,
- 20:49it's merciful to just not even try, you know, like, don't even
- 20:52get past this pregnancy. So I love that your ability to reach
- 20:58people with your message is like a comprehensive view of the
- 21:01Lord's design for family, because it's so easy to, like,
- 21:05hone in on just just the baby, or just the mom or and I love
- 21:09that. I feel like the Lord's used your life to say, like, all
- 21:12of it matters, like the dad matters so much, the mom matters
- 21:16so much, the baby matters so much. And and even helping you
- 21:20have, like, practical applications of how you can show
- 21:22up for your wife and show up for your kids, and I think that is
- 21:26like so needed, especially in the pregnancy center world of
- 21:30like, Okay, what does this look like once the baby's here? And
- 21:32how can we follow the Lord's will in a hard situation? So
- 21:38I've just always really appreciated that about you in
- 21:40the way the Lord has given, like you said, gave you grace to hear
- 21:43what Sarah needed, and it's just so clear that he was speaking to
- 21:47you and helping you navigate all that. So just wanted to say,
- 21:50that's that I think that's so wonderful that you're able to
- 21:53reach like every demographic of the of the pro
- 21:57life world. Yeah. Well, thanks. Well, what I will say, one of
- 21:59the cool things I've gotten to do over the past couple years is
- 22:02I was able to actually build a short curriculum and video
- 22:09series for fathers in those situations too, you know, to be
- 22:12able to give practical steps of how to love their kids, love
- 22:15their family, and it's called dare to be a dad. Yeah, did it
- 22:18in partnership with Save the storks, and been cool to see
- 22:23different centers and even some rescue missions. Adapt that
- 22:27booklet, adapt that video series, and actually use it to
- 22:31take men through it, yeah, just to give them practical ways to
- 22:34love their family
- 22:34more. And where can we find that? Is it on your website?
- 22:37Yeah.
- 22:37So if you if you can make people can just look up dare to be a
- 22:40dad, they can actually go on the Save the storks website as well.
- 22:44It's on there, and if they can just type up save the storks
- 22:47dare to be a dad, and they can get the booklet and the videos
- 22:50for free.
- 22:51Okay, wow. Yeah, very cool.
- 22:53Well, speaking of like, practical takeaways, I'm curious
- 22:56now, in this season of life that you're in, I know your kids, how
- 23:00old are your kids now,
- 23:00by the way? Okay, so my oldest turns 20 this month. My Emmy
- 23:08Claire is 17. Bowen 15, and his little brother, Lewis is 13 now,
- 23:15so for another week or two, we have all teenagers.
- 23:20That's cool. Let me turn is 20, yeah.
- 23:23Well, I was curious what that looks like, because obviously
- 23:26your family naturally evolves as your kids get older and, you
- 23:29know, you learn to eventually, you know, be a parent to adult
- 23:32children. So I'm sure that will be a whole new phase for you.
- 23:35But I'm curious right now what it looks like for you to still
- 23:39be, you know, you're still doing your solo work, and still,
- 23:43obviously have kids under your roof. So practically, how has
- 23:47the Lord kind of shown you how to navigate those different
- 23:50parts of yourself, perhaps differently when you were a
- 23:53little younger, like now that you know what you know you've
- 23:56written, lead me, what does that look like for you?
- 23:58Yeah, it's, it's doing a lot of just intentional work, yeah, to
- 24:02really, I mean the original heart of that, or, I guess the
- 24:06original conversation we talked about, about presence and
- 24:10intentionality, yeah, and action. I think that, you know,
- 24:15I've grown into that season in my life. Obviously, I don't
- 24:18always get it right, but we're a much more intentional about the
- 24:22time that I spend at home with the kids, with Sarah, making
- 24:27sure that we're prioritizing deep and sometimes hard
- 24:35conversation conversations with each other. And you know, one of
- 24:41the things that I've actually really loved over the past
- 24:45couple years is that I've gotten even more intentional about
- 24:49carving out trips where I take my kids with me. And so, yeah,
- 24:54sometimes, if I'm speaking in a city that is a major city,
- 24:59wherever it is. That maybe I've enjoyed in the past when I was
- 25:02touring maybe Seattle or Dallas, or wherever it might be, you
- 25:05know, or northeast. I'll plan a couple days around it to take
- 25:09the kids and we'll go out to the ocean, and we'll spend a couple
- 25:13days doing some fun things. I took a Amtrak train ride with
- 25:19Claire between cities, you know, along the ocean last year, and
- 25:24so just being very intentional about those moments, not only
- 25:27that I'm home, but also being intentional about the moments
- 25:31that I'm away, how I can include the family, yeah, make special
- 25:35trips even when I'm out, a big part of it is being in constant
- 25:39contact this like text of like, hey, love you guys. Thinking
- 25:43about you guys. How's everybody doing the other family texts and
- 25:46just staying in touch with their heart and Sarah's heart and
- 25:50making sure that I'm present in that way. That's that's become a
- 25:56really, really important part of our lives.
- 25:58Yeah, well, that makes me think of your recent single, forgive
- 26:02me, I It's days God gave Right, yeah. So I feel like that
- 26:06encapsulates to some of what you're talking about. And I know
- 26:09you gave people the opportunity to submit videos, right? Yeah.
- 26:12And I love that. It's like all families like, because I think
- 26:16your prompt was fairly open ended, of just like special
- 26:19moments. But it feels like the Lord has like thread all along
- 26:23that, like family really is so important and so, like, just the
- 26:28pinnacle, I think, of what he cares about. So if you want to
- 26:31talk about that song, or again, where it can be found, and
- 26:34absolutely, yeah, so days God gave Yeah, it is a song about
- 26:38how fast life passes us by and holding on to the moments that
- 26:42God has given us right here, right now. It's about the beauty
- 26:45of getting to the end of your life and looking back on all
- 26:47those pictures and videos and looking at those people and
- 26:50having it be a testimony of you know, I live my life investing
- 26:55in the things that mattered, yeah, and so just leaving a
- 26:58godly legacy. And so that song just started over the past few
- 27:05months, really resonating with people. And the really cool
- 27:10thing is that I put out my video of that song with my family and
- 27:16special pictures from over the course of our lives, from when
- 27:18the kids were young, and then we started seeing 1000s of people
- 27:22online using it for reels for, like, their special moments of
- 27:27life with their family and things that meant something to
- 27:29them, that you know, that they were posting. And I was like,
- 27:34wow, this is so cool that, like, all these people are using this
- 27:36for reels now. And yeah, then, as you mentioned, got online and
- 27:40ask people to send me videos. And I got some incredible
- 27:44moments I barely could fit all Yeah, it was like I was having
- 27:49to do like, like, you know, like they're going so fast. But we
- 27:53had some really special moments, one of the moments that some
- 27:58people from Ohio that now live in Tennessee, that that we have
- 28:02known over the years, sent us the video of them finding out
- 28:05they were pregnant after 13 years of infertility. And so
- 28:09just these moments of life that are just amazing. It's like,
- 28:13this is what it's all about, you know? And yeah, so it was fun to
- 28:16make some reels to those moments that people have posted, or the
- 28:20ones that they sent me to post. So yeah, but Dave's got gave
- 28:24actually goes to radio this well, I don't know when this
- 28:29will air, but it will be going to radio here in the over the
- 28:34course of this month, and we'll see. You know, how many stations
- 28:37get on, but I'm hoping that people really gravitate towards
- 28:40the song and catch on to it, and hope that more people get to
- 28:43hear it, but people can listen to it wherever they stream music
- 28:46and the videos on my YouTube channel that I made, or if they
- 28:50want to go to my Instagram, which is just Matt Hammett, they
- 28:53can find not only clips of my video there, but also some of
- 28:58the stuff that I posted that other people have shared.
- 29:01And Matt, you recently signed with goatee records as a
- 29:05songwriter and artist, right? Tell us more about when did that
- 29:09happen? Yeah, so
- 29:11I signed on with go go t as an artist, and then they have their
- 29:15EMAC publishing summer writer for them as well. And we've
- 29:19signed probably like maybe a year ago now, okay? And I've
- 29:23been doing some things independently for a lot of
- 29:25years, and just felt like the right fit at the right time. So
- 29:28it's been neat to be able to have a label partner for the
- 29:32songs that I put out, so that I'm not having to just promote
- 29:35things on my own right now and then on the writing side, it's
- 29:38been really an amazing journey just getting back in the writing
- 29:43room again, more with other artists. I got to write a song
- 29:47recently called testimony that is doing really well at Radio
- 29:50right now with Terry, and there's going to be a very, very
- 29:55special feature on that song collaboration version coming out
- 29:59that I'm out of. Allowed to reveal yet, but it's pretty
- 30:01amazing. People should, people should check out testimony. That
- 30:06is a song that I was very, very blessed to be a part of, writing
- 30:10with her, and then some other songs coming out here, I think,
- 30:14in the next year, from other artists that I've been able to
- 30:18be a part of. And that's really, for me, one of the most exciting
- 30:23things creatively for me to be able to do is not just make my
- 30:27own music or write my own book or speak about my own story, but
- 30:30help other people tell important stories other artists help them
- 30:35use their voice to find songs and perform songs that make a
- 30:39difference in the world.
- 30:41Yeah, yeah. It's great. That's awesome. That's so cool. Like,
- 30:44the way, again, just the way the Lord has given you the ability
- 30:49to use so many of your giftings in so many different ways. I
- 30:53feel like that's everyone's hope, you know, like when you
- 30:56especially if you feel tugged in multiple directions. So I love
- 30:59that there's, like, a way that that's been woven together.
- 31:02Well, it's been so great to sit with you, and we just appreciate
- 31:07your time. Is there anything else on the horizon, or anything
- 31:10else before we go, that you want to share with us or that you
- 31:15want people to take away, of just Yeah, who you are, and
- 31:19yeah.
- 31:20I mean, you know, I will say I love the opportunity to partner
- 31:25with ministries and to be able to come and just hopefully add
- 31:32real value, you know, not just through sharing my story, but
- 31:37also just being able to speak into the things that matter to
- 31:43them and the people that support those ministries. So there's
- 31:46anybody out there that's looking for someone to come partner with
- 31:49them for an event, I would, I would love to be able to speak
- 31:51at their event. So obviously they know they can contact you
- 31:54guys. But beyond that, this year, I'm excited to have, yeah,
- 32:00some more music out. And then there is something that's pretty
- 32:03cool. I've been talking with, you know, my band, Sanctus, real
- 32:07it's 30 years this year since we started the band. Oh, no way.
- 32:10And so we wrote a song recently together with me and their new
- 32:16singer. And so there's a rumor out there that we're gonna
- 32:20release a song with both the singers. You know, I don't know
- 32:22if I'm supposed to be able to, like, say that or not, but I
- 32:25don't care. Cats out of the bag gets out of the bag. So fun.
- 32:30Yeah, no, I think they've dropped a few little little
- 32:32hints there about that on social media already, but so it'll be
- 32:36fun to do another song with them and and there'll be a couple
- 32:39events here and there that for sure, at least one in Toledo.
- 32:43I'll tell you that much where we're from. So we get to sing
- 32:45together again.
- 32:46So is that I said the band the same besides? Okay, so
- 32:51two of the guys, so three of us started the band together, and
- 32:55two of those guys are still in it, Chris and mark, so two of
- 32:58the original three still are out there going after it.
- 33:02Well, it sounds like, yeah, there's a lot, a lot on the
- 33:05horizon for people to keep up with.
- 33:06Yeah, earlier you said that you started the band when you were
- 33:0916, I don't think I knew that.
- 33:11I didn't know that's I was not doing stuff that successful when
- 33:15I
- 33:17Yeah, it's crazy. It's been 30 years, so that's
- 33:20crazy, yeah.
- 33:23Well, I love the subtitle on your book, finding courage to
- 33:28fight for your marriage, your children and your faith. And if
- 33:34any of you guys out there want Matt to come in to whether it's
- 33:38a men's conference, he does a lot of men's conferences,
- 33:41whether it's a pro life event or leading worship for some event,
- 33:47he kind of can do it all. So give us a call if you if you
- 33:51want to book Matt,
- 33:53yeah, thank you again. Absolutely. Well, guys, this has
- 33:58been another episode of the Goa speakers podcast. Thanks for
- 34:01joining us. We'll see you next time you
- 34:03next time this has been the Goa speakers podcast. Find out more
- 34:07and follow along at G, O, A speakers.com, you.