Matt Williams is a country artist with a background that separates him from most artists in the industry.
His show comes to the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
His website details that he is an Army Veteran who served 8 1/2 years in Iraq/Afghanistan. During his last tour, he was wounded by an IED, where he lost two of his best friends and was awarded a Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal of Valor. He left the Army as an E/6 staff sergeant.
His press information details that he returned from his third and final deployment in 2010 and discovered another battle at home with PTSD and depression. Two of his best friends were killed by an IED attack during his last tour in Afghanistan and he lost his father three weeks after he had returned home from the Army. While looking for an outlet to direct his emotions he turned to music.
His love of music started when his mother bought him a drum set at 18 months and he never looked back, learning piano by ear, singing in the choir at church, even becoming one of the top marching snare drummers in the country while in high school.
“I began writing the story of my life in the form of songs that I hope other people can relate to in many different ways. I want to tell the world about my life to show that I’m not ashamed of who I am and that no one is perfect. Music, along with God, really can save the soul, and it can influence and impact people in ways that they cannot do for themselves. Music saved my life in more ways than one and I believe that it can help others as well,” Williams said via his press material.
The site digitaljournal.com reviewed Williams as the “best that modern country music has to offer.”
