For years Matthew West penned songs about his experiences, but with his new project, “The Story of Your Life,” he decided it was time to turn the tables and the microphone. West wanted to give his fans a voice and a chance to tell their stories.
What happened next was a bit surprising to the singer/songwriter. With little fanfare West posted a note on his website asking fans to send in their stories, expecting a few 100 or so. Well, he didn’t receive a hundred stories. He received thousands and thousands of letters from people in all 50 states and 20 countries. Stories that people wanted to share to help other or just to get it off their chests.
“I was floored by the response,” said West, who will be playing Thursday, Feb. 24 at Mission Hills Church in Littleton. “Here I was reading story upon story of people’s real life. It was better than TV because this was real. It was great inspiration.”
West spent two months in a Tennessee cabin reading through reams of letters. And while ingesting all of these tales of triumph, brokenness and woe, West discovered something about himself. He became more aware of a void in his life that needed to be filled with love – love for another.
“The biggest thing is that it changed the way I live my life,” West said. “Our world is ‘me centered.’ It’s about self-discovery, taking care of No. 1 … and it’s no different for me than anyone else. How can I improve my life? How can I make more money for me and my family?
“The two months that I spent reading about other people’s stories made me wonder about how I had been spending my life. And I started looking out and not within. Looking at each person as being of value. Like that homeless person that you pull up next to at a light and you lock the door. Now it’s how can I reach out to this person? By giving money, food or a handshake?”
That look inward produced the one song, “My Own Little World,” on his current CD that is about himself and it challenges listeners to take the extra step to help that widow begging on the street corner.
The experience also brought West back to his roots, “waking him up inside.”
“It returned me to when I was playing in coffeehouses in front of 15 people,” West explained, “and you got to know the audience and interact with them. People would tell me about how the songs helped them.”
West said the most rewarding part of his newest, which got its genesis about 10 years ago, is meeting the people behind the stories.
“That has been one of the most incredible parts of this project, is meeting the people that inspired the songs,” West said. “To be sitting in the living room of a single mom in Indiana whose teenage daughter was in a car accident and playing them the song you wrote about their life. I wouldn’t change that experience for anything. It’s been amazing.”
West’s passion for the music plays throughout the CD and picking out a favorite is a little tough for the Grammy nominated songwriter.
“Wow, a favorite song?” West said. “You know on my other albums I can answer that pretty quickly, but it’s hard on this one. Every one of the songs is really important to me and the people in them.
“I guess if I have to pick one it would be ‘Family Tree.’ It’s a song about a woman and her dysfunctional family life that she grew up in determined not to carry on the same ways. ‘Will you grow up to be an alcoholic like your dad? Will your marriage end in divorce like your parents?’ … It’s to let people know that they can stop the generational baggage. That they can start a new family tree. That seems to resonate with a lot of people.”
That interaction with fans that spawned “The Story of Your Life” is being lost on today’s newest singers, West said.
“In these days of ‘American Idol’ where you go from playing in front of your parents to playing in front of millions you miss valuable stages of growth,” he said. “Playing in front of 10, 15 even a hundred of people, you get to connect with the crowd.
“And that is a priceless lesson.”