Matt Brady

I remember being in church on a Sunday morning. My dad, who was the pastor and music man, was in the middle of a song from the old 'red back hymnal.' For some reason, the only thing I could hear was one of his guitar strings, ever so slightly out of tune. It was then that I realized I was a marked man.

Around my 16th birthday, I was hit with the desire to learn how to play the guitar. It wasn't something that I gradually wanted to pursue, but rather it simply hit me in the side of the head one day when I was at the public library. I couldn't decided what sort of book to look for, and all of a sudden it just struck me, "I should look for a book on how to play the guitar!" Thus began my journey.

After a few years of playing the guitar and doing nothing serious with it, I had another desire hit me. I had recently picked up the Passion album Better Is One Day, and simply loved it. There were no flashes of light or rolls of thunder accompanying this breakthrough, but it sure seemed like a good idea. "Why don't I see about adding some singing to my guitar playing?"

It was a rough go at first, even though my late elementary school education included chorus classes and a trip to participate in an All-State chorus ensemble. After a few months of singing along with the CD, I got the inspiration for my own song on my dad's birthday, November 5, 1999. The song was entitled 'Crawling On My Hands & Knees," and it was just amazing to be a part of the process.

Not long after that, my youth pastor wanted to start incorporating some praise & worship into our weekly meetings. Since I was the only one who played guitar in the group, guess who was asked to help lead worship? You got it. Me. The only stuff I had at the time was some Sonic Flood and my Passion CD, so I started from there and we made it work.

From there came opportunities to lead worship at church and at a youth club the ministry had just opened (my youth group was a part of His Laboring Few Ministries, known mostly for their biker ministry and rehab 'Harvest Camp.'). These experiences and others helped me to grow into a more mature worshiper and more confident musician.

Around the time I graduated from college in 2002 (Guilford Technical Community College, Associates Degree, Entertainment Technology, Sound Engineering Option), I was ready to venture into the world of having a band. I got two of my college pals to join with me, and the three of us started 'pawband.' (pawband was actually an acronym meaning: Praise And Worship: Because Art Needs Direction.) After about a dozen shows and a few line up changes, pawband ended up being just me. That didn't bother me much, so I stuck with the name for a good long while, recording my first official album, Fly, in September 2003.

Since then, I've played a lot as 'pawband,' claiming the members of the band were me, my guitar, and my harmonica. Recently, I've decided to retire the 'pawband' name, and just simply use my name, Matt Brady. It's much less confusing for folks when I show up and they're only expecting one person (Matt Brady), instead of expecting a whole band (pawband), just to find out it's only one guy.

Those are the highlights of my musical biography. Currently, I'm the worship leader at my church (His Laboring Few Fellowship For Jesus of Thomasville, NC), and now when I play out it's just 'Matt Brady.' I'm working on my next project right now, and I hope to get in the studio within the next month or two. Until then, come worship with us in Thomasville, NC, or catch me at an upcoming event. I'll be the one with the big 'X' on top of his head, listening to an out of tune guitar, trying to get it in tune.