Matt Ashton began writing music in 2000 at the age of 17, when he became a born- again Christian. He started writing songs after trading a bass guitar amp to his friend for an old beat up accoustic guitar. It started by recording his music on a home computer and giving out CDs of his music to friends and family.
Then in late 2001, Matt moved from his home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma to a small town outside of Oklahoma City called Newcastle. He built his own recording studio using his computer and cheap dynamic mics. Matt continued to write music and give his music away and distribute it online to as many Christian websites as possible. In March of 2002, he made friends with a youth pastor over the Internet who promoted Matt's talent and soon Matt was playing his first show.
In 2003, Matt moved to Lewisville, Texas, where he recorded his first CD titled "New Creation" under the name of Newmat. Matt continued to play shows in Texas and in Oklahoma.
In 2004, Matt entered a contest, "Christian Music Talent Search", and was selected to compete in the contest by playing for a panel of judges in Fort Worth, Texas. Matt won the semi-final solo artist group in Fort Worth and was invited to play in Nashville, Tennessee for a group of label executives from Essential records. After competing in the contest, though Matt was not selected as the grand prize winner, he was excited that he had the opportunity to play for such a great crowd as well as several Nashville music executives and promoters.
In 2005, Matt released his CD "A Generation", a collection of songs inspired by a very challenging time in Matt's life where God was teaching him to continually give thanks in spite of his circumstance. After the release of "A Generation" Matt played all the way from Kansas coffee shops to Fort Worth music theaters promoting his new music.
In 2005, Matt began a project of music that was focused on more abstract ideas and this project was later completed in 2006 and was titled "Release". This work was new for Matt because he began learning and incorporating the piano into his writing.
In 2006, Matt also released a CD titled "Your Grace", focusing on God's amazing grace through the tough situations and how even through the darkest times, our problems pale in the light of God's amazingly perfect faithfulness.
Matt is continuing to write and release new music today and is currently working on a project which focuses on his walk with Christ and the abstract areas of every day life.
