By Ali Bartlett
I've been listening to Matthew Perryman Jones since his Swallow The Sea album came out in 2008. I was a 12 year old aspiring songwriter at the time, and would go back and forth from Atlanta to Nashville to go to writers' rounds and to experience new music. My music tastes began to broaden from what my friends were listening to (at the time probably a lot of Miley Cyrus and The Black Eyed Peas), and started to lean towards writers like Bon Iver, Amos Lee, and, of course, Matthew Perryman Jones. Singer/songwriters like MPJ influenced not only my writing but also the music that I listen to today. I'm forever thankful that I drifted away from the Top 20 and into a world of music filled with even more emotion and creativity than one might normally find on the mainstream charts. Matthew has an extraordinary way of combining effortless melodies with gripping lyrics that just tears you up a little bit inside. Here's a playlist of my faves!