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| Matthew Hager Releases Highly Anticipated Debut EP Peace Love After over a decade working behind the scenes with such notable acts as Duran Duran, Mandy Moore, Mindi Abair, Simply Red and Scott Weiland, Matthew Hager reveals himself as a formidable pop/rock recording artist in his own right and stakes rightful claim to center stage by using his seasoned songwriting and production skills to create a personal album that is cohesive, reflective, and eminently listenable. Hager has produced and co-written four albums with Mindi Abair, whose smash 2002 debut It Just Happens That Way stayed in the Top Ten for 19 consecutive weeks and was named the #1 most played Contemporary Jazz CD of 2003 by Jazz Week. Her debut single debut single Lucy's was #1 on R&R for eight. The singles True Blue and Bloom from Life Less Ordinary (2006) were #1 hits on the Radio & Records charts in 2007, and the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Jazz Charts. Hager also co-penned songs on 2008's Stars hit both the jazz and adult contemporary charts. Abair's holiday track I Can't Wait For Christmas, which Hager co-penned, sold close to a million units. For Duran Duran's vocalist/bassist John Taylor, Matthew produced on several of his solo albums and for the band Duran Duran itself, Hager mixed and engineered several tracks for their 2007 Red Carpet Massacre. Hager by extension shares credit for the album with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. Taylor also served as A&R for Hager's debut. With Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland, Hager arranged and played on several solo recordings, and for Simply Red he produced the U.S. release of the single "Perfect Love" (Simplified¸2005). It was while touring the U.S. and overseas from 2000-2002 as musical director for pop singer Mandy Moore that Hager produced and wrote tracks for her 2001 self-titled third album. The song Enough was prominently featured in the 2002 hit romantic film "A Walk To Remember, " in which Moore starred-and is now being made available commercially for the first time on Hager's EP Peace Love And Animosity. As Hager looks forward to further developing his career as an artist beyond Peace Love And Animosity, he's as excited as ever about his ongoing slate of artists and songwriters from so many musical realms. "I really enjoy change. The fact that every day brings something new and interesting to my life and I get to bring new ideas to different writers and artists. One minute I can be hanging into the rock world with Scott Weiland, and then I'm doing contemporary jazz with Mindi or pop with Mandy and now country with Jennette. There's always so much out there to keep my musical creativity flowing." Houston bred Hager is currently expanding his palette to include country music by writing for the upcoming pop-country album by Jennette McCurdy, co-star of the Nickelodeon teen sitcom "iCarly." Peace Love And Animosity is available worldwide June 2, 2009. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |