Stemma: Food And Story Genealogy

Mat Kearney is a singer-songwriter hailing from Eugene Oregon. While Attending college on an athletic scholarship, Mat unexpectedly discovered a love for songwriting - eventually moving to Nashville on a whim to pursue a career in music. A few short years later, he broke through with the release of his album ’Nothing Left to Lose’; immediately making waves at national radio and selling nearly half a million copies to date. Since that moment, Kearney has continued to release one critically acclaimed album after another - boasting 5 hit singles on the adult top 40 radio chart since his debut in 2006.

Cary Brothers is a singer-songwriter living in Los Angeles. After growing up in Nashville and graduating from Northwestern University – Brothers moved to LA where he became a regular at the Hotel Café music venue and gained national attention when his song ‘Blue Eyes’ was featured on the Grammy award winning film soundtrack GARDEN STATE. Spring boarded by these early accomplishments, he has since amassed countless fans around the world and has toured alongside artists such as Sara Bareilles, Imogen Heap, and the Fray. After accepting our invitation, Cary arrived at our home on a warm day in April to tell us more about his food memories and stories from growing up in the south in the 1980s.

SYML is the creation of singer-songwriter, Brian Fennell – a Seattle native and founding member of the indie-rock band Barcelona. In 2016 Fennell released his first solo EP apart from his band of over ten years; and quickly discovered overwhelming success at television and film. His single ‘Where’s my love’ accrued millions of streams in a matter of months, as Fennell seems to have almost accidentally found new musical life in a side project that was originally intended to be just that. Listen as Andrew meets up with Brian at his west Hollywood hotel to find out more about what it was growing up in the pacific northwest and the meals he remembers the most.

Andy Davis is a singer-songwriter living in Los Angeles California. A Louisiana Native, Davis broke onto the scene in 2004 with overwhelming success at college radio and has since performed alongside artists such as Colbie Caliat, Jakob Dylan, and Need to Breathe. Today Andy continues to creatively evolve, recently releasing an ep of moody, electronic inspired songs highlighting his unique brand of alternative-soul. A recent LA transplant – we invited Andy to join us for lunch and an interview on a very rainy afternoon in southern CA.

TRACE is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles California. Her debut EP “LOW” was released in August 2016 and since then she has collected over 20 million streams on spotify. The daughter of a Vietnamese music star, TRACE spent her childhood watching her mother on stages around the world. But it was only a few years ago that TRACE gave up a promising career in editorial work to pursue her own dreams of writing and recording music. Tracking her earliest songs in the bathroom of her small east-LA apartment, she has developed a sound that is resonating with an audience to the tune of well over a million streams every month. Having discovered her music ourselves through a spotify playlist, we were thrilled when she agreed to join us for breakfast and an interview about the foods that have shaped her life.

Matt Wertz has been living and making music in Nashville Tennessee for more than 15 years. Matt has been creatively evolving and earning legions of fans around the world while opening for artists like Jason Mraz, Maroon 5, and Gavin Degraw. During a day off in LA from his most recent US tour, I sat down with Matt to find out more about where he comes from and the meals he remembers the most.

Odessa is a singer-songwriter living in Nashville Tennessee. She grew up as a classically trained violinist but spent much of the last few years traveling the world in bands such as Old Crow Medicine Show and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Her much anticipated debut album was released in 2015, however long before it’s release her song 'I will be there' had already been featured on several primetime television shows. She was recently kind enough to accept our invitation for a meal and conversation about the role that food has played throughout her life.

Joshua Radin is a singer-songwriter living in Los Angeles California. Having studied drawing and painting at Northwestern University, Radin spent time as an art teacher and screenwriter for several years before unexpectedly getting into music in his late twenties. He was recently gracious enough to accept our invitation to lunch on a grey, rainy day in Pasadena to chat about his food-memories growing up near Cleveland, Ohio.

Amy Stroup is a singer-songwriter living in Nashville who’s had her songs featured on more than 30 TV shows and films including Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Parenthood. She's also a co-founder of the critically acclaimed soul-pop duo "Sugar and the Hi Lows" with whom she has toured in support of artists such as Ingrid Michaelson and Kacey Musgraves. Andrew sits down with Amy to hear more about her food memories and stories from her time growing up in Abilene Texas.