Whenever New York-based singer Matt White travels to Chicago, he heads straight to Hamburger University (located in a suburb of the Windy City), the headquarters of none other than McDonald's.
It's an unusual pit stop for apiano-playing singer-songwriter who has toured with the likes of Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow and Sting and doesn't aspire to own a Golden Arches franchise.
But the 32-year-old with dark hair and Michael Bublé good looks owes a great deal of his vocal recognition to the good people at Mickey D's.
His catchy song "Love" was used as the soundtrack for a wildly popular McRib sandwich commercial from 2008 until 2011.
Zandy Mangold
Matt White, tickling the ivories at his Upper East Side home, is gearing up for the release of his new single.
"It's a wacky thing," the Upper East Side resident says of being inextricably tied to a barbecue pork patty on a bun. "But because it gets the music out there in such a massive way, it doesn't matter. It just blew up. People started bringing McRibs to concerts."
Just don't call him a sellout. "TV is the way to go. It's much better than radio," says White, citing like-minded musicians such as Ingrid Michaelson, who recently sang in a Tropicana commercial.
White has gotten a lot of mileage out of "Love," which, according to People magazine, is currently the most-requested song at weddings.
That led to White becoming friends with producers for "The Bachelorette," who helped him strike boob-tube gold again — this time with "Love and Affection," a song off his third album, "Shirley," released earlier this month. The ballad ran on the show every time Desiree Hartsock had a date with contestant Chris Siegfried. Siegfried ended up winning Hartsock's affections, with White declaring his own victory in the process. During the finale, he appeared on the show, serenading the couple as they danced and whispered sweet nothings.
After that, "the song shot up the charts. It was like over 100,000 downloads over a few weeks," White says with amazement.
It was quite the advertisement for White's album, but the television troubadour is hoping radio will really pay attention to the release of his new single, "Give Me What You Got." The rollicking song — produced by Philip Allen, who worked on Adele's last album — hits the airwaves Sept. 17.
White, a classically trained pianist, hails from a family with a deep musical pedigree. His grandmother, Shirley Kessleman, for whom his latest album is named, was one of the first female orchestra leaders in the country. His aunt is an opera singer, and his older sister is a classical violinist. Born in New Jersey and raised in Manhattan, White himself began writing and recording pop music while attending the University of Wisconsin. He signed with Interscope his senior year, and the label suggested he abandon his precious piano for guitar.
"I switched from piano to guitar because John Mayer and acoustic singers were really hip," he says, insisting he's no guitar hero.
Though White continued with the guitar for his first two albums, he's returned to the ivories with "Shirley."
"This album is more about what I want than what other people want," he says.
"I want to be the piano man," he says. "I miss those days of Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Elton John and Liberace."
White remembers going to a New Jersey casting for Joel's "The Night Is Still Young" video, where he had a brush with the Piano Man.
"I remember my mom urging me to tell him that I played piano. He sat with me for like 30 minutes. That was huge," White recalls. "I have followed him ever since. He's so cool and dark. He was married to Christie Brinkley. He drinks. He drives motorcycles. And he's still making music."
When White isn't tickling the ivories, he's traveling to Nashville or the South of France for writing inspiration and penning songs for other musicians. He co-wrote "Vertigo," a duet out in October, for Jason DeRulo and Jordin Sparks, who, aptly, are romantically linked.
As for White's own love life, he says he's in a relationship and politely declines to elaborate — but openly professes his fidelity to his work.
"Anybody in the music business has to be in love with the music business first," he says. "It doesn't happen overnight. For me, I hope my career is more of a marathon."
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