Matthew West on his career, faith and being back on road with Winter Jam
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Matthew West returns to Winter Jam as a headliner after a decade, marking career progress
- West releases single 'Good' and plans a 2026 album, sustaining songwriting output
- He publishes an eighth book on prayer, tours with his daughter and frames faith practice
Matthew West can gauge his trajectory in Christian music by his spot on Winter Jam, the annual tour of a dozen top acts in the genre that comes to Intrust Bank Arena next week.
“When I first started, I was one of the openers on Winter Jam (in 2005) and now I’m one of the headliners, so that’s pretty cool,” West said from a stop at the opening of his Christmas tour last month.
West has not been on the Winter Jam tour for a decade.
“We have always talked about when the right time would be for me to hop on that tour again,” he said. “It felt like the right time, and I’m super excited about the lineup.”
Others on stage during the tour are Anne Wilson, Katy Nichole, Hulvey, Disciple, Emerson Day, Newsong and speaker Zane Black.
The 48-year-old West, who has had 22 Top 10 songs on various Christian music charts since his recording debut in 2003, said he doesn’t consider himself the elder statesman of the tour.
“In my mind, I still feel like a new artist with lots more music to make and lots more songs to write, but time tells the true story that I’ve been doing this for quite some while, so I’m really thankful,” he said. “When you begin your career, you think, ‘Am I really going to be a one-hit wonder,’ so the fact that I’ve been able to continue making music for several years now — music I believe in and hopefully music that makes a difference in the world — it kind of says something.”
On Winter Jam, where he’s joined by his 19-year-old daughter, Lulu, a music business major at Nashville’s Belmont University, he says he still has the drive of the newcomers.
“It kind of feels like I’m in a sweet spot in my life, because I have just as much excitement and energy around what I’m doing, but I’m also blessed to have a lot of experience and feel like I have a better grip on who God made me to be and what kind of message I’m supposed to put out in the world,” West said. “That’s pretty exciting, you know?”
With seven studio albums to his credit, West has just released the single “Good,” leading up to another album later this year.
“I hope it’s great, but the song’s called ‘Good,’” he said. “I’m always writing songs and tucking them aside for just the right time to release them. The new year’s going to bring a lot of new music in 2026.”
While audiences may prefer to cherry-pick singles off streaming services, West said he’s still a believer in the full album.
“I still love releasing albums, to be honest, and that tells I’m a veteran. Anyone who’s been in this for a long time loves the process of going in and making a record,” he said. “Creatively, I love that because you can tell a story. When I go in to make an album, I love the idea of connecting the songs together, maybe under one common theme, and connecting them together to make a story, just like when I write one of my books. It’s a chapter in a story. If you’re just releasing one song at a time, you’re not getting the story that the artist or creator is hoping to tell.”
Speaking of books, West releases his eighth, “Don’t Stop Praying: The God Who Hears is Just a Breath Away,” on Feb. 3.
The 40-day devotional, he said, talks about the different types of prayer in our lives.
“There’s no more important conversation we can have than with the creator of the universe,” West said. “I wrote this book with my own realization that maybe I hadn’t done some reprioritization that needed to take place inside of the conversations I’d had every single day.”
West said he got reenergized about the book after a 12-hour session recording its audio version.
“I think there’s a real spiritual awakening taking place,” he said. “I think people are looking for something real. People who didn’t grow up with the faith are wondering if there isn’t something more they need in their life.”
West said some of the greatest experiences he’s had, including hosting the White House Christmas tree lighting last month, were not something that he had planned on, but took delight in.
“I’m going to write down my plans and dreams and goals,” he said. “But I’m going to write them in pencil.”
WINTER JAM 2026
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30
Where: Intrust Bank Arena
Admission: $15 at the door, no reserved seats; more information at jamtour.com