Matt Bronleewe
Encyclopedia
Biography
Matt Bronleewe was born in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, but as a young boy moved to central Kansas, Lorraine, with his family so his father could take on the family farm. The family moved onto the farmstead a few years later and Matt lived there until he graduated from Quivira Heights High School in 1992.
Bronleewe studied music at Greenville College
Greenville College
Greenville College is located in Greenville, Illinois, a small Illinois city, located 45 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri on Interstate 70...
in the town of Greenville, Illinois
Greenville, Illinois
Greenville is a city in Bond County, Illinois, United States, east of St. Louis. The estimated population as of July 2009 is 7,284. The population was 6,955 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bond County....
where he met Dan Haseltine
Dan Haseltine
Daniel Paul "Dan" Haseltine is an American singer best known as lead vocalist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay. Haseltine has performed vocals, piano, accordion, percussion and most recently, melodica, while with Jars of Clay...
, Charlie Lowell
Charlie Lowell
Charlie Lowell is an American pianist most known for being the pianist and keyboardist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay.-Biography:...
and Stephen Mason. Together the four of them formed the group Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay is a Christian rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.Jars of Clay consists of Dan Haseltine on vocals, Charlie Lowell on piano and keyboards, Stephen Mason on lead guitars and Matthew Odmark on rhythm guitars...
, named after a verse in the Bible. The group began performing around their college and later recorded their debut demo album Frail. Following the demo's release, the group's fame spread, and they were approached by Christian record label Essential Records
Essential Records (Christian)
Essential Records is a Contemporary Christian record label based in Franklin, Tennessee. It is a division of a major label, Sony Music Entertainment.-History:...
to record a full length studio album. At this time, the group had not completed their studies. Bronleewe decided to stay behind to finish school, while the rest of the band members decided to accept the recording offer. Bronleewe left the group and Lowell suggested his New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
based friend Matt Odmark
Matt Odmark
Matthew Odmark is an American musician most known for being a guitarist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay.At times, Odmark's first name is noted as "Matthew" instead of "Matt"...
to take Bronleewe's place.
Matt was married in August 1994 and lived for one year in Sterling, IL where he continued to work on his studies. In the summer of 1995, Matt was invited to reenter the world of music when another Greenville College student, Sarah Jahn invited him to play guitar for an independent CD she was recording, and later asked him to play guitar for her full time. Matt moved to Nashville, Tenn., and played with Jahn as well as pursuing other avenues of song writing and record production. Bronleewe had become known as a previous member of Jars of Clay as the group had rightly credited him as a co-songwriter for several songs from their album, which had gone platinum. With this, Bronleewe worked with several musical artists, most notably producing the debut album by Plumb
Plumb (singer)
Tiffany Arbuckle Lee is a Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter who uses the stage name Plumb...
, for which Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay is a Christian rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.Jars of Clay consists of Dan Haseltine on vocals, Charlie Lowell on piano and keyboards, Stephen Mason on lead guitars and Matthew Odmark on rhythm guitars...
member Haseltine co-wrote the song "Concrete" with Bronleewe and Arbuckle (the lead singer of Plumb). Following this successful release, Bronleewe collaborated with Christian singer-songwriter Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin
Christopher Dwayne "Chris" Tomlin is an American Christian Contemporary Music artist, worship leader, and songwriter from Grand Saline, Texas, United States. He is a former staff member at Austin Stone Community Church and is signed to EMI's sixstepsrecords. Tomlin also leads worship at many...
, with whom he was nominated for a 2003 GMA Dove Award. Bronleewe continues to collaborate with various musicians in the American Christian music scene such as Michael W. Smith
Michael W. Smith
Michael Whitaker Smith is a Billboard top ten Billboard Hot 100 recording artist and Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. He is one of the best-selling and most influential artists in Contemporary Christian music. Smith also has achieved a considerable amount of...
, Stephen Curtis Chapman and Leeland
Leeland
Leeland is a Christian rock band from Baytown, Texas. The band was formed in 2004, although lead singer Leeland Mooring had been writing songs beforehand. Leeland is composed of Leeland Mooring , Jack Mooring , Casey Moore , Shelly Mooring and Mike Smith...
. Outside of the Christian music genre, Bronleewe has worked with artists such as Australian Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,...
, actress Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
, former Tonic frontman Emerson Hart
Emerson Hart
Emerson Hart is a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and producer. He grew up in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.-Biography:Emerson Hart is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock band Tonic...
and American Idol finalist Kimberley Locke
Kimberley Locke
Kimberley Dawn Locke is an American singer-songwriter and model. She has recorded in the dance, pop and adult contemporary music genres....
.
After building a name for himself in the music industry, Bronleewe turned to the literary world. In August 2007, Bronleewe released his first book, Illuminated. The thriller conspiracy novel has been likened to stories such as The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
and National Treasure
National Treasure (film)
National Treasure is a 2004 mystery adventure heist film from the Walt Disney Studios under Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub...
. The book is the first in a five part series published by Thomas Nelson Fiction
Thomas Nelson (publisher)
Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in Scotland in 1798 as the namesake of its founder. Its former US division is currently the sixth largest American trade publisher and the world's largest Christian publisher. It is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company...
. House of Wolves, the second book in the series, was released August 12, 2008.
Bronleewe also co-wrote "For The Love Of God" with Rebecca St. James; the song appears on her 2000 release, Transform.
From 2005 to 2007, he blogged for the e-zine, Infuze Magazine, until the website closed in early 2008.
Personal life
Bronleewe was born in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
and raised on a farm in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
until moving to Greenville, Illinois
Greenville, Illinois
Greenville is a city in Bond County, Illinois, United States, east of St. Louis. The estimated population as of July 2009 is 7,284. The population was 6,955 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bond County....
to attend Greenville College
Greenville College
Greenville College is located in Greenville, Illinois, a small Illinois city, located 45 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri on Interstate 70...
in 1992. Bronleewe currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
with his wife and three children.