The story behind Matt Stell’s No. 1 hit “Prayed For You” has made its rounds through the media, and his fans know that Stell and his co-writer and manager Ash Bowers got a call from co-writer Allison Margaret Veltz that she was running late. She had an idea to pass along, “bigger than I could fathom, didn’t know you from Adam, but I prayed for you.” Stell and Bowers took it from there and it became the genesis to the song. 

“It was about a week before she had met her now-husband. We just took off from there and wrote a song about a character that’s a lot like me in some ways,” Stell, 35, said. 

He’s calling from his Nashville home and took the time to chat before he made to the studio to write. Surprisingly, he’s home. Afterall, in 2019 alone, he’s toured with Granger Smith, fellow Arkansas-native, Justin Moore, Jake Owen and Chris Young. 

Finding time to write has been a challenge, but Stell works at it every chance he can get. 

“I love doing that as much as I like to perform the songs,” Stell, who’s EP Everywhere But On via Arista Records has seven tracks, said. “I like it all as a packaged deal, I won’t lie, but I love the writing part of it. A lot of times that’s the most fulfilling. It’s getting those ideas out and seeing if they resonate with people. I really like that.” 

With the relentlessly heart-stirring chorus “ ‘Cause every single day, before I knew your name, I couldn’t see your face, but I prayed for you. Every heartbreak trail when all hope failed, on the highway to hell, I prayed for you. I kept my faith like that Old King James said I’m supposed to. It’s hard to imagine, bigger than I could fathom, I didn’t know you from Adam, but I prayed for you,” audiences agree. “Prayed For You” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 this past October. Stell can also boast that the song has over 200 thousand Spotify streams. 

“Prayed For You” also has a high tempo – it doesn’t “drag” he said, another reason for its success. 

“It started asking for that tone pretty early on,” Stell said. “When you’re writing songs for consumption you’re wanting to have as much tempo as possible…I learned that from being around songwriters who had done it a long time.”

Stell, who also spent 10 years of his childhood growing up in South Florida, graduated from high school in a class of 27. Plan A was to get to Nashville and create and perform music. Plan B was medical school. He didn’t study music in college. You might say, though, that his studies did prepare him for songwriting. He holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy and religion; his master’s is in “communication as it relates to power struggles within people in groups.”

“It doesn’t seem like it would be all that applicable to what I’m doing now, but I found myself in that critical thinking mold quite a bit. I’m glad I had that experience,” Stell said.  

It also doesn’t seem like there’s a struggle to get to know Stell himself. On the call he seems very down to Earth. Like his songs on Everywhere But On, he’s to-the-point and poignant. He’s more than polite and humble. It’s tough to pin down what fans might not know about him – like most country stars, he’s got a close, open connection with his nearly forty-thousand Instagram followers. They know he’s tall (he’s 6’ 7” and played basketball for a time at Springfield, Mo.’s Drury University). They know he likes golf, too. 

“I hate mayonnaise,” Stell said, matter-of-factly. “I really don’t like mayonnaise (he laughs). I can deal with it as an ingredient but I hate it as a condiment.”

Now that promoters and venues know what not to include in his green room rider, they will not be surprised to learn that on a typical show date, Stell does his part in soundcheck and tries to hit the links (he takes his golf clubs everywhere, he said). One of this favorite days this year happened in Minnesota while on tour with Chris Young. 

“I went out to play golf with a member of the Eli Young Band,” Stell said. “Came back (after golfing) and had a killer show in front of a great crowd.”

He’s also a coffee connoisseur. 

“I like to drink exotic coffee,” he said. “I’m a coffee guy. I love bougie coffee. My favorite is when I get to a place and they have a few things roasted, and they have the flavor notes posted on the menu. So, I order that way. I like black coffee, sometimes pour over, but I like all the different kinds of beans and blends.”

Condiments and coffee aside, something about Stell’s voice and demeanor give off an old-fashioned, gentleman appeal. He’s not flashy, nor is he arrogant. Maybe it’s because of his height, but there’s a stoicism about Stell. When he talks about seeing John Mayer at the Nashville Bridgestone Arena, and how he himself has had to adjust to performing arenas, he makes sure to give a nod to the “unsung heroes.”

“Our front of house mix guys do a great job,” he said. “What they do is very important. If it doesn’t sound good, you’re not going to have a good time.”

What is important, it seems, to Stell is crafting a career with integrity and songs that have meaning. He’s off to a stellar start. Up next for Stell are some gigs with Thompson Square, as well as Lanco. His first-ever headlining tour kicked off January 24, 2020, in San Diego. He’s also already working on his next album. 

“The creative side – from producing and figuring out what songs we’re going to do, all that is what I love. That process has been ongoing. We’re going to be releasing some new stuff early next year. I’m really excited about it.”