Matthew Stemme’s “The Growing Years” Named September “Best Song Of The Month”

Matthew Stemme, a folk/country songwriter based in Clayton, North Carolina, has won the SongwriterUniverse “Best Song Of The Month” Contest for September, for his song “The Growing Years.” Stemme is a songwriter who became more passionate and focused about writing songs at a later age, starting in his 40s.

“The Growing Years” is a gentle, appealing folk song that has a positive, heartfelt lyric theme. The song starts with an acoustic guitar intro, and the music arrangement stays in a calm, flowing style through the recording. The lyric story is about a married couple who has endured some ups and downs over the years, but they can now look happily back on their relationship and the family they created. This recording features the expressive lead & harmony vocals of singer/songwriter Steven James (of Nashville). And notably, James produced it and played all the instruments.

Stemme grew up in Los Angeles, where he enjoyed listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young and other artists. Later on as a songwriter, he was inspired by such singer/songwriters as John Prine and Townes Van Zandt.

Although Stemme has always loved music and he liked telling stories, he did not actively pursue songwriting when he was young. He initially focused on a career in sales in the coffee industry, and being a pastor in a church. He met and subsequently married his wife, and they started a family together.

It wasn’t until years later when Stemme was in his mid-40s, that he became serious about writing and recording songs. He has since built a collection of two dozen songs that he’s written and recorded.

Stemme explains how he wrote “The Growing Years.” “I wrote it a couple months ago. I’m at a place in my life (age 60) where I feel blessed. We had so many hard years, but now I see the sweetness in life. I see my daughters raising their own families now, and I know it can be a grind. But what you do today pays off tomorrow. The roads can be rocky, but there’s a sweetness to having a routine and being together. That’s what this song is about.”

Currently, Stemme is writing more songs and working with producers to complete the recordings. He’s also made videos of several of his songs. He loves the process of writing songs and seeing people respond to them in positive ways.

“I just get joy out of writing songs and having those songs connect with people,” he said. “I’d love to get songs placed with artists, or in films and TV shows. But my first goal is to write a song like “The Growing Years” and have people like and connect with it, to have it resonate with people.”