Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Matt Alber contemplates the life he could have had.

BY KEN KNOX

Matt Alber is aware that his life could have turned out much differently. Less than six years ago, he was on the fast tack to musical superstardom—or at least pop culture notoriety—as a contestant on an American Idol-type talent show for country music fans that was slated to run on MTV. But the show, titled American Pride, never made it onto the air, and Alber found himself at a proverbial crossroads in his life. Turning inward, he abandoned country for chamber pop and began writing songs that came from the heart. The results can be heard on his debut album, Hide Nothing, which was released last month on the Tommy Boy Records-owned Silver Label.

The album represents the culmination of a journey that has included not only two attempts at reality stardom (he also appeared on Star Search), but also touring with numerous choirs and five years recording and performing with the famed San Francisco-based a capella group Chanticleer. “I think a career as a musician takes shape in almost every moment, and I'd have to say that none of it would be happening if I had been waiting around for it,” Alber says of his success. “Every day is like a roller coaster when you're trying to make a living singing songs. I'm lucky to be surrounded by incredibly talented and generous friends who bail me out and cheer me on every day.”

Alber was born in Wichita and raised by parents who encouraged his interest in music. Inspired by the sounds of the music that was available to him, he took an early liking to performing. “I used to sing to the radio constantly as a kid, mostly while doing my chores,” he says. “We had this old Victrola that my dad converted into an 8-track player. I think we had, like, three working tapes, so I would 'rock out' to Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie and the Bee Gees.” After moving to St. Louis, Alber joined up with the St. Louis Children's Choir, learned how to read music, and experienced his first taste of performing when the Choir traveled to Japan for a tour. He was hooked. “I was a suburb kid who for 10 days was surrounded by people who looked, talked , ate and smelled like nothing I had ever experienced,” he recalls.

After college (he studied vocal performance at Truman State), Alber made his way to San Francisco to join up with Chanticleer, and met fellow musician Jeff Crerie, who became not only his musical partner, but his boyfriend as well. After American Pride fell through, Alber wrote and recorded Nonchalant, a self-released EP that included several songs that now appear on Hide Nothing. “I would stay up late with Jeff writing and mixing these songs and walk home in the rain with my headphones on marveling at the sounds we were creating,” he says. Though their romantic relationship didn't last, Alber remains great friends with Crerie, who produced Hide Nothing for Silver Label after Alber relocated to Los Angeles.

The songs on the record recall several experiences from Alber's journey, including his relationships with Crerie (“End of the World,” “Walk with Me”) and his next boyfriend, Joe (“The Slow Club”), as well as his own personal growth (first single “Monarch,” the video for which has become a staple on Logo's music show, NewNowNext). “We went for the most honest and vulnerable sound we could muster,” he says of the ambient arrangements of the emotionally revealing songs, which have already garnered Alber comparisons to another openly gay crooner, Rufus Wainwright. “It's quite a compliment,” he responds. “I'm a huge fan of his. There aren't a lot of gay gentlemen at the piano singing poems with vibrato these days.” The album's title seems especially relevant given Alber's take on being a gay musician. “I'm not trying to 'be gay' in my music or on stage; I just am,” he says matter-of-factly. “I would never try to hide that I prefer malts to shakes, Death Cab to Hoobastank, or T-shirts to suits. I'm gay, and I don't see a reason to hide that either.”

Alber's journey will continue with a tour of colleges and universities, where he will hold roundtable discussions about his experience acclimating into the world as an openly gay artist, and a benefit concert for homeless teens at the Music Box Theater next spring. It's a far cry from the life he could have had as a country crooner. “I'm glad I didn't end up winning a music contest show,” he says. “These days you don't have to be discovered to be anything else but yourself.” Not that he has left country behind for good. “I still go two-stepping. It beats the heck out of a treadmill—and cowboys are a lot friendlier than gym bunnies.”

For more information, visit mattalber.com.