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Striking Matches
Striking Matches
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	blues; rock; country;
Years active	2007–present
Members	Sarah Zimmermann; Justin Davis;
Website	www.strikingmatches.com

Striking Matches is an American duo consisting of guitarists/songwriters Sarah Zimmermann and Justin Davis.

History

Meeting in a guitar seminar class at Nashville's Belmont University in 2007,^[1]^[2] Zimmermann and Davis combined their talents and began honing their songwriting and performance skills. Shortly thereafter, they quit school to pursue their music career full-time.^[3] The duo made their performing debut at Nashville's Bluebird Café.^[4] They self-released a self-titled EP in October 2012.^[4]^[5]

2012: Nashville (TV Show)

On a trip to Nashville, the music supervisor for the television series Nashville, Frankie Pine, heard Justin Davis and Sarah Zimmermann who performed for her at the office of Universal Publishing, and decided to use their songs on the show.^[6] "When the Right One Comes Along" became their first song to be featured in the show,^[7] and a total of nine of their songs have been featured in the show's four seasons:^[8]

"When the Right One Comes Along" (Performed by Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio in S01E08 and in S04E11). Included in The Music of Nashville: Season 1, Volume 1 and in The Music of Nashville, Season 1: The Complete Collection
"Hangin' On a Lie" (Performed by Hayden Panettiere in S01E17). Included in The Music of Nashville, Season 1: The Complete Collection
"This Love Ain't Big Enough" (Performed by Hayden Panettiere in S02E01).
"Playin' Tricks" (Performed by Charles Esten in S02E10 and S02E16). Included in The Music of Nashville: Season 2, Volume 1
"I Ain't Leaving Without Your Love" (Performed by Jonathan Jackson, Sam Palladio and Chaley Rose in S02E15). Included in The Music of Nashville: Season 2, Volume 2
"Like New" (Performed by Charles Esten in S02E15 and S04E07). Included in The Music of Nashville: Season 4, Volume 1
"If It's Love" (Performed by Chris Carmack in S03E01). Included in The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 1
"Good Love" (Performed by Aubrey Peeples in S03E05).
"The Rubble" (Performed by Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio in S04E13). Included in The Music of Nashville: Season 4, Volume 2

2015: Nothing but the Silence

The duo became signed to the newly revived I.R.S. Records label, their debut album Nothing but the Silence, produced by T Bone Burnett, was released on March 22, 2015.^[2]^[9] The album debuted at No. 25 on the Top Country Albums chart, with 1,800 copies sold for its debut week.^[10] It also reached No. 1 on UK Country iTunes.^[11]

2019: EP Series

Striking Matches plans to release a series three EPs in 2019 and 2020, entitled Morning, Noon, and Night.^[4]^[3] Striking Matches released a new EP, Morning, in May 2019, which was their first release after leaving Capitol Records.^[12] The group released a music video for the song "Don't Hold Back" in April 2019, prior to the release of the EP. The video was directed by Casey Pierce.

The duo release the second single off their upcoming EP Noon, "Say What You Wanna," in September 2019.^[3] Noon will be released on November 15, 2019.^[3]

Musical style

The duo's music has been described as being found at "that sweet spot at the intersection of country, rock and blues".^[13] Regarded as a "countrified Civil Wars/Black Keys mix", Striking Matches employ tight vocal harmonies in their guitar-driven music.^[14]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	US Country	US Heat
Nothing but the Silence^[15]	Release date: March 23, 2015 Label: I.R.S. Records	25	6

EPs

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	US Country	US Heat
Striking Matches^[5]	Release date: October 2, 2012 Label: Self-released
Morning^[12]	Release date: May 3, 2019^[16] Label: Tone Tree Music
Noon	Release date: December 6, 2019 Label: Tonal Tree Music
Night	Release date: March 27, 2020 Label: Tonal Tree Music

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2015	"Hanging on a Lie"^[17]	Jeff Venable
2019	"Don't Hold Back"^[4]	Casey Pierce

References

^ Betts, Stephen L. (3 February 2015). "Watch Striking Matches Shred Up 'Trouble Is as Trouble Does'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ ^a ^b Conaton, Chris (2015-06-16). "Striking Matches: Nothing But the Silence". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Striking Matches Release New Video, "Say What You Wanna"". New Music Weekly. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Holthouse, Jerry (5 April 2019). "Striking Matches Doesn't Hold Back With New Video". Nashville.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Striking Matches - Striking Matches". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
^ "When The Right One Comes Along: How 'Nashville' Tells Stories In Song". NPR. May 13, 2013. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
^ Thanki, Juli (12 February 2015). "John Oates, Striking Matches to play Ballet Ball 2015". The Tennessean. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ Brown, Helen (21 Mar 2015). "Nothing But The Silence, Striking Matches, review: 'slick country storytelling'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ Bosso, Joe (19 February 2015). "Striking Matches talk working with T Bone Burnett on their debut album". Music Radar. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ Bjorke, Matt (April 1, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For April 1, 2015". Roughstock. Archived from the original on May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015. Sales figure given here Archived 2016-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ @strikingmatches (3 April 2015). "Back at #1 on UK chart!". Twitter. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Striking Matches Release New EP 'Morning'". Broadway World. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
^ Hendrix, Kelsey (18 February 2015). "Get to know Striking Matches from SI Swimsuit Launch Week!". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ Dukes, Billy. "Artists to Watch in 2015 – No. 2: Striking Matches". Taste of Country. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ "Nothing But the Silence". Allmusic. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ Striking Matches (1 May 2019). "Our new EP 'Morning' is out THIS FRIDAY". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
^ "Striking Matches | Hanging On A Lie | VEVO – Yahoo Screen". Yahoo! Screen. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.