Matt Morris "Forgiveness"

Last night, Matt Morris delivered an incredible performance in a duet with Justin Timberlake on the song "Hallelujah." They were featured in the benefit show Hope for Haiti Now, a telethon produced by MTV Networks, which also included Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Madonna and Sting, among others. But the runaway performance of the evening was "Hallelujah" from Justin & Matt. People started to crawl the internet this morning to find out just who this guy was singing with Justin Timberlake. It appears things are suddenly moving very quickly for Matt Morris.

When we invited him onto the Music Fog Showcase at SXSW in Austin last year, he was on the heels of a successful tour with Joan Osborne and had recently released an EP called Backstage at Bonnaroo. We also knew that he was about to record a new project with Charlie Sexton producing. Regardless, it was his voice that earned him a spot on the same stage that day as Ray Bonneville, Chuck Mead, Jason Eady, and Ben Kweller.

Now, fast forward to January 12, 2010. When Everything Breaks Open, the album he was working on, is released. There's a Letterman appearance that goes well. The CBS Morning show. Then a spot on Ellen, which sends the album and two of it's songs into the top spots in iTunes' Singer/Songwriter category. Finally, that amazing performance of "Hallelujah" on the Hope for Haiti Now benefit show. Now that's how you debut an album. Way to go, Matt!

Here's one of the new songs he did for us at Threadgill's---definitely a stripped down version compared to what he recorded for the album. If you like this one, run back to the first song we posted from Matt, too, called "Chief" which is unreleased.

-Aaron

As of tonight, the Hope for Haiti Now charity has raised $57 million and counting. Donate directly by visiting their website hopeforhaitinow.org or by purchasing performances from the telecast. Click the logo below to see the contents of the entire album, or to purchase singles.