“I want people to walk away feeling like they were part of the experience and more inspired than when they came,” said Matt Wade, the man behind My Silent Bravery, of his performances.

A Worcester native, Wade has been writing and performing since his senior year of high school, when he wrote his first song, “Side of the Road.” A few years later, this song was even featured on the show One Tree Hill. In 2005, he had his first real performance at Java Hut in Webster Square, where he was first encouraged to pursue music. He began performing small gigs while taking lessons from well-known jazz guitarist Rich Falco.

In 2008, Wade put together a band and entered a time of what he describes as “trial by fire.” In just three years, he performed about 300 shows, each of which became learning experiences of their own. While performing mainly covers, Wade started performing original music, as well. He began to realize that it was writing and performing original music that he really loved.

Over the years, Wade has toured with many big names, including artists such as Daughtry, The Wailers and Howie Day. But his favorite venue is Worcester’s own Mechanics Hall. “I love Worcester. I always try to be an ambassador for Worcester everywhere I go. I like the community aspect of Worcester; it’s warm and supportive,” Wade said.

Recently, My Silent Bravery played Electric Haze in Worcester with Eric Hutchinson as the first stop on his fall tour. Worcester has also been the backdrop for many of the singer/songwriter’s videos, including this summer’s single, “Drunk off the Sun,” which was shot on Lake Quinsigamond.

But where does the name My Silent Bravery come in? Wade explains that, after touring with a band initialed MSB, he was searching for a new name that would keep the same initials. His friend suggested My Silent Bravery, and it stuck. The name has “an undertone of passion, persistence and [being] about the music and not me, per say” Wade explained.

Wade said his favorite song to perform is “To Give,” featuring Matisyahu, which has a strong message of making sure to “think about others before yourself and to really give back.”

My Silent Bravery’s newest album is Breakthrough. Produced by Anthony Resta (Elton John, Collective Soul, Duran Duran), Grammy Award-winner Mike Mangini and Peter Zizzo (Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion), the album has a different feel. Wade said he dabbled in more co-writing on this album than he has in the past, which has proved successful if “Drunk,” which he co-wrote with Deanna DellaCioppa, is anything to go by.  Within just two weeks, it had more than 500,000 hits on YouTube and was trending in countries around the world.

The second single from Breakthrough, “Warning Signs,” dropped in August, as well as its accompanying video. Vasilli Shields, who has worked with My Silent Bravery on previous videos, produced both of these videos.

With so many things happening for Matt Wade, I asked him what is does he like best about music?

“I love the song-writing aspect,” Wade said. “It’s like putting pieces of a puzzle together. You have to come up with the chord structure, and then from there, come up with a melody.”

The hardest part? “The lyrics. You have to decide what the story is going to be.” As a songwriter, some of Wade’s favorite artists are those that he describes as “great storytellers.”

Wade said music has helped him overcome obstacles in the past. “One of the reasons I started writing music was to help others overcome their obstacles.”

With this strong message of overcoming obstacles, My Silent Bravery hopes to help fans discover their own silent braveries.

For more information, visit mysilentbravery.com.

By Carly O’Brien