Jenna and Christina,
I have to agree with both of you. I have never felt such an emotional connection to an artist before, and it is totally out of character for me to be a fangirl. But I can't help it with Matt. I was originally drawn to Matt by his voice, then by the interesting arrangements for some of the songs he did on AI, then by his piano playing and performing on the AI tour. I agree with Jenna that his passion for music is a big part of his appeal. I love when he is performing and he ducks his head down and just focuses on the piano playing. I think I would be a fan even if he weren't such a strong songwriter, but I really love his songs, musically and lyrically. I find it interesting that most of his songs offer hope in difficult situations (even his breakup songs are optimistic!). The fact that he fluidly combines different musical genres, and performs with a guitar band or orchestra or children's choir or concert band with such ease, points to an incredible and versatile musician. The more I see of him, the better he gets.
csprof