“This song is about ending a close relationship because the other person wasn’t who you thought they were” says Warner Music Nashville recording artist Matt Schuster about his new release, “Thought You Were” (listen HERE). The piano-backed ballad, already a fan-favorite on social media, delicately paints an all-too-relatable portrait of confusion, hurt, nostalgia and disillusionment. Schuster penned the track alongside Emily Falvey, Andrew Stoelzing and Adam Yaron.

“Thought You Were” comes less than a month after the Illinois native made his Grand Ole Opry debut (2/24), where he performed the song along with the fan-favorite cover of Billy Joel’s “Vienna.”

Schuster’s major-label offering “Left Me In The Dusk” (listen HERE) rounded out a handful of new songs released by the Illinois native in 2023, which also includes songs “Last Fall” (listen HERE) to which Billboard praised Schuster’s “amiable, low-key voice,” and “Tell Me Tennessee” (listen HERE), with MusicRow noting that his sound was “one of the most innovative [they’ve] heard these days.”

Schuster signed a label deal with Warner Music Nashville after two years of releasing music independently, with four releases landing in the Top 200 of Spotify’s Country Global chart and over 150M+ streams to date. His songwriting talent continues to excel after recently landing a cut on labelmate Bailey Zimmerman’s Religiously. The Album. with “Chase Her.”

The Spotify Hot Country Artist To Watch for 2024 and Nashville Briefing Artist to Watch is bringing a fresh flair to the country landscape that is uniquely his own, with a songwriting style that wears its heart on its sleeve and a sound that blends the cherished warmth of classic rock with the epic, adrenaline-pumping ambition of modern pop. He toured alongside Ashley Cooke in 2023 and closed out the year with shows alongside Kameron Marlowe and Dylan Scott – with much more to come in 2024.