Mat Kearney returns to Charlottesville with a spring date at the Paramount

Five years after a 2022 show at the Jefferson, the singer-songwriter plays the Paramount Theatre on Tuesday, April 20, with a new album, 'Hanging by a Heartstring,' in the mix.

The last time Mat Kearney played Charlottesville, it was April 25, 2022, at the Jefferson Theater. Almost exactly five years later, he's back — one block-length step up the Downtown Mall's ladder of rooms, to the Paramount.

Mat Kearney plays The Paramount Theatre on Tuesday, April 20, 2027, at 7 p.m. The date was announced Oct. 28, and tickets are sold through the Paramount's own site. The theater holds about 1,100, a seated room that suits a songwriter whose shows lean on lyrics as much as volume.

The headline since 2022 is new music. In June, Kearney announced Hanging by a Heartstring, a new album with an Oct. 9 release date. That makes this spring visit one of the first chances for Charlottesville to hear those songs in a room, after a few months to live with them at home.

Almost exactly five years after the Jefferson, Mat Kearney is back for a spring night at the Paramount.

Kearney has kept a steady touring presence through the stretch between Charlottesville visits. In 2025 he was on the road behind a deluxe edition of his album *Still Drowning in Nostalgia*, and in February 2026 he played Sun Valley, Idaho, on an Acoustic Trio Tour — a stripped-down format that shows how much of his catalog holds up with just a few players and a quiet room. His calendar for 2027 already includes High Water Festival in April, which makes the Charlottesville date part of a busy spring.

That's a good sign for anyone buying a ticket here. A songwriter who's been working the same material in different configurations — full band, acoustic trio, festival stage — tends to arrive at a show like this with the arrangements dialed in and the new songs already road-tested.

The Paramount is the right room for it. A seated theater with 1,100 capacity has the size for a real event and the hush for the quieter songs, and a Tuesday-night show tends to draw the crowd that's there for the music rather than the scene. It's a different evening from a club show at the Jefferson, and for a catalog built on storytelling, arguably the better one.

The timing works, too. Late April in Charlottesville is the stretch when the semester is winding toward its finish and the evenings are finally long enough to make a weeknight show feel like an occasion.

If you were at the Jefferson in 2022, this is a chance to hear how five years and a new record have changed the set. If you've only come to Kearney through Hanging by a Heartstring, this is where those songs get their first real local test.

Tickets are on sale now through the Paramount.

Sources: Mat Kearney - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Tunesmith Mat Kearney set for Meijer Gardens show (Local Spins) (localspins.com); Mat Kearney touring to support deluxe album Still Drowning in Nostalgia (antiMusic) (musicpressbox.antimusic.com); Argyros Presents Mat Kearney: The Acoustic Trio Tour (Visit Sun Valley) (visitsunvalley.com); The Paramount Theatre (theparamount.net); Mat Kearney at The Paramount Theatre (JamBase) (jambase.com)