Singer Matt White teams with the Gap to spread political message

Singer and songwriter Matt White, a “Rolling Stone” top 10 ‘artist to watch,’ is coming to San Luis Obispo tonight. White performs his acoustic pop sound at Downtown Brewing Co. this evening.

White’s headlining tour, Vote For Love, began Oct. 7.

“I wrote the entire album when I was in college,” White said. “It’s kind of caught in that middle area. That’s what I was striving for.”

White, 27, signed a record deal with Geffen Records/Interscope fresh out of college. His debut album “Best Days,” also the name of the first single off the album, topped the Billboard Charts in 2007 coming in at No. 4.

“I was over the moon,” said White in regard to his Artist to Watch title. “That was just the coolest thing in the world. That’s as good as it gets.”

Primarily a piano player, White also plays the guitar and writes all of his music.

Much of White’s music involves past heartbreak, falling in love and coming of age, a theme woven throughout his debut album.

With the constant demands touring asks from an artist, like time away from friends and family, White understands the difficulty of maintaining a romantic relationship.

“It’s really hard to have a normal kind of relationship,” said White. “‘Best Days’ is really a story about me falling in love with my girlfriend at the time,” White said.

For the Vote For Love tour, White has teamed up with the Gap in support of its “Vote For _____” campaign and White’s new single entitled “Love.”

The campaign offers T-shirts that say “Vote for _____” and urges people to fill in the blank with what they’re passionate about. With the upcoming elections, the campaign assumes that most of the blanks will be political, although they do not have to be.

“(The Vote for _____ campaign) engages people and gets them to be proactive and have an opinion,” White said.

The Gap will continue to sell the T-shirts while supplies last until the end of the year.

White has toured with the likes of John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Corinne Bailey Rae and Lifehouse.

“I’ve been very lucky in that respect,” said White.

White’s “Vote For Love” tour will take him all across the United States and end with a performance in his hometown of New York City.

Tonight’s show will take place at Downtown Brewing Co. at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and all ages are welcome.