Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. As guitars tuned and drums riffs rattled throughout the Ryman Auditorium on Oct. 30, Matt Maeson sat backstage in a dressing room.

Matt Maeson’s first show was at a Chick-fil-A open mic night. It was also a competition, and the singer with the best performance would win free Chick-fil-A for a year. (In total honestly, it was ...