Walker Hayes has had an incredible start to 2018! We had the opportunity to sit down with him and see what life has been like this year after he kicked off the Mane Stage at Stagecoach Saturday.
CN: You have had a great year! “You Broke Up With Me” went Platinum – what was that moment like?
WH: If it got any better it would be weird. For my wife and me it was a box that we could check off. A lot of hard work, a lot years of just kinda saying “next year”, and then even sometimes saying next year and really not thinking it was going to happen next year. Going through the motions of believing and having faith that maybe I was in Nashville for a reason. That Platinum Record, if it all ended, can anybody say we didn’t do it? I don’t think so. It felt good, my wife sacrificed a lot and we sacrificed a lot to get this music out.
CN: I love your craft and that you are just you, how do you manage that?
WH: Thank you, honestly and sadly with music these days not every artist can do that. We all have to pay bills and so a lot of times it’s easy to chase whatever is working. I get to be an artist that honestly when a I am writing, I am not chasing anything except that idea. Am I saying what I want to say with every song.
CN: You kicked off your first tour “Good as Gold” Tour, what was that like?
WH: It was scary when we booked it. I wasn’t sure if people would buy tickets. When we sold them, I was still an opening and I didn’t foresee me being able to headline, but the booking agent said I would do fine. We have sold out shows and the crowds that come, they know everything. That is what blows my mind, the song isn’t even on the album it’s on an 8 track, that never ceases to amaze me. I sit at home and write this song and deicide to call it “Craig”, who knows who will hear it, then to see 700, 800, 1200 people knowing every word to that song is mind blowing. Now I am wondering what we are going to do in the fall and how much bigger can we get and play bigger venues.
CN: Do you recall the first show you did where the audience sang back one of your songs?
WH: When I was opening for Dan + Shay, it was about a year and a half ago and I was just playing with a loop, I noticed then that some of their fans started singing along to “You Broke Up With Me”. You get a taste of that and you want more, it is so cool to sing too when you can take a break and fans can sing with you, it’s a cool flow.
CN: Your new single “Craig”, what is it about if someone has not heard it before?
WH: It’s about a million things, but in a nutshell, it’s about a guy named Craig who I met at a church that I didn’t want to be at. My wife dragged me there and I know I smelled like alcohol. I met Craig on a Saturday night at church and I have never, ever met a human that reminded me of that guy who you keep talking about, that guy being Jesus. Craig loved me so well that I was just shocked. I don’t see a guy like you loving a guy like me; 6 kids, one car, alcoholic, chasing some crazy dream. Craig came along and just kind of adopted us, he didn’t ask if I needed help, he just helped me. It kind of pissed me off and I am ashamed to say that. It was a blow to my ego and he had to kind of fight me to get me to take his car. I look back now and think what an idiot I was to be like that. It just inspired a Thank You note and that is what “Craig” is. I didn’t have any ambitions to share that with the world, but we all feel so tiny compared to the message. “You Broke Up With Me” gave me a plateau which to scream off of and I felt like I didn’t care and wanted the world needs to hear “Craig” right now. I feel honored and this song is so me.
CN: What was the first car you drove?
WH: My dad gave me a 74’ Volkswagen. He sold a house for a lady and I don’t think he took a commission and took this car. It was yellow and we painted it blue, no AC, but it did have a radio. I loved it, we would try to see how many people we could cram into it.
Walker is touring all summer long and will be joining Old Dominion on their European tour later in the fall. For a full list of Walker’s tour dates visit http://walkerhayes.com/.