Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American musician Walker Hayes.
Last updated on December 23, 2024.
Charles Edgar Walker Hayes is an American pop country singer and songwriter. He has released three studio albums: Reason to Rhyme in 2011 on Capitol Records Nashville, and Boom and Country Stuff the Album in 2017 and 2022 on Monument Records. Hayes has charted multiple singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts; his highest-peaking is "Fancy Like", which reached the number one position on both charts between late 2021 and early 2022.
I actually had publishers that would encourage me at times to keep it simpler, not pack in so much information, but I'm a fan of songs and movies and books that the second time you read them, you find more stuff that you missed, so I like to pay attention to that detail.
That's kind of something we - my team and I - text each other a lot. Anytime something great happens, we're like, 'Hey, look, the song's #17. Boom!'
In my opinion, my business runs better when my family is a part of it, and I get to see my wife and kids; that makes me a better artist.
Growing up, all I cared about in a song, before I really listened to lyrics, was that beat.
I want to be more selfless and look outward.
I've always felt very insecure being around in-laws, even my siblings - like the guy who made a bad decision, or the guy who would never just fess up that I'm not good enough to make it, or I don't have what it takes.
When I'm in the studio, I'm very cautious about it because if there's one thing that can destroy music being made, it's any sort of agenda, expectation and/or schedule, or any of that.
It's relaxing to be around somebody that you don't have to try so hard around.
I'm not a churchgoer.
I had a lot of wrong preconceived notions about church-y folks, and I'm bad at judging the messenger, not the message.
What keeps you in this business is the thought that maybe tomorrow will be different.
Family is first for me.
For 12 years, I was playing writer's rounds.
When I was at Capitol - and this was not Capitol's fault - I was aiming, you know. I would listen to country radio and go, 'What version of me does radio want?'
Talking about my addiction to alcohol is therapeutic. Most definitely telling everyone about it is as well.
Tragedy levels the playing field.
People might get mad at my style or my delivery and say it's not country. But the country music that brought me to Nashville? Man, I will always have that on a pedestal.
I'm so honored to have so many supporters - from my peers to the industry to country radio - on this crazy journey with me. You all have absolutely changed my life.
I love to people watch.
Sometimes when you belt, it kinda makes the song more dramatic than it really needs to be. There are certain songs that you hear, and you're like, 'Wow, he's singing about his girlfriend, but he sounds kinda mad the way he's yelling, 'You're so pretty!''
Every time I've gone in to create music and felt free and felt like I was actually creating something, it's turned out something I'm really proud of, so I try to keep that as a tradition.
'You Broke Up With Me' was fun yet definitely addressed an inner emotion of mine.
When I lost my first record deal, my wife and kids and I lost - I wouldn't say friends, but - we lost a lot people around us. They just vanished! They were nowhere to be found. I couldn't get a break, and I couldn't get people to even respond to my emails about songs, no matter how good something was.
I may not be doing it right, but I love to get on an elliptical and put the kids on FaceTime in front of me and just get after it. They don't even have to talk to me. They just put the phone on and put it in the living room and one will walk by and be like, 'Hey!'
That's one of the reasons I got into country music: because of the craft of that lyric and how much you could put into three minutes.
Taylor Swift - I don't ever hear anything of hers where I'm like, 'Oh, so-and-so could've cut that.'
When my voice isn't doing what I want it to do, it's crushing in the most heavy way possible.
For me, a good show is not a perfect show; it's just one where you connected. It's a show where the fans got to know you, and they realize that you're human, but they also think you're a star and that you're talented and all that good stuff.
I'm a tough, tough person. I always have been tough to embarrass, too.
I feel like, when we are young, especially, while we are experiencing so many 'firsts,' when songs move us, we recall exactly where we were when we heard them.
I'm pretty chill, but once birth starts, I go the opposite of chill.
What's great about being an opener is that even when you lose, you win. There's no pressure. And no expectations. If you sell merch, you're killing it. But when you headline, you have to sell those tickets.
I love an imperfect rhyme.
My parents once caught me conducting Beethoven's 'Fifth Symphony.'
Most of the time in Nashville, you're so replaceable. Anybody can get another nice-looking guy to sing a country song.
I'm in the gym constantly.
I love clever lyrics.
It's cliche, but everybody says, 'We're all one song away,' and it's so true. The difference between me and the guy down the street busking with his guitar case open is just one song.
My dad was listening to me noodle around on the guitar in the house and sing, and he was like, 'Man, you're funny, and you sound good when you do that. You should do that at a bar.' I had stage fright, so I was like, 'No, Dad. Leave me alone.'
I love to watch my kids when they don't know I'm watching.
Things that you might be embarrassed to tell a group about yourself - honestly, that's probably what the majority of the group is experiencing are those things that you keep quiet in your heart.
I think we all love the music we listened to as kids the most.
Somebody told me a long time ago that if everybody loves you, somebody's lying. It is the truest statement you could ever say to somebody.
'Check Yes Or No' is a song that I reference in ''90s Country.' George Strait had a very crafty lyric: it tells a story then comes back around. Never gets old.
I will go down on my deathbed telling my kids to find songs like 'Don't Take the Girl.'
I was a big athlete, but I think a lot of the things I did were because they were my false identity, if you will. They got me acceptance, and they got me that attention that I craved.
I get off on finding new ways to tell my wife 'I love you.'
I love lyrics that are not too clever.
My wife and I started dating in 11th grade.
I want to be something that the listeners might not know that they needed but that I fill a lane and that they enjoy it for a while.
I think every couple should find an artist that they dig together.
For years, I wrote songs to try to get cuts or try to have hits or try to appease a label or to be famous. I was learning a lot of valuable tools about structure and how to articulate. I was getting really good at that.
You find yourself writing the truth, because it's like, 'Well, I ain't writing for anyone but myself anyway.'
I always just wanted to write a love song to my wife that wasn't cliche.
Kenny Chesney's music cuts. He gets into those massive ballads like 'There Goes My Life' and 'The Good Stuff' and things like that that just crush you, and delivers them so well. Some of that you can't really put your finger on; it's just magic.
I didn't want a pickup with mud tires. I wanted an old blazer with as many speakers in the back as I could afford. I would even steal them out of my brother's car and pack them in there. I remember sitting in a parking lot and turning my radio up and walking down the street to see how far you could feel it.
My music is just about that bounce and getting everybody moving.
The last thing I want to do is just be another voice on country music radio.
Back home, the Iron Bowl isn't just a football game, it's a phenomenon.
My wife is so sweet... she probably gets tired of me calling her with nothing to say, but she's always there for me.