Walker Hayes

“I think we all love the music we listened to as kids the most.”

“I have some lofty goals. I want 'You Broke Up With Me' to go Number One.”

“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.”

“I'm a tough, tough person. I always have been tough to embarrass, too.”

“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.'”

“My music is just about that bounce and getting everybody moving.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I play a little bit of everything. I beat on the walls. I whistle. I scream. I go outside and scream because it sounds cool when it's recorded. I play drums on a chair. I snap, clap... just anything to build the track and make it feel like I want it to.”

“Family is first for me.”

“I think every couple should find an artist that they dig together.”

“The last thing I want to do is just be another voice on country music radio.”

“I will go down on my deathbed telling my kids to find songs like 'Don't Take the Girl.'”

“Back home, the Iron Bowl isn't just a football game, it's a phenomenon.”

“Most of the time in Nashville, you're so replaceable. Anybody can get another nice-looking guy to sing a country song.”

“I had a lot of wrong preconceived notions about church-y folks, and I'm bad at judging the messenger, not the message.”

“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.”

“I overuse words. My kids catch me saying stuff. They're like, 'Hey, you say that all the time.' 'Boom' is one of those things.”