Walker Hayes

“All my life, I had loved music and been in choir, and I have a degree in music, but I never planned on doing it as a job. I had a realistic perspective on that. I thought maybe work at a church or be a teacher if you wanted to work in music.”

“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.”

“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.”

“When my voice isn't doing what I want it to do, it's crushing in the most heavy way possible.”

“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 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!'”

“I'm in the gym constantly.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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'm pretty chill, but once birth starts, I go the opposite of chill.”

“My wife is so sweet... she probably gets tired of me calling her with nothing to say, but she's always there for me.”

“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.”

“For 12 years, I was playing writer's rounds.”

“One of the most humbling gigs I've ever had was I was paid by a neighbor to go get a dead bird out of her house. She was kind of a high up in the music business, and she knew that I needed cash, and I used to do some yard work for her.”

“I get off on finding new ways to tell my wife 'I love you.'”

“It's relaxing to be around somebody that you don't have to try so hard around.”

“What keeps you in this business is the thought that maybe tomorrow will be different.”

“My wife and I started dating in 11th grade.”