Walker Hayes just released “Craig,” the second single from his 2017 boom. album. The song, inspired by a man who gave Hayes’ family a car when they couldn’t afford one, follows the Top 10 “You Broke Up With Me,” and is just one of many Hayes hopes his fans get to hear from his record.
“I came here to be on the radio,” Hayes tells PopCulture.com. “I have a lot of songs that I feel like the world needs to hear. I want the world to hear the ‘Craigs,’ I want them to hear ‘Halloweens,’ I want them to hear ‘Beer in the Fridge,’ but I need to establish my presence on country radio.”
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Hayes also has another song, “Beautiful,” which he hopes that will someday be released as well.
“‘Beautiful’ could have possibly been a first single,” says Hayes. “It’s very radio friendly. It’s autobiographical. It talks about me and [my wife] Laney breaking up after college, and tells a lot about my story, my love story. I love it. It’s a great live song. I wrote it alone. I think it’s unhindered by co-writers or rules or anything. I wrote it straight from my memory, and so I’m proud of it. I’m excited about it.”
Hayes knows he has a long way to go to achieve the status of some of his peers, but the 38-year-old only focuses on how far he has already come.
“I haven’t had a lot of success,” Hayes concedes. “But I have a song out, and an album, and I have a job now. I was thinking the other day, the things that Laney and I have been through, I have so many stories of why we’re still here, why I’m still doing it, why people get to hear the songs they heard. There’s a bazillion reasons why they get to know those lyrics, and we get to share them together at my shows.”
Hayes is currently opening for Kelsea Ballerini on her Unapologetically Tour, and is, after two failed record deals, embarking on the career he always hoped he would have, even if the prospects often seemed dim.
“I always wanted to believe that something like that would happen, but it only happens to a few people,” he says. “There’s room for all kinds of music, but only so many people make it in this town, and I feel like this is kind of my entry into it. I feel like I got a big foot in the door.”
Download “Craig” on iTunes.
Photo Credit: Instagram/WalkerHayes
