The stage is my comfort zone, and playing live is what I've always wanted to do. It's why I want to do two hundred dates a year. I wouldn't feel that way if I were nervous onstage.
— Hunter Hayes
'Wanted' is about a girl I was friends with, but at the time it was teetering on the edge of something more. I wanted to show her that I really cared about her. 'Wanted' was my way of saying, 'we're friends and have a great foundation, and this could be something really special.'
I've always been shy, but I see that as a good thing because it kept me focused on music. When I was in seventh grade, I asked my parents for a mobile recording system for Christmas, and I got it. I didn't come out of my room for years after that. I'd get invited to the movies and I'd say, 'I'm gonna finish a couple of demos.'
I hope people half my age and twice my age will listen to my music - I want it to live forever and for my audience to feel like they have a friend in my music. Music is a spirit. It heals. It's an amazing thing to be loved and appreciated, and sometimes, music has not just been my best friend, it's been my only friend.
All I knew when I moved to Nashville was that I wanted to make music in whatever shape and form I could.
I'm in my dream world.
Thank you to country radio for believing in me.
All the people I hung out with were musicians.
I want to find someone who's really into something like I'm really into something, so that I can support them and we can both cheer each other on. I've got a lot of dreams I want to achieve, and I hope someone can cheer me on as I'll cheer them on in their dreams.
Every demo I do has a mandolin or resonator on it - some element of the bluegrass or classic country world that I grew up listening to and that first drew me in. And then I always try to find somewhere for a bluesy guitar sound, because that's also what I love. Musically, I'm always finding my way home.
Meeting Stevie Wonder was a massive, lifetime achievement for me. He's one of the sweetest people. I sense a kindred spirit in him, and I hope he'd say the same. Actually, he did.
Robert Duvall saw me playing at a restaurant in Louisiana and invited me to be an extra in his movie 'The Apostle.' He gave me a guitar for my sixth birthday, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.
I always loved LeAnn Rimes and especially Clint Black for his soulfulness. As I've gotten older, my influences have broadened - John Mayer, Michael Buble, Stevie Wonder, Keith Urban, Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Beatles - all of these artists have somehow been a part of my development as a songwriter.
Yes, I did lock myself in my room for about two years and write some songs and things like that. But I don't feel like I missed out on a whole lot.
When I was in high school, I had binders with pictures of tour buses.
All my band members were old enough to be my dad. It was like this family vibe.
If I could make noise with anything, I was going to.
I just love music gear, I'm a total geek all around.
I don't have a girlfriend. I don't know if I have a type, but I really like girls who are driven. I really care about music, so I like it when a girl really cares about something too. Whatever it is they are into, I'll be their biggest fan.
My mom makes the best Cajun stuff. I'm a big gumbo guy. I've lost a lot of my Louisiana accent, so now when I say 'gumbo,' I feel like someone who's never said the word before.
I want people to say about me, 'I know he's making music because he loves it.'
I wrote my first song at 6. I spent every day with the guitar, and I just made up songs.
There is a bit of a movement as far as younger people in country music. That is cool because people are saying things like, 'I didn't listen to country music until so-and-so came along.' And I'm like, 'Yeah! Now you know why I love it.'
I am blessed beyond belief.
I was addicted to playing music.
I grew up in a fun-loving environment - you work hard and play hard.
I love flying planes.
