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Robert Chavers
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Robert Chavers
It’s just a few days before Thanksgiving, and Walker Hayes is feeling thankful indeed.
As he saunters into the sunlit offices of his Nashville publisher, SMACKSongs, his hit “Fancy Like” has just finished an 18-week run on top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, earning double-Platinum distinction and his first Number One at country radio to boot.
The dressed down date-night anthem, with its thumping beat, quirky hip-hop flow, and lighthearted love of chain- restaurant delights, was arguably the feel-good country song of 2021, changing everything for an artist known as a true good-guy underdog who never quite “made it.” But today, Hayes is just a dude going to work.
Wearing a black track suit and ball cap, his salt-and-pepper beard covering the chiseled jaw of a could-be Hollywood hunk, Hayes walks into a room where nothing seems out of the ordinary.
He says hello to his publisher and longtime champion, Shane McAnally, and as the day begins, someone whips out a phone. There are liners to read— how fun. Liners are like short little on-camera announcements that artists often dread, as they tend to turn creators into salespeople, but they come with the territory. As Hayes reads through the cue card for this one, though, he suddenly stops.
“What the ... bull!” he says sharply, catching his tongue and turning to the room he now realizes is focused squarely on him. “Wait a second. You’re kidding me. Grammy? Dude. We’re nominated for a Grammy? A freaking Grammy!”
After almost two decades of under-appreciation as perhaps country music’s most ahead-of-his-time talent, Hayes has in fact scored his first ever Grammy nomination—up for Best Country Song for “Fancy Like” alongside co-writers Cameron Bartolini, Josh Jenkins, and Shane Stevens. The mainstream has come around to Hayes’ unique style, long nurtured and never surrendered, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. But as his team gathers ’round to congratulate him, Hayes continues to stare off in disbelieving wonder. Because this was never supposed to happen.
“It’s just so unlikely it makes me laugh,” he says later that day, speaking to Nashville Lifestyles on his drive home. “I don’t know, I feel like this whole year has been like that—just kind of indescribable. It’s almost like somebody needs to make a movie about [my wife] Laney’s and my life up until this day.”
Robert Chavers
That movie would be inspiring, for sure, since 2021 found Walker and his boisterous family endearing the nation. On top of the Grammy nod and chart success, he performed on primetime awards shows like the AMAs, singlehandedly got Applebees to re-introduce the Oreo Shake, and turned “Fancy Like” into a duet with Ke$ha, of all things. This month, he’ll follow up with the full-length Country Stuff the Album, and then headline his own tour in 2022—all from a funny little song that first made impact as a daddy/daughter dance on TikTok.
That’s the movie’s triumphant climax, anyway. The beginning, on the other hand, is all about struggle. An Alabama native married to his high-school sweetheart with six kids, Hayes arrived in Nashville in 2005, and although his talent was obvious, no one knew what to do with a guy writing rap lyrics when Craig Morgan’s “That’s What I Love About Sunday” was the year’s top song. Hayes bounced around labels for a few years before getting dropped outright and ended up working at Costco to keep the lights on. But he never gave up songwriting, trapped deep in love with the rush of the craft.
“Sometimes I even hated that I loved it,” he admits. “There were days at Costco where I would beat myself up, and I hated that when I looked around in my car there were napkins with song lines scribbled on them. It was like, ‘Why even do this?’ It was dragging my wife and kids down roads they didn’t deserve.”
The years dragged on with Hayes and the family straining to make ends meet, until finally, it looked like a break had come. Hayes found an ally in Shane McAnally—the mega-successful songwriter and producer behind outside-the-box hits for Old Dominion, Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Sam Hunt, Keith Urban, and many more—a guy with the power, reputation, and vision to make new things happen. McAnally had apparently heard something in Hayes’ down-to-earth lyrics—and even more when they were paired with his unusual, hip-hop influenced delivery—and ended up reviving Monument Records just to give Hayes’ music a home. Looking back now, Hayes says that vote of confidence gave him new creative life.
“When they started working with me, the score wasn’t Nashville: 0, Walker: 0. It was Nashville: 50, Walker: -50. “When we popped with ‘You Broke Up with Me,’ it felt like my style and country music had overlapped a little bit.” wasn’t even close,” he says with a laugh. “I was weary. I had given up saying, ‘Hey, maybe next year that’ll be us’ as I watched things like the Grammys. I was just hoping that at some point, I could put food on the table for my children. But when Shane came along, he said things like that.
“To have somebody in his position saying, ‘You have something special. You don’t need to get these songs cut, you need to sing them yourself, because there’s something about the way you sing them.’ I would come home every day like, ‘Are we sure Shane’s not crazy?’”
For a while, it looked like Shane was. Even though Hayes continued honing his style and McAnally was confident the genre was heading their way, success was slow in coming. Between 2016 and 2019, Hayes released a series of EPs and a full album (Boom), and even touched country radio’s Top 10 with the double-Platinum “You Broke Up with Me” in 2017. But despite that win, he was still early to the dance.
“When we popped with ‘You Broke Up with Me,’ it felt like my style and country music had overlapped a little bit,” Hayes says. “But then it didn’t. I didn’t really work for the next few singles. I don’t know if I was behind or in front, but I think we’re at a place now where artists really have to have a story.”
In Hayes’ case, “Fancy Like” seems to be the spot where the story is finally connecting. The confluence of all his unique quirks, the song shows off a nimble hip-hop swagger that’s more natural, original, and dynamic than anyone else in country—even at a time when the country-rap bandwagon is as full as a downtown party tractor.
Robert Chavers
Meanwhile, it’s also full of party-style positivity and comes off as deeply romantic, but in a wholesome way that flies in the face of country’s prevailing ‘hey girl’ attitude. Importantly, it’s also catchy as hell. But Hayes thinks there was more to his moment than the wheel of country fortune finally landing on him.
“Honestly I think COVID had a lot to do with my success,” he says. “We all sat with our thoughts for an entire year and a half, and I think we were all ready to not think so much. ‘Fancy Like’ was the perfect sound and perfect song for that. It’s almost like you forget there’s a pandemic at all.”
True enough, in the summer of 2020, people were more than ready for a song about going out on the cheap, especially one that made a simple life of obtainable pleasures sound cooler than one built around luxury and deep pockets. Hayes has always embodied the exact opposite of that, and tracks like “Fancy Like” flaunt it as a prime example of the light-hearted and often self-deprecating tone he puts off. It’s a big part of Hayes’ artistic identity, in fact, but it doesn’t come from nowhere.
“Well let’s get down to it, Laney and I have experienced our share of tragedy,” Hayes says when asked about his sense of humor. “I mean, look, we’ve lost a kid. And I don’t wanna size people up and be like, ‘What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you in your life? Oh, mine’s worse.’ All I’m saying is that Laney and I have been taught by tragedy how much control we don’t have over this life, and if you sit and think about it, you will live in fear.
“But I choose laughter,” Hayes goes on. “I love to laugh, and I don’t know anything I love more than to laugh. It probably ties with the gift of music to me, and you know what? You’ve got to laugh at yourself. You’ve gotta laugh at each other. You’ve gotta laugh at somebody laughing at you, and if you don’t, you’re gonna be pretty miserable here on earth, because life isn’t that funny all the time.”
Clever tracks like the November released single “AA” go about 12 steps further, offering up addictively upbeat lyrics about trying to keep his daughters “off the pole” and sons “out of jail,” while also noting that Laney married “way down (in Alabama).” Like his Grammy-nominated hit, it’s another mood-boosting dose of twang-hop that lets listeners turn their brains off for a few minutes, but it also comes with a moral compass. Years ago, Hayes was an alcoholic, and here he admits to still struggling, offering some understanding to others in the process:
“Life’s hard, family’s weird / Sometimes you just need a beer (Can I get an Amen?)”
There’s much more on the album: 13 totally-true tales of smitten romance, dad-life devotion, and big-picture gratitude, which all land due to Hayes’ world-class wordplay, singular vocals, and feel-good sonic charm. The set also features collabs with Jake Owen, Carly Pearce, Lori McKenna, and MercyMe, and it’s possible that Hayes’ success says something about where country is headed, but he doesn’t pretend to know. He doesn’t even think it’s about him, really.
“People are hearing something that there’s no way I could have written in there,” he explains. “They’re getting joy from God. I’m definitely not one of those people who goes about it thinking, ‘I want to change the game!’ Which is funny because country fans are very territorial, and sometimes I get a lot of hate from people who feel like I’m a threat to the type of country they listen to. “I just love to write songs, and more importantly, I’m just a country boy,” he continues. “I grew up in Mobile, I love college football, and my wife and I have been dating since I was in 11th grade. My life only really got adventurous when we started having kids and moved here.”
Now, that life feels fuller than ever. Although Hayes is still just glad to be feeding his family, last year’s success means they’re able to join him on tour going forward, negating one of the job’s major drawbacks. Things are looking up, and at this point his biggest worry is making sure things don’t change too much.
“With Laney and me, that’s the task now,” Hayes says near the end of his drive, blissfully remembering what’s waiting back home. “We are so happy; I don’t want anything to change. It’s like I almost want to pretend that nothing is different, just for the sake of my marriage and my kids. Because change is funny. Success and tragedy have similar effects on life: they cause ripples. I have eight people in my house, so when something small changes, it makes an impact.”
Lucky for him, the majority of that house cares more about fun and games than anything decided by streaming numbers or the Recording Academy. If this was a movie about Walker and Laney Hayes’ life, it would probably end with the whole family in p.j.’s, cuddled up on the couch with some popcorn and a movie. And for Hayes, that would still be winning.
“Tonight, we’re just gonna all be together,” he says, imagining the celebration (or lack thereof) marking his first Grammy nomination. “I’m sure Laney will give me the biggest hug as soon as I walk inside, but I bet you money my kids don’t care at all. They’ll probably be like, ‘Oh, that’s great dad. Will you come play with us on the trampoline?’ They don’t care if I win a Grammy or not.”
Walker Hayes’ Country Stuff the Album arrives January 21, and the 64th Annual Grammy Awards will take place on April 3.