Multi-platinum musician Hunter Hayes opens up about new album "Evergreen," his growth as an independent artist, and the lessons he’s carried since his debut.

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Back in 2011 my twin sister heard the world premiere of “Storm Warning” on country radio, ran to watch the music video, and promptly introduced me to Hunter Hayes’s music. It was exciting to see an artist play every single instrument on his debut album.

Watching an artist be so connected to every part of the process — from singing and writing, to arranging and producing — was inspiring. Fans quickly took note, and massive hits like "Wanted," "Somebody’s Heartbreak," and "I Want Crazy" launched Hunter into the spotlight.

Hunter’s music became a staple of our high school and college years, with deep cuts like "Cry With You" and "All You Wanted" ruling our iTunes library — and, years later, albums like 2023's Red Sky all over my Spotify playlists.

Fifteen years after his debut, it was a joy to sit down with Hunter to celebrate the release of his new album Evergreen (available now) and take a stroll down memory lane.

Note: This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Hunter: I like things in trilogies. It started with my album Wild Blue. That was my first time making an album without anybody really watching. I was thinking, "I'm gonna make whatever I want," and I was really inspired by artists like Jon Bellion. With the following album, Red Sky, I realized that's where all the angsty stuff was supposed to go.

There was always this third piece in my mind. I wrote the song "Evergreen" in 2018, but I had no idea what that album would be. When I finished touring for Red Sky, I gave myself a month away from obligations, which was my first time ever doing that.

That's when the realization hit me that Evergreen is meant to be a very grounded record. It was my chance to look at the future, and figure out what I wanted that to look like, who I wanted to be, and how to bring that into existence. 

So, Evergreen is this fun chapter of letters from your future self.

Hunter: As an independent artist, I realize that streaming favors singles, but, I favor albums. To tie those two things together, I've decided that no album is ever finished. Everything I make is a series, and every series has seasons. This series is Evergreen, and this album is Season 1. I'm sort of secretly (maybe not so secretly) working on Season 2 already.

I chose from at least 50 songs, and some of those have found their way into future seasons. While I was writing with a label, I'd be writing 100 songs a year — just to make sure I had something they felt good about. Now that I'm independent, I'm reducing that ratio and getting to a place where everything I make I love.

Hunter: I really wanted the riff in the opening track, "Evergreen," to be an instrument that wasn't obvious. That riff is an amalgamation of things, but the Oud was the biggest player in that sound. It's a fretless double-stringed instrument, and one of the wildest things I've ever figured out how to play. 

I literally went on Reverb, which is a marketplace for musical instrument gear, and found a reasonably priced Oud. I just sat with it for an hour, playing that riff over and over like 100 times. The recording of that riff is my first time playing that instrument. So, full disclosure, almost every note from that riff is from a different take, and I had to go find all the pieces. It was definitely a learning curve!

I also got back into playing steel [guitar] again, which I haven't done in a while, and that felt really great.

Hunter: (Laughs) Very. I love that part of the process. 

On my last album, I ended up co-mixing with a lot of the engineers that I worked with. They would mix and do the science, and then I would go in myself and stem mix. I love that process — getting the saturation and EQ shapes and instrument sections taking up certain bands of the frequency range that I wanted, stuff like that.

I love working with Keith [Armstrong] and Alex [Flagstad]. They have an approach that complements the way that I like to think and work. Like with Keith, anytime he's mixing, I'm live with him in my studio listening on my speakers and my setup. Alex also does the same thing in his space. I'll be listening, and we go back and forth — it's a great little dance we have going on. So definitely very involved.

Hunter: With the new songs, I'm excited to open the tour with the title track "Evergreen." I'm also super excited for "Around the Sun." That one is just my heart and soul in a song, you know what I mean?

It's really fun to re-listen to songs like "A Thing About You" and "Light Me Up." They're two more obscure songs, but a lot of people feel connected to them. I've fallen back in love with the older songs, and I'm excited to bring them back.

The way that I've explained Evergreen is like I've built a new home out of so many places from traveling the world. Evergreen is full of memories and experiences that I've taken with me, and I think the tour will be like that. 

We're leaning into the celebration of all the lines in your life, and how beautiful it is to look back and appreciate the past. What a brilliant roller coaster ride it's been. I'm really proud of what I'm doing right now, and there's so much ahead.

Hunter: Where do we begin? Working on music, writing, production, touring — I learned so much from [producer] Dann Huff.

He took my attention to detail and gave it an emotional lens. He taught me to pay attention to how music makes people feel, and what it's communicating. That is one of my forever lessons. I'm always learning more and more about that. In much of the way that I work now I have him in my head, rent-free. 

Another lesson was getting into the world of it all. There was a lot of work put in, just to get in a studio with Dann. It took me so long to get to that point, even though it may look like it happened overnight. That was years of writing songs — and the biggest hits are the ones that were easiest to write. 

I'm grateful that I didn't start with an album making generic things I felt like I was supposed to make. "Wanted" was a song I wrote to communicate something I didn't know how to say. "Invisible" was something I needed to say and, I felt like if one person heard it, I had done my life's work. Songs like "Invisible," "Wanted," "Storm Warning," and "I Want Crazy" all helped me realize I have a perspective to offer with my music and something to add to the conversation.

All of us have something unique to bring. I'm happy I learned that on my first project, and not 10 years down the line. I really learned so much making that first album.

Hunter: The obvious one is like, chill out and slow down. That's the first thing I would say. But I would actually remind him that he has something so unique and valuable to contribute to the world, and always will. 

I would remind him to not get lost in the industry of it all. I would go back and tell him, "Hey, good news — your brain does work differently, and you absolutely get to embrace that. And you should. You need to, because your weird shit is your strength. You just need to paint with all of those colors and let your unique voice contribute to the conversation of the world."

Hunter: (Laughs) I'm not sure how many people will agree, but it's always F-sharp for me.

Evergreen is available now on all streaming platforms. Don't miss Hunter in a city near you on his spring tour (tickets here).

(Special thanks to Jennette Firriolo for editing assistance.)