Hunter Hayes has captivated the world with his music and on April 16, 2016, the five-time Grammy nominee took the stage at Fifth Third Bank Stadium to mesmerize KSU students with his talent.
Hayes’ stop in Kennesaw kicked off his return to life on the road. Since he first began touring in 2011, it’s as if Hayes has been touring non-stop. This past year, he supported Lady Antebellum on the Wheels Up tour and headlined his own tour, the 21 tour.
“I love the constant motion of being on the road. Performing is the most spectacular part of a song’s life. It’s what you write records for,” Hayes said.
This break from touring has allowed him to be in full song-writing mode for his upcoming full-length studio album. As of now, Hayes has written 80 potential songs for the album.
During his show at KSU, Hayes performed a number of songs from his album “The 21 Project.” What makes “The 21 Project” special is that there are three versions of each song from his original album, “21,” on it as well as two new tracks. There is a studio version, live performance, and acoustic version of each song. Hayes pulled the live recording audio from his most recent tour and composed the acoustic portion of the album in the matter of six days.
“We wanted to have some fun, experiment, and try something we had never done before,” he said.
Aside from being incredibly hard-working, Hayes remains humble, especially when it comes to the fans. “My favorite part about connecting with fans are their personal stories, talking about a song or lyric they connected with, or seeing a tattoo of a lyric I wrote. It’s a huge blessing to be able to connect with someone who connects with the feeling I had writing it. You never get used to it,” Hayes said.
Connecting with college students is a big part of his work as well. Last year, His entire 21 tour was aimed at connecting with students on their campuses. At only 24 years old, he’s around the same age as many of the crowds he plays to. The energy of a college campus allows him to stop thinking in terms of production, and allows him time to just be a person on stage.
“We’re both going through something very similar. There’s this pressure to figure out what we’re going to do with the next chapter of our lives. But it’s still an exciting moment in our lives,” he said.
Tickets to his show start at $25 and can be purchased at www.wherekennesawplaces.com. Prices will increase the day of the show.
