Christian Hayes was 7 years old when his Grandpa Jack gave him his first journal. He told the child the empty pages were a place for him to write whatever he wanted – poems, songs, or feelings – and that his words were one of the few things that were solely his.
Now Hayes, a poetic and articulate singer-songwriter from the foothills of Appalachia, is sharing his reflective words with the world.
Hayes' new song "Cheyenne" is out now. Listen below.
An expressive, melodic journey through self-discovery and heartbreak, "Cheyenne" combines the storytelling and phrasing from Hayes' James Taylor influence with the Americana country roots vibe he picked up from admiring the Eagles and the gutsy lyrical sense he learned from spinning The Chicks.
The song was inspired by a conversation with his dad. Hayes was working for his girlfriend’s father selling oil and gas, often clocking in 14-16 hour days, sometimes seven days a week. Neither his personal nor professional relationship with the family were going as he’d hoped.
“Dad was like, ‘I'm giving you permission to run away and start over,’” Hayes recalled. “I was like, ‘Where do I go?' He said, ‘Go to Cheyenne.’ I wrote the song about me not being satisfied with who I was and feeling like I was always running away to things or running to something else and really wanting to, just wasn't satisfied with where I was in life.”
In a world where co-writing is king, Hayes wrote "Cheyenne" alone.
“When I first started writing, it was observational…a way to make sense of the feelings in my life,” the now 25 year old recalls of a path he set into motion more than a decade ago. “Then, a few years ago, the perspective I was writing from shifted from trying to make sense of the feelings I’ve felt to wanting to share them. I realized that I wasn’t the only one that felt alone in these emotions and thoughts - people are relating to my music in ways I never knew were possible.”
There's a grit and transparency to Hayes’ songs. His voice glides knowingly through the lyrics as if he's felt every word he sings. He comes from the heart of Rome, Georgia, and generations of storytellers. His friends call him The Lullaby Kid, and with the gift of cloaking the rawest of emotions in a hooky meter and a smooth but affected voice, the name fits.
"Music has always been in my life - it has been a constant in an inconsistent world," he states. "There isn't a single emotional state, nor stage of life, that music can't reach. It has the ability to touch life in a beautiful way."
He grew up surrounded by family, poverty and love. Hayes first picked up a guitar when he was 8 years old and started putting songwriting and guitar together. He prayed for God to help him learn guitar and checked out the “Guitar for Dummies" book at the local library for extra support. Hayes led worship in his church until he graduated high school and enrolled in the US Navy Reserve. He went to bootcamp and then the University of Alabama in the fall of 2018 where he wrote the first song that he says was “worth listening to twice.”
By the time Hayes moved to Nashville, he'd honed his craft, turning those experiences into over 900 songs. He released his debut single, "Leaving," in February, earning a much-coveted place on Spotify's Fresh Finds Country playlist and placement on Apple Music's Country Risers, New In Country, Speakin' Easy and Pickers.
Hayes released "LILY" in April, which has organically earned more than 2 million streams. While country music is thick with Georgia singers, Hayes is of a different stock. Born from his writing in his journal, Hayes' songs are a collection of real-life feelings and coarse emotions he wants to share with the world. He hopes his music means something to people.
For more information and updates, visit ChristianHayesMusic.com or follow @ChristianKHayes on Instagram, @ChistianKHayes on TikTok and Christian Hayes on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Noah Mensink
