Singer Hunter Hayes sees clear sailing with 'Red Sky,' solo show coming to Stroudsburg

STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Back in 2015, singer Hunter Hayes already had a debut album that produced three platinum hits and four Grammy Award nominations and won him the Country Music Association’s New Artist of the Year.

Hayes also had a No. 1 sophomore album with a gold hit.

But Hayes decided to take a career turn that saw him release a series of stand-alone singles that only later were formed into "The 21 Project" album — a formula that was revolutionary at the time, but now has become standard in the music industry.

These days, Hayes again is forging a new path in the music industry.

In April, he left his longtime record label Atlantic/Warner to independently release "Red Sky," an album that also saw him delve into other genres.

And on Friday, Dec. 8, Hayes will stop at Stroudsburg's Sherman Theater as part of his Flying Solo Tour, which will have him alone on stage, performing stripped down versions of not only songs from "Red Sky," but also platinum hits such as "Wanted," "Somebody’s Heartbreak" and "I Want Crazy."

Tickets, at $25-$30, remain available at www.shermantheater.com, or $30-$35 at the door.

"It’s a new thing for me; I’ve never done it before," Hayes said of the tour in a phone call from his Nashville studio.

“But I’m really excited about a different format for a show that’s a little bit more spontaneous and very engaging with the room," he said with a laugh.

“It’s a very nerve-wracking feeling, I guess. You go from having a band and production and it’s all on you, but then there’s something really cool that happens when the fourth wall breaks, and then it’s just a very cool conversation musically with just the audience."

Hayes said it was the first time he was talking publicly about the show, and, "I’m still figuring out what secrets I want to give away or what things I want [audiences] to see for the first time."

But he said the idea includes some elements of another of his ventures — a YouTube series called "In The Lab" started during coronavirus lockdowns in which each episode had him perform three songs alone and detail his writing process.

"We wanted to bring it out on the road and I gave it a lot of thought," he said. "I modified it a bit, but turned back to the spirit of it.

"I’ve been wanting to do something with that spirit and with that tone for a long time, and I think that this thing’s gonna evolve on its own and it’s a chance for me just to be there on stage as it does, you know?”

Courtesy Jill Fritzo Public Relations

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Similar path to making 'Red Sky'

It was a similar desire to do something different that forged the path for "Red Sky," Hayes said.

"It was a chance for me to do all of the things I love doing," he said. "I don’t know if it was as much choosing for the album as it was choosing for the next experience.

"There were a lot of things that I experienced that I do very well because I’ve experienced for a long time and a lot of things that I hadn't experienced and hadn’t tried.

“So in the spirit of ‘How do I try things that I never tried? How do I put myself in a place where there is challenge and there is growth and there is the exercise in trusting myself?'

“Which is not to say I know best — I don’t," he said with a laugh. “I think if anything, this was a ‘Let me try something I haven’t done yet and learn from it.'"

Because "Red Sky" is Hayes' first independent album, "it’s not just some of what I love doing, it’s a lot of what I love doing," he said.

"So there’s familiar sounds on it, there’s a ton of songs on it that seem very familiar. But evolved — it’s an evolved version of things you’ve heard me do.

“And I think there are a couple of things you’ve not hear me do."

One example is "Something like ‘Lonely Loves Me," a slow, intense, largely vocal song.

"It is a different, odd one in that it’s all vocal-based," he said. "But I’ve always wanted to do something like that, you know?

Another is "Wallflower," a straight-up, pumping pop song with rock guitar.

"God, ‘Wallflower’ is still my favorite song on the album, just because of what it means to me" in the lyrics, Hayes said.

Swift changes?

Critics have pointed to "Wallflower" as evidence that Hayes has followed Taylor Swift, not only by going independent, but into the pop music field.

But Hayes said his music always has always been diverse.

After his debut single, "Wanted," sold five times platinum when he was just 19, his follow-up chart-topping hits "Somebody's Heartache" and "I Want Crazy," which sold platinum and double-platinum, respectively, were more in his original country style.

"I think when I get lost in the chaos, that is a great reminder of several things," Hayes said.

"Those things happened when I was brand new to town, I was just writing a letter to somebody. There was no calculations behind it, and I think that continues to encourage me to continue doing that. That continues to be the bar: Less calculation, more creation.

“And I’m really grateful for that. I’m grateful that early on, I got to see what it’s like to put in all that I needed, to commit to it wholeheartedly and then just sing to anyone who will listen, and they listened. And they continue to listen. And then they sing it back.

“That’s something I’m incredibly grateful for.”

Courtesy

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Andrew Zaeh / ZAEH LLC

But 2013 gold hit "Everybody's Got Somebody But Me," a duet with Jazon Mraz, was far more pop. And his 2014 gold hit "Invisible" dove into the issue of bullying.

“I think I do a lot of different things," he said. "At my core I’m a singer-songwriter — I love communicating music I write. I write so the people can feel sane, feel heard, feel like they’re not alone.

"I love writing about emotions — I think some concerts you go to, it’s for the next two hours you forget about everything that’s going on, and I think in my shows, there’s an element of my shows that for the next two hours, you're free to feel whatever you need to feel," he said with a laugh.

“I want my music to feel like therapy, you know? I want it to feel like a breath of fresh air and I think every song has its own personality.

“So I make a lot of different kinds of music. I wouldn’t put a magnifying glass or a spotlight on one specific genre, because I like a lot of different things and I’m influenced by a lot of different things. 

"Every song has its own unique set of things that go together really well. And when you find that, then you really pursue what every song wants to say. Every song tells you what it should sound like."

Diversified — and record-holding

Rather than focus "on one specific thing, ‘Red Sky’ is a lot of things," Hayes said.

He said "the track listing follows the hero’s journey" — a concept in mythology, in which the hero goes on an adventure, is victorious in a crisis and returns transformed.

“I was inspired by the hero’s journey," Hayes said. "This album is about a relationship with yourself. And I wanted people to view this album with a more, with a better, improved position with themselves.

"So yeah, it’s a journey. It’s a road trip that makes a lot of possible along the way. And that’s what I loved about making this album: There were no limits, there were no committees to vote on songs. It was an exercise in trusting my gut."

Hayes said the response has surprised him.

"I felt like that was one of the validating experiences of my life," he said. "I’m saying this because it was a beautiful surprise to me, the way that people connected with different songs and why.”

Courtesy

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Andrew Zaeh / ZAEH LLC

Hayes has diversified in other ways, too.

In May 2014, just before he headlined Allentown Fair, Hayes broke the Guinness World Record for the most concerts played in multiple cities in 24 hours by performing 10 shows — the last at Philadelphia’s former Trocadero Theatre at 5 a.m.

He said he still holds the record.

"The plaque’s the first thing you see when you walk in my house,” he said.

He also has been an ambassador for Martin Guitar. He said before that Allentown Fair show that he owned 10.

Nearly a decade later, how many does he own now?

“A few more," he said with a laugh. "I still value them. I have quite a few — they’re part of the family at this point.”