April 8, 2024 • 14 mins
There is a ton going on in Sam Hunt's life but he took the time to catch up with Wayne D to talk abou this new ep, "Locked Up!" He's seen so much success in his career but there is one song he wishes fans would let him rest, it'll surpirse you which one he mentions!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
It's Wayne d hanging out. Sam. Thanks for taking the time out.
Man. You are you're a busyguy right now with the tour dates and
with new music and everything. How'slife. Life's good. We've been busy,
but it's been great. It's goodto be working and got my family
out on the road with me,which is nice, so I'm not missing
all the exciting developments at home.So everything's good. It was there ever
(00:25):
a time, you know, gettingmarried, thinking about starting a family.
Was there any part of you thatwas hesitant about starting the family, part
because of the road lifersus actually beinghome, or was the plan always like
y'all are coming with and the story? Huh? I think I put off
starting a family. I was sohyper focused on work and and then of
(00:49):
course, you know, to starta family, you want to make sure
you find the right woman to startthe family with. And I knew the
right woman was out there. Iknew it was Hanno, but my work
for a while got in the way. You know. We were we dated
and then weren't together, and thengot back together and then wanted to really
build a strong foundation to bring kidsinto the world for you know, with
(01:14):
and so that was a couple ofyears of that, you know, building
that with my wife and then stillworking hard and trying to figure that out.
But yeah, I was hesitant.I think I put it off longer
than I would have now, knowingwhat it's like having kids. But I
was, I think intimidated by itfor a few years there where I should
have just dove off in it anddone it well. And let me ask
(01:36):
you, your career has been sounique the way because not many people can
celebrate their rookie album Mantavallo and thesuccess it had. I mean some people
are like, hey, I gota couple of strong songs in Boom Montavallo
is a banger from start to finish? Right, how has that? How
has that molded the rest of yourcareer? Are you? Are you overthinking
(01:57):
things? Because that's as much assuccess is fantastic, stick in a creation
business like you're in, that thatcould also mess with you a little bit.
Yeah, there have definitely been someI don't want to call them downsides
because I wouldn't trade anything, butmaybe downsides to having an album do so
well right off the bat. Butthat being said, it built a foundation
(02:17):
that I'm still that I still have. My career is still anchored in that
in that album. You know,even on the road, or especially on
the road. Luckily, I've beenable to continue to have songs do well
over the years, but that albumstill holds down my entire career. So
I wouldn't trade anything for the successof that album. And I'm grateful that
(02:40):
people responded to the entire album.And I wish I could go back.
I wish I had the time todevote to creating an album the way I
did back when I made that album. It just it gets harder as you
get older, you know, andhave started family and get married and all
those sorts of things. But sucha romantic time in my life, and
(03:00):
I have so much, so muchnostalgia for that era of my life and
that album. I'm just I'm sograteful for and I'm so grateful for the
folks who appreciate that album and whocontinue to come out and sing those songs
with us to this day. I'mgoing to use the word frustration, and
from the minimal interactions I get tohave with you, I feel like that's
not the right word, but it'sgonna be what fits best. Is there
(03:23):
any frustration as you continue to workyour behind off and you continue to create,
and you continue to tour. Isthere any frustration with the legacy that
that album started your career with tonow being like, yeah, hey,
guys, I'm still making music.I'm still making good music. Maybe you
could wrap your arms around a B. C. D. And not that
(03:44):
they haven't, right, but yeah, I think, well, I think
I need to learn, not thatI haven't, but I'd like to really
write music and make music that reflectsthis era of my life as authentically as
that music to that era of mylife, which has been the tricky part.
And I hope to be able todo that. But I don't know
(04:06):
for sure if the music that I'vewritten since has done it as well as
that album did. But so Ithink that's some of the disconnect. I
think that's why there may be moresome more appreciators of that album and that
era and folks who want me tomake music like Mounto Vallo. But I
think it's less about making music thatsounds like mounta Vallo, but making sure
(04:29):
the connection between the music and meand myself is as strong as that album
and who I was then was.If that makes sense, Yeah, No,
one hundred percent. And that's thething is somebody who has been to
shows, somebody who's interacted with youyou, that's a that's a chapter in
your in the book of your life. Right. The music you're creating now
is where you are now. Andlet me tell you, as a fan
(04:51):
of what you do, I'm notsaying like mounta Vallo is great and what
you're doing now is still good.No, it's all fantastic. It's just
you're on a different part of thespectrum in your storytelling. So bring me
to this EP. Why does anEP make sense versus an album? Because
to a fan, they don't getit right. That's more of like a
back end thing. But why anEP versus I'll just put a couple of
(05:15):
songs out or let's hang on tothis for an album. Yeah, the
I think if I had my druthers, I would put out all the songs,
the last ten songs that I putout. I'd put them all out
at once on a record because theyall were written from the perspective of writing
for an album. So I considerthose ten songs an album. But then
you know, when I put themout over the last two and a half
(05:38):
years, so I don't want tobundle them up now with these last three
songs and call that an album,because I know that makes people roll their
eyes and say, well, thesesongs, this is not an album.
These songs have already been out.So but then I'm also caught between having
to fulfill my obligations to my recordlabel. So there's that whole thing going
on behind the scenes where you knowyou owe them albums and you've got to
(06:01):
package them a certain way and getit done a certain way so that you
can get out of your record dealor progress in your record deal. But
so all that considered that, thecouple songs at a time has been my
approach. But these songs really andmaybe for posterity sake, at some point
(06:23):
in time, I'd like to putthem all together, just so ten twenty
years from now when you look backat you can look back at these songs
as albums. You know they'll beMount Vlos, Southside and then whatever these
ten songs are potentially called. Butfor now, getting getting them out I
needed to. I needed to packagein this way for a lot of reasons.
But this will be the end ofthe last ten song chapter, I
(06:46):
guess, and I can start freshafter this. Do you hope to now
that you know this this ep essentiallylike closes the book on where you were?
Are you already working on where youare and where you're going? Then?
Yeah, I've already been putting alot of thought into it and really
more than that excited about diving offinto that next step. I'm gonna I'm
touring quite a bit this year,but not next year, and we'll see
(07:10):
about the you after that. ButI really want to take the time to
try my best to write right rightand put together a batch of songs and
put them all out. Whether Ican wait and put them all out at
once, I don't know if I'llbe able to do that or not.
You know, there's always that thingin the back of your mind where you
don't want to go away for toolong. But you know, if it's
(07:32):
a necessary part of putting out aproject that people can connect to more,
then I'd rather have maybe less peopleconnect to the music more than more people
kind of passively interested in it,which makes fantastic sense. I want to
touch on the creation part in asecond here, but I want to ask
you about the tour. Locked Upis a song that I've seen get attention
(07:57):
before you released it on social media, and now that you release it,
it feels like fans were kind ofwaiting for that. So one, did
you dangle that carrot on purpose?And like there was a right time?
And then why is that song strongenough to be able to hold the spot
on the EP that it does andnow it's the name of the tour.
Yeah, I think I didn't.There wasn't a marketing plan with putting out
(08:20):
pieces of the song and then mappingout dropping the song a year later or
however long it was. When Ihave a new little snippet of an idea
or a song and I'm sitting onit, it's hard for me to sit
on it for a long period oftime. So if I can play it
at something like the luncheon, youknow the UMG luncheon that we do at
the Rhyman, which is where Iplayed Locked Up last year, or maybe
(08:41):
a little video and a green roomsomewhere, I'll play a piece of a
new song, even if I knowit won't be out for a while.
It's just just as a message tothe fans and I am working on new
music. Here's a little piece ofsomething I don't know, and I'll be
able to get in the studio andget it recorded and out, but but
I am working on it and Iwant you guys to hear it. And
so here's a of it, andthat song specifically, I think because it
(09:03):
has a little bit of life andmaybe to the most devoted of our fans
who paid closer attention than the broaderaudience. But for them, they'll they'll
remember those little snippets and hopefully theyknow that I'm not playing games or anything
like that. I'm just excited toget out new music and i want them
to know that I'm thinking about them, and I want to keep our relationship
(09:26):
strong by staying in touch. It'slike old friends. You want to connect
every once in a while, evenif you don't have a song ready to
put out. How hands on areyou with picking the people that are going
to be a part of your tour, Because I know, sometimes it happens
organically, and then sometimes there's somesuggestions and spots to feel so you like
sounds good. Yeah, sometimes it'shappened in a lot of different ways.
(09:48):
I like for there to be aconnection of some kind to the people that
I'm on tour with not just likebooking agic calling and saying the metrics show
that this artist is doing well herethere, and so they'll help you cell
tickets. I like for there tobe a connection, and so typically there'll
be a list of folks who wecould potentially reach out to and and I'll
(10:11):
try to find connections with those people, whether it be personal relationships or maybe
I've heard their music or seen avideo of them and I just saw something
that I connected within them, inthem as a human being, and that's
that's kind of how I approach it, and then make the decision from there.
(10:31):
Because I see you got Russell Dickersonobviously great newer artists that are starting
to get some traction. Between DaltonDover and George burs that's going to be
an awesome tour. And with theEP out Friday, I wanted to ask
you because of the success you've hadon not just the radio singles, but
I mean, you have to admitthat some of your album cuts rival the
(10:52):
radio success on a lot of musicyou put out, which there's a lot
of artists that can't say that.Right between all of between all of that,
what's the song that you're surprised tothis day still connects And what's the
song that you're like, I lovey'all. But if I could not perform
this for a couple of tour stops, I'd appreciate it. That's a good
(11:13):
question. To the first part ofthat question, I would say Ecstasy for
my first album. Still, weplay that almost last in the set,
and it feels like a crescendo moment. We really go all out with the
production on it and have even beefedup the music relative to the album recording
(11:33):
and the energy of that song,you know, it's kind of the show
starts with a lightheartedness and it growsinto this more this stronger, more assertive
minor chord section, which is whichhas like break up in a small town
and an ecstasy. So it givesme an opportunity for my shadow side to
(11:56):
come out a little bit during theshow and I can size that muscle.
But as far as a song thatI would rather that I'd be good with
taking out of the set, Iwould have said before this tour, I
would have said raised on it.But now we kick off the show with
it, and we've built this wholeintro into the song and I don't know.
(12:20):
I've come around on it since playingit first on this tour, so
maybe i'd have to pick another one, But off the top of my head,
that's the one that I would say, because I've been playing it the
longest. Probably last thing I wantto ask you before we let you go
is the EP. By the timewe get this out, the EP will
be out. Is there a songon there that you're great at telling stories
(12:43):
through your music, right, andwhether it's upbeat or it's a slower song,
like there's some feeling in the wordsand the lyrics that you put to
the music. Is there a storythat was tougher to tell than others in
this EP for fans? Huh?I don't guess. So, you know,
I have the song locked Up,which was a title I had,
(13:07):
and I have my own personal experienceswith with with being locked up, but
I wanted to tell the story fromthe wanted to zoom out and make make
it more about a guy who's messedup and his lady stays with him regardless,
(13:28):
more about that than it was abouta specific experience with getting locked up.
You know. I have another song, cop Card, that I wrote
back in the day with another songabout run ins with the police, a
run in with the police, andthat one is more detailed. It tells
the story, the personal story ofthat guy and how he ended up having
a run in. This one ismore just simply the night I got locked
(13:48):
up, and aside from that,you don't hear any details. You don't
know really what happened, and Iwanted to make sure to keep it that
way for this one. So itmay seem personal from the outside looking in
if you know some of my history, but it wasn't necessarily me delving into
my past or a unique experience specificallythat I had. Well, Sam,
I know you're busy and you gota lot of these lined up today and
(14:09):
you need to get home before allof Nashville ends up flying into Mississippi.
You're always a world class dude.I'm a fan of what you do,
especially and personally, so thanks fortaking the time, dude, I appreciate
you a lot. Man, it'sgood talking to you. Likewise, take
care of Samsley, buddy,
It's Wayne d hanging out. Sam. Thanks for taking the time out.
Man. You are you're a busyguy right now with the tour dates and
with new music and everything. How'slife. Life's good. We've been busy,
but it's been great. It's goodto be working and got my family
out on the road with me,which is nice, so I'm not missing
all the exciting developments at home.So everything's good. It was there ever
(00:25):
a time, you know, gettingmarried, thinking about starting a family.
Was there any part of you thatwas hesitant about starting the family, part
because of the road lifersus actually beinghome, or was the plan always like
y'all are coming with and the story? Huh? I think I put off
starting a family. I was sohyper focused on work and and then of
(00:49):
course, you know, to starta family, you want to make sure
you find the right woman to startthe family with. And I knew the
right woman was out there. Iknew it was Hanno, but my work
for a while got in the way. You know. We were we dated
and then weren't together, and thengot back together and then wanted to really
build a strong foundation to bring kidsinto the world for you know, with
(01:14):
and so that was a couple ofyears of that, you know, building
that with my wife and then stillworking hard and trying to figure that out.
But yeah, I was hesitant.I think I put it off longer
than I would have now, knowingwhat it's like having kids. But I
was, I think intimidated by itfor a few years there where I should
have just dove off in it anddone it well. And let me ask
(01:36):
you, your career has been sounique the way because not many people can
celebrate their rookie album Mantavallo and thesuccess it had. I mean some people
are like, hey, I gota couple of strong songs in Boom Montavallo
is a banger from start to finish? Right, how has that? How
has that molded the rest of yourcareer? Are you? Are you overthinking
(01:57):
things? Because that's as much assuccess is fantastic, stick in a creation
business like you're in, that thatcould also mess with you a little bit.
Yeah, there have definitely been someI don't want to call them downsides
because I wouldn't trade anything, butmaybe downsides to having an album do so
well right off the bat. Butthat being said, it built a foundation
(02:17):
that I'm still that I still have. My career is still anchored in that
in that album. You know,even on the road, or especially on
the road. Luckily, I've beenable to continue to have songs do well
over the years, but that albumstill holds down my entire career. So
I wouldn't trade anything for the successof that album. And I'm grateful that
(02:40):
people responded to the entire album.And I wish I could go back.
I wish I had the time todevote to creating an album the way I
did back when I made that album. It just it gets harder as you
get older, you know, andhave started family and get married and all
those sorts of things. But sucha romantic time in my life, and
(03:00):
I have so much, so muchnostalgia for that era of my life and
that album. I'm just I'm sograteful for and I'm so grateful for the
folks who appreciate that album and whocontinue to come out and sing those songs
with us to this day. I'mgoing to use the word frustration, and
from the minimal interactions I get tohave with you, I feel like that's
not the right word, but it'sgonna be what fits best. Is there
(03:23):
any frustration as you continue to workyour behind off and you continue to create,
and you continue to tour. Isthere any frustration with the legacy that
that album started your career with tonow being like, yeah, hey,
guys, I'm still making music.I'm still making good music. Maybe you
could wrap your arms around a B. C. D. And not that
(03:44):
they haven't, right, but yeah, I think, well, I think
I need to learn, not thatI haven't, but I'd like to really
write music and make music that reflectsthis era of my life as authentically as
that music to that era of mylife, which has been the tricky part.
And I hope to be able todo that. But I don't know
(04:06):
for sure if the music that I'vewritten since has done it as well as
that album did. But so Ithink that's some of the disconnect. I
think that's why there may be moresome more appreciators of that album and that
era and folks who want me tomake music like Mounto Vallo. But I
think it's less about making music thatsounds like mounta Vallo, but making sure
(04:29):
the connection between the music and meand myself is as strong as that album
and who I was then was.If that makes sense, Yeah, No,
one hundred percent. And that's thething is somebody who has been to
shows, somebody who's interacted with youyou, that's a that's a chapter in
your in the book of your life. Right. The music you're creating now
is where you are now. Andlet me tell you, as a fan
(04:51):
of what you do, I'm notsaying like mounta Vallo is great and what
you're doing now is still good.No, it's all fantastic. It's just
you're on a different part of thespectrum in your storytelling. So bring me
to this EP. Why does anEP make sense versus an album? Because
to a fan, they don't getit right. That's more of like a
back end thing. But why anEP versus I'll just put a couple of
(05:15):
songs out or let's hang on tothis for an album. Yeah, the
I think if I had my druthers, I would put out all the songs,
the last ten songs that I putout. I'd put them all out
at once on a record because theyall were written from the perspective of writing
for an album. So I considerthose ten songs an album. But then
you know, when I put themout over the last two and a half
(05:38):
years, so I don't want tobundle them up now with these last three
songs and call that an album,because I know that makes people roll their
eyes and say, well, thesesongs, this is not an album.
These songs have already been out.So but then I'm also caught between having
to fulfill my obligations to my recordlabel. So there's that whole thing going
on behind the scenes where you knowyou owe them albums and you've got to
(06:01):
package them a certain way and getit done a certain way so that you
can get out of your record dealor progress in your record deal. But
so all that considered that, thecouple songs at a time has been my
approach. But these songs really andmaybe for posterity sake, at some point
(06:23):
in time, I'd like to putthem all together, just so ten twenty
years from now when you look backat you can look back at these songs
as albums. You know they'll beMount Vlos, Southside and then whatever these
ten songs are potentially called. Butfor now, getting getting them out I
needed to. I needed to packagein this way for a lot of reasons.
But this will be the end ofthe last ten song chapter, I
(06:46):
guess, and I can start freshafter this. Do you hope to now
that you know this this ep essentiallylike closes the book on where you were?
Are you already working on where youare and where you're going? Then?
Yeah, I've already been putting alot of thought into it and really
more than that excited about diving offinto that next step. I'm gonna I'm
touring quite a bit this year,but not next year, and we'll see
(07:10):
about the you after that. ButI really want to take the time to
try my best to write right rightand put together a batch of songs and
put them all out. Whether Ican wait and put them all out at
once, I don't know if I'llbe able to do that or not.
You know, there's always that thingin the back of your mind where you
don't want to go away for toolong. But you know, if it's
(07:32):
a necessary part of putting out aproject that people can connect to more,
then I'd rather have maybe less peopleconnect to the music more than more people
kind of passively interested in it,which makes fantastic sense. I want to
touch on the creation part in asecond here, but I want to ask
you about the tour. Locked Upis a song that I've seen get attention
(07:57):
before you released it on social media, and now that you release it,
it feels like fans were kind ofwaiting for that. So one, did
you dangle that carrot on purpose?And like there was a right time?
And then why is that song strongenough to be able to hold the spot
on the EP that it does andnow it's the name of the tour.
Yeah, I think I didn't.There wasn't a marketing plan with putting out
(08:20):
pieces of the song and then mappingout dropping the song a year later or
however long it was. When Ihave a new little snippet of an idea
or a song and I'm sitting onit, it's hard for me to sit
on it for a long period oftime. So if I can play it
at something like the luncheon, youknow the UMG luncheon that we do at
the Rhyman, which is where Iplayed Locked Up last year, or maybe
(08:41):
a little video and a green roomsomewhere, I'll play a piece of a
new song, even if I knowit won't be out for a while.
It's just just as a message tothe fans and I am working on new
music. Here's a little piece ofsomething I don't know, and I'll be
able to get in the studio andget it recorded and out, but but
I am working on it and Iwant you guys to hear it. And
so here's a of it, andthat song specifically, I think because it
(09:03):
has a little bit of life andmaybe to the most devoted of our fans
who paid closer attention than the broaderaudience. But for them, they'll they'll
remember those little snippets and hopefully theyknow that I'm not playing games or anything
like that. I'm just excited toget out new music and i want them
to know that I'm thinking about them, and I want to keep our relationship
(09:26):
strong by staying in touch. It'slike old friends. You want to connect
every once in a while, evenif you don't have a song ready to
put out. How hands on areyou with picking the people that are going
to be a part of your tour, Because I know, sometimes it happens
organically, and then sometimes there's somesuggestions and spots to feel so you like
sounds good. Yeah, sometimes it'shappened in a lot of different ways.
(09:48):
I like for there to be aconnection of some kind to the people that
I'm on tour with not just likebooking agic calling and saying the metrics show
that this artist is doing well herethere, and so they'll help you cell
tickets. I like for there tobe a connection, and so typically there'll
be a list of folks who wecould potentially reach out to and and I'll
(10:11):
try to find connections with those people, whether it be personal relationships or maybe
I've heard their music or seen avideo of them and I just saw something
that I connected within them, inthem as a human being, and that's
that's kind of how I approach it, and then make the decision from there.
(10:31):
Because I see you got Russell Dickersonobviously great newer artists that are starting
to get some traction. Between DaltonDover and George burs that's going to be
an awesome tour. And with theEP out Friday, I wanted to ask
you because of the success you've hadon not just the radio singles, but
I mean, you have to admitthat some of your album cuts rival the
(10:52):
radio success on a lot of musicyou put out, which there's a lot
of artists that can't say that.Right between all of between all of that,
what's the song that you're surprised tothis day still connects And what's the
song that you're like, I lovey'all. But if I could not perform
this for a couple of tour stops, I'd appreciate it. That's a good
(11:13):
question. To the first part ofthat question, I would say Ecstasy for
my first album. Still, weplay that almost last in the set,
and it feels like a crescendo moment. We really go all out with the
production on it and have even beefedup the music relative to the album recording
(11:33):
and the energy of that song,you know, it's kind of the show
starts with a lightheartedness and it growsinto this more this stronger, more assertive
minor chord section, which is whichhas like break up in a small town
and an ecstasy. So it givesme an opportunity for my shadow side to
(11:56):
come out a little bit during theshow and I can size that muscle.
But as far as a song thatI would rather that I'd be good with
taking out of the set, Iwould have said before this tour, I
would have said raised on it.But now we kick off the show with
it, and we've built this wholeintro into the song and I don't know.
(12:20):
I've come around on it since playingit first on this tour, so
maybe i'd have to pick another one, But off the top of my head,
that's the one that I would say, because I've been playing it the
longest. Probably last thing I wantto ask you before we let you go
is the EP. By the timewe get this out, the EP will
be out. Is there a songon there that you're great at telling stories
(12:43):
through your music, right, andwhether it's upbeat or it's a slower song,
like there's some feeling in the wordsand the lyrics that you put to
the music. Is there a storythat was tougher to tell than others in
this EP for fans? Huh?I don't guess. So, you know,
I have the song locked Up,which was a title I had,
(13:07):
and I have my own personal experienceswith with with being locked up, but
I wanted to tell the story fromthe wanted to zoom out and make make
it more about a guy who's messedup and his lady stays with him regardless,
(13:28):
more about that than it was abouta specific experience with getting locked up.
You know. I have another song, cop Card, that I wrote
back in the day with another songabout run ins with the police, a
run in with the police, andthat one is more detailed. It tells
the story, the personal story ofthat guy and how he ended up having
a run in. This one ismore just simply the night I got locked
(13:48):
up, and aside from that,you don't hear any details. You don't
know really what happened, and Iwanted to make sure to keep it that
way for this one. So itmay seem personal from the outside looking in
if you know some of my history, but it wasn't necessarily me delving into
my past or a unique experience specificallythat I had. Well, Sam,
I know you're busy and you gota lot of these lined up today and
(14:09):
you need to get home before allof Nashville ends up flying into Mississippi.
You're always a world class dude.I'm a fan of what you do,
especially and personally, so thanks fortaking the time, dude, I appreciate
you a lot. Man, it'sgood talking to you. Likewise, take
care of Samsley, buddy,
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The Podium: An NBC Olympic and Paralympic podcast. Join us for insider coverage during the intense competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the run-up to the Opening Ceremony, we’ll bring you deep into the stories and events that have you know and those you'll be hard-pressed to forget.
2. In The Village
In The Village will take you into the most exclusive areas of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to explore the daily life of athletes, complete with all the funny, mundane and unexpected things you learn off the field of play. Join Elizabeth Beisel as she sits down with Olympians each day in Paris.
3. iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2024 Olympics.