Hunter Hayes Jams With A Hero

Imagine being ten years old and meeting one of your musical heroes.  Then fast forward ten more years, and that hero is inviting you to play on his album.  That is what happened to Hunter Hayes.  He told the story to Lon Helton on Country Countdown USA: “Brad was doing an interview at a radio station in my hometown, and I had just got out of school, my mom and I were fans, and we went to the radio station, they let us in to watch the interview, I got to meet him, and I got to jam with him that night.  Fast forward years later, I played the Opry the same night he was, and I was standing side-stage hoping to watch the show, and he walks up beside me, and he goes, ‘You’ve grown up a little bit,’ and we laughed about that.  Then fast forward a few more years, and I get a call, that Brad Paisley, one of my guitar heroes, wants me to play on one of his songs on his record!  I’m so nervous, what can I contribute with a guitar player like that.  I brought a super-old amp, my favorite guitar, and I was going to do what I naturally do, and I hope he likes it.  So we listen to it back, and I said, ‘You are a huge influence on me, and part of what I’m doing is what you would do because that’s what I’ve learned from,’ and I said I’m having to fight that.  And he said, ‘Just play what you want.’  Sure enough, you have this combination of his sensibilities with whatever I do, and I had a blast playing on the track with him.  It was really fun.  I got to be a guitar player with one of my heroes.”

The song Hunter is talking about is called “Outstanding In Our Field,” and also features Dierks Bentley and the late Roger Miller.  It’s on Brad’s new CD, Wheelhouse, available April 9.

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