Hunter Hayes Quotes

Every demo I do has a mandolin or resonator on it - some element of the bluegrass or classic country world that I grew up listening to and that first drew me in. And then I always try to find somewhere for a bluesy guitar sound, because that's also what I love.

I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references.

When we moved back to the US, folk music was all the rage. So I traded in my banjo for a guitar.

Bluegrass is really a big part of my background.

I really haven't strayed too far, musically, from my roots.

I'm a country singer. I love all kinds of music, but country is where my loyalty lies. That's just me and what I do, and I'm not going to change it.

Folk music is where I come from originally. The very first thing that introduced me to playing guitars at all was skiffle - my cousin had been in London the summer that skiffle was big.

I like all kinds of music. I listen to Abigail Washburn, the Punch Brothers, and Marc Johnson, the great clawhammer player. I also listen a lot to Sirius Radio, there's a lot of bluegrass there.

When I was in Boston, I was doing a lot of Americana stuff - I fell in love with Ray LaMontagne, Patty Griffin, and Neil Young.

I think Alison Krauss and her band are the best today. The same goes for Rick Skaggs and his band.

I'm a big Johnny Cash girl. And I love singers like Laura Marling and Joanna Newsom.

I want to make music that somehow connects to the things that I love in America music.

I am fascinated by the places that music comes from, like fife-and-drum blues from southern Mississippi or Cajun music out of Lafayette, Louisiana, shape-note singing, old harp singing from the mountains - I love that stuff. It's like the beginning of rock and roll: something comes down from the hills, and something comes up from the delta.

I hope that country music embraces me because I grew up on it and have a love for the music.

Since the beginning, the people of the college and I have agreed that the music of MerleFest is 'traditional plus.'

Bluegrass is in my blood and in my ears.

In terms of exploring an identity in the country music world, what I realized very quickly was that there are people who have been performing country music since they were kids. It's very much a part of who they are; very much that jazz and blues are a part of who I am, because I grew up listening to and playing that kind of music.

Coming from bluegrass background, I totally understand family harmonies.

I was always into bluegrass as a kid. Basically, I like music that has a basic simple structure and that has a lot of emotion and feel. Bluegrass and other old time music fits the bill, as well as what became punk - they both kind of have a similar framework.

I grew up playing bluegrass as a youngster, and I'm happy that I did.

I've always had wanderlust to try and do different things, but I always return to the music of the Carter family.

Laurie Lewis' songs combine passion and sheer craft in a way you don't hear very often. Whatever country music is supposed to be, she's at the center of it.

There are a whole lot of Carter Family songs.

By the age of 15, I knew over 40 Hank Williams songs.

That's how I want to be with stuff: I always want to be in country music, first and foremost, forever.