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. Musically, I'm always finding my way home.

A lot of my friends, they think I grew up to rock and roll, but I didn't. I grew up to Hank Williams, Jimmy Reid, Howlin' Wolf, listening to a race record, blues.

I don't really listen to pop-country, but I like really, really old country that's closer to folk. Like Johnny Cash, who is considered country.

When I was 12 years old I discovered Bill Monroe and my dad got me a mandolin.

I never get tired of exploring Americana or country music, and I always have a little bit of a crooner in me that never seems to go away.

I was never into the Bluegrass, Bill Monroe and stuff like that.

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.

I've been devoted to Alison Krauss for many, many years.

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

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

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.

When I do listen to music, I'm more prone to listen to the people I've always listened to: George Jones, Otis Redding, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris.

I was mainly influenced by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and others like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash.

I used to listen to country and western and blues, John Lee Hooker, spirituals, the Bluegrass Boys, and Eddie Arnold. There was a radio station that come on everyday with country, spirituals, and the blues.

Bluegrass is wonderful music. I'm glad I originated it.

A lot of great bluegrass comes out of Kentucky. There's a lot of great music, like the Judds, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ricky Skaggs, and Keith Whitley. There's a lot of bluegrass intertwined with country music.

Early Bluegrass is my favorite kind of music, not to many people know that.

I grew up with a heavy diet of gospel, folk, and blues because those are kind of the cornerstones of traditional American music.

I think Alison Krauss is one of the most amazing singers ever. As a songwriter - this is gonna sound cheesy - I love Randy Newman. And my mom passed on a love of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. At one point I was so into the Indigo Girls, just like I was so into the Dixie Chicks, those female harmonies.

I grew up in Arizona listening to Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton.

Coming from bluegrass background, I totally understand family harmonies.

Mostly I listen to old-time music, some bluegrass, some Americana stuff, too many to name. But of the younger acts, there are The Freight Hoppers, who were big in the '90s, and The Foghorn Stringband from Oregon, and there's a lot of young string bands coming up now, basically punkers who play acoustic instruments forming new bands.