A five-time Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist and the youngest male act ever to top the Billboard Hot Country song chart, Hayes was ready to lean into a mindset he’d always carried with him: that genres are fluid, and, in his eyes, the best musicians are the ones able to play with all sorts of sounds and styles.

Following a decade of playing by the rules and sticking to country music conventions, Hayes is, at last, doubling down on his ever-searching musical mindset: throwing genre conventions out the window, playing with “all the sounds” he’s influenced by, and, most importantly, trusting himself in his quest to lean into his pop and alternative rock influences. Or, in other words, as Hayes succinctly puts it: “I’m creating my own rules to play by so I don’t have to play by anyone else’s.”

It’s this new no-holds-barred mindset that’s resulted in some of Hayes’ most inspired music yet. On his forthcoming new album, Red Sky, the singer-songwriter is executing at the highest level of his musical career: crafting memorable melodies and instantly catchy hooks albeit with a top-notch musician’s discerning ear. 

In an effort to expand beyond his country past, Hayes enlisted a team of respected pop maestros for his new project: he tapped a crew of talented pop songwriters to help him craft bold new tunes, including the likes of Kevin Griffin (Taylor Swift, Train, Patrick Droney),Dan Book (Britney Spears, All Time Low), Rollo (Ava Max, Noah Cyrus, BTS), Alex Delicata (Beyoncé, OneRepublic), and Aaron Zuckerman (Alec Benjamin, LANY).

Support: Loren Gray