Hunter Hayes Rescue: An Album a Day

An Album a Day is posted 5 days a week, Monday-Friday.

    It might be a bit surprising given how rock centric all of my reviews have been thus far, but I really enjoy good country music. As a resident of the great state of Louisiana I do consider myself a southerner, even if New Orleans isn’t quite tractor country. The down to earth storytelling offset by phenomenal instrumentation of old school country music has always been an appealing combination to me. That’s one of the reasons why I dislike modern country music almost as much as I like the genre’s roots.

    While old school country artists were storytellers with a guitar and a backing band of studio musicians, modern country music is dominated by arrogant frat boys with a severe crush on hip hop. Artists like Florida-Georgia Line, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt have turned popular country into hip hop with banjos and a twang. Among these bro country artists the only one’s who were remotely believable to me were Jason Aldean and Eric Church, largely because they kept the storyteller side of country music.

    One of the best examples of a middle ground between the extremes of old school country and modern hick hop frat boy music is Hunter Hayes. While Hayes’ songs haven’t usually been much deeper than fairly vague love songs, he has all of the believable charm that country music is known for. Hayes’ style is closer to acts like Lonestar or Rascal Flatts from the early 2000’s than anything going on today, blending soft rock elements in with an overall county vibe.

    Another thing that makes me tolerate Hayes way better than most of his peers is his musicianship, having recorded all of the instruments on his debut album in 2011. His new single Rescue shows off his country soft rock sound, with him playing some really tasty guitar licks throughout and even taking a solo on the bridge. Much like Jason Aldean, Hayes stays relevant sounding by blending rock elements and poppier background synths with a legitimate country sound.

    Rescue showcases Hayes talents well, selling a vague yet realistic love song with his vocal performance while the instrumentation is a solid blend of blues, country and pop. This is him at his best, making a modern song that bridges to the heart of old school country. Much like Carrie Underwood, Hayes is believably country in a way that lets him sell songs that are not blatantly country.

Overall I’m not saying that Hayes is a shining example of old school country still around today, that would be Chris Stapleton. But what Hayes is, is a good bridge between the crappy over polished hick hop of the 2010’s and the storytelling raw country of Stapleton. The bottom line in country music is authenticity, and  Hayes, along with artists like Jason Aldean and Eric Church is able to make pop country sound authentic.
Single on Google Play
Single on ITunes
Single on Amazon