An Interview With Rodney Hayden

We were fortunate to have Rodney Hayden agree to an email interview and in my opinion he hit a grand slam with each one of his answers. After you get done reading what he has to say, head on over to his MySpace to hear some of his music, or visit his website at RodneyHayden.com.

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Let’s start out with something easy. Out of all your songs, which is your favorite?
My favorite song is probably “Goodbye To My Hometown” which is off my second album, Living The Good Life. Mainly because it’s personal, about the town I grew up in. Although with the new album I have 11 new favorite songs. As most writers are I’m partial to the newest ones, and can’t wait to start playing them out live.

If you could perform with any single artist, past or present, who would it be?
I’ve been very fortunate in that aspect, having played Willie’s Picnic a few years back and even getting to sing “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” around the same mic as Willie and Pat and Cory. I’ve also been on most of the Robert Earl Keen Texas Uprisings and played a ton of shows with him which have always stood out as my favorites. I’ve also had the opportunity to open a few shows for Merle Haggard……..but with all that being said I’d love the chance to do those all again. If I could preform with one single artist from the past it would hands down be Hank Sr, or for that matter if I could just see him preform would be good enough for me.

You mention on your MySpace profile that some of your influences are old school/traditional country guys like George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Hank Sr., all whom we have an immense amount of admiration for, but today’s mainstream country sounds nothing like those guys. Do you have an opinion on today’s mainstream country (do you like it, not like it, is it too pop, etc.)?
I don’t listen to the radio much anymore, unless it’s an Americana type station. I don’t have anything against mainstream country, and enjoy some of it. I think Alan Jackson is about as talented as anyone that has ever played country music. I also really like Gary Allan and Dierks Bentley….but for the most part it’s just not real. I don’t think it should sound retro, music is supposed to grow and change, but it should also always come from a real place and most music today doesn’t do that.

You went to Nashville for two years and then came back to Texas, what made you decide to leave Nashville?
I was just tired of writing everyday. I was given a great opportunity to write songs for a publishing company and I don’t take that for granted. There’s thousands of people in Nashville that would kill to have been in the position that I was in and I am grateful for that. However, at some point I was looking at my future and trying to figure out what I wanted to do and realized that I didn’t start playing music to sit and write everyday, it
started feeling like a job at some point and I decided to start travelling a little and playing a few shows again. Which in turn led me to want to cut a
new album. About this time I just decided to move back to TX and release this new album on my own label, which I have never done before. I loved the two years that I was in Nashville and made some great friends but it all boils down to the fact that I’m more comfortable here and feel like it’s where I should be.

What would you say are the main differences between the country music scenes in the two places?
Nashville is more about business than anything else. Although some of the best musicians, writers and singers in the world live there, at the end of the day it’s about the business. In Texas it’s more about music and freedom. The musicianship in Nashville is amazing, you can’t beat that. At the same time though, the fans in Texas are what makes it happen. It’s not anyone’s decision here on success or failure except the fans, which is a very cool thing. I loved being in Nashville but am really excited to be back. The thing I’ll miss the most about Nashville is that I was writing during the day but free to go out at night more, and every few weeks Brandon Rhyder, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen or someone from TX would be in town playing or writing and we’d get to hang out a lot more than we ever have down here, which is funny. But everyone’s so busy with shows here it makes it hard.

Can you think of any artists who you think should be getting more recognition than they are?
I don’t think Hayes Carll could get enough recognition…..he’s one of the best and I’m glad to see that he’s doing well. I’m also really happy that Brandon, Randy and Wade are having the success they deserve. I have so many friends that I’d like to see do well…..and it seems like most of them are. Peter Dawson is great, and I think he’s due for more recognition…..whether it be in Nashville or Texas. I’m also a big fan of Drew Kennedy’s……the list goes on and on. How about me? I think I need some more recognition……ha.

You have a new album coming out sometime early this year, did you write most of the songs?
Yeah, I wrote 6 of the songs by myself and co-wrote five of them. There’s a couple with Bill Whitbeck, Robert Earl Keen, Trent Summar and Byron Hill. It’s a pretty good list of co-writers.

Is there anything you would you like to say to your fans out there reading this?
I’m just happy to be back. It’s been 3 years since my last album and I can’t wait for people to hear the new songs. I’m also really excited about getting back on the road and hopefully people will feel the same way. We have a lot of good things happening right now and I am appreciative for all of it. Check out the website www.rodneyhayden.com and come see us.