Ever since Walker Hayes dropped his latest single “You Broke Up With Me” earlier this year, we knew it was going to be a hit.
The reactive track has such an upbeat vibe that will get your feet tapping from the minute it starts. Many fans seem to agree with our opinion, as the song is now on Country radio and has over 60,000 tracks downloaded and streaming figures surpassing 10 million.
Co-written by Hayes with Thomas Archer and Kylie Sackley, the song has two different meanings.
“So on the surface, it’s just about a guy who has been dumped and is going back out on the scene and is feeling good about himself. But then his ex shows up, and she is like ‘hey, I want to hang out again,’ and he is like ‘no, I don’t feel guilty because you broke up with me,’” Hayes shared exclusively with Celeb Secrets Country.
“But honestly, it is about the music industry,” he revealed. “I’ve been here 13 years; it has been a long, hard road. What happened was when I lost my last record deal, I lost a lot of friends. A lot of people who I thought were friends just vanished and didn’t want to write anymore, or didn’t want to hang. That hurt my feelings. But when I got signed back and stuff started happening, they came out again. My thought was, ‘hey, I’m sorry I can’t hang, but y’all did break up with me.’ So that is the real sentiment of the song, but I like both. I like the attitude of that phrase, what an empowering thing to say.”
Listen to “You Broke Up With Me” below…
Celeb Secrets Country caught Walker‘s performance at Bumble’s Hottest Date Night Ever show with Lady Antebellum and Brett Young during the 2017 CMA Music Festival in June. For those of you that haven’t seen Walker live before, he puts on an interactive show that is way more fun than your average country concert. He also uses a loop pedal, which is extremely difficult, but it appears as if he has mastered it! This raw talent is not something to look over. His songs are very unique and the lyrics are some of the most honest lyrics you will ever hear.
Read our complete Q&A with Walker Hayes below, as he talks about his music, Bumble, and more. You can keep up with his endeavors by following Walker on Twitter and Instagram.
Celeb Secrets Country: You clearly know how to work an audience, as we just saw at your performance at Bumble. How did you learn to do that?
Walker: “The loop does not come naturally, that is a lot of practice to build those beats. But, honestly I have the Blue Bird to thank for learning how to engage a crowd. I have played so many nights at the Blue Bird Cafe, when you’re doing a round, you really learn how to tell a story in a way that is engaging, or even in a bar setting. I love to share the stories. It has been crafted over the years.”
Celeb Secrets Country: How would you describe your sound for someone who hasn’t heard you yet?
Walker: “I would describe it as awesome, and as something they need in their record library. It’s a compilation of all of my influences. A lot of people compare it to Ed Sheeran meets Sam Hunt meets G Love. My first country record was Tim McGraw and I hope somebody can hear my honesty in the lyrics. There is no other genre where you can sing stories about your daughter’s thumb tacks in your car, I don’t hear pop people doing that. To me, that is why I am country. I love a lyric and a story and the truth. I would love people to classify it as whatever they want to.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What do you think makes you different from other artists?
Walker: “I think my lyrics, and how specific they are. I don’t insert a truck to be more generic, I talk about my Honda, because that is what I drive. A lot of things too, I don’t talk about drinking and partying a lot, I talk about quitting drinking because that is something I went through in the past year and a half. Also, just the style. I don’t think there are any country artists beatboxing.”
Celeb Secrets Country: If you were still on the dating scene, I see you’re married, would you be involved with Bumble?
Walker: “I would Bumble it all the way! The girl makes the first move, which is so easy! I would Bumble.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Since we are Celeb Secrets Country, do you have a secret or fun fact about yourself that you would like to share with us?
Walker: “I hate odd numbers. I am a counter. Every time I eat chips, I know how many bites I am taking and I always land on an even number. I don’t know why it is, but maybe it’s because I’m the 9th kid? I like to find a way out…if you say 57, I will think 5 + 7 is 12, which is a nice number.”
