Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist and platinum-selling artist Hunter Hayes has released the music video for “About A Boy” from his first independently released album Red Sky, due April 21.
“About a Boy” observes the rough edges of youth being softened and rounded over by the consistent rushing of the waters of life.
Twelve years after the release of his debut platinum country album in which he wrote or co-wrote every track and performed every instrument and vocal performance, Hunter Hayes is embracing his pop and rock influences while walking a fine line between what might feel too familiar and too far out in left field, with Hayes noting, “So I was constantly between a rock and a hard place of writing too safe of songs and pushing the boundaries. I don’t think I would be making this type of music had I not been holding off on doing so for so long,”
Exploring these new sonic territories is more fun with friends. For Red Sky Hunter enlists the help of the incredible songwriting talents 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) for an incredible collection of 15 tracks.
The album features the previously released singles “Friend,” “Sober” and “Victory,” “Someone Will,” “Normal,” and “Lonely Loves Me,” which have trickled to listeners over the last few years, but the timing for the release of “About a Boy” just prior to the album’s release draws parallels to the song’s message regarding the impetuous nature of youth, and the journey of growing up into an individual able to be at once both strong and sensitive.
”’About a Boy’ is about the challenge of accepting mistakes and confronting regret, while also hoping for someone else’s happiness in moving on,” said Hayes.
Even the musicality of the track pulls from these seemingly conflicted experiences. A bare and authentic singer-songwriter feel is augmented by an overall ambience that merges with growling and distorted guitars at select intervals.
If Hunter Hayes is trying to tell us “not to be sad about a boy” and to embrace all the experiences of maturing, we’d say, “Right back at you, Hunter.” Wherever you want to go creatively is fine by us.
“About a Boy” is thoughtful, uplifting and meaningful, and has a hook to back it up. Find it on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture Playlist on YouTube. Red Sky is available on all major platforms April 21.
Daniel Warren Hill is an American musician, writer, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the frontman for Washington DC area Alternative Rock band YellowTieGuy, as co-founder of Capitol Groove Collective, and increasing the exposure of artists on a global scale through his work with Alchemical Records.
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As a producer bringing some major events to Capital Pride this year, Zach Renovátes admits that he was keen to get Betty Who on the lineup. After having seen several of her live performances already, Renovátes knew the Australian would make a fine marquee addition to the “Kinetic Presents Candyland” event at Echostage June 10.
Fortunately, she was both available and interested.
“Something that I personally saw was that [Betty Who] is one of the most pro-LGBT singer-songwriters I’ve ever ever seen perform live,” Renovátes said, adding that the D.C. audiences at her concerts come largely from within the gay community. “So she absolutely knows that we as queer people make up a huge percentage of her fan base.”
The June 10 event is the main draw of a weekend of collaborations between Kinetic Presents and the Capital Pride Alliance in celebration of D.C. Pride 2023. Other big names who will play at various venues around the District include DJs Abel and Cindel, Dan Slater, as well as Jerac and Paulo Fragoso. It’ll be a pride-filled musical weekend indeed, with Echostage, Sax, Bunker and Bliss Nightclub hosting the pulsing sounds of revelry. And there’s also the big parade on June 10.
Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
