Sam Hunt Dishes On Grammy Nominations, New Music
Sam Hunt's 2015 was one that dreams are made of. The singer/songwriter has witnessed four back-to-back No. 1 hits and received two Grammy nominations.
Sam Hunt’s 2015 was one that dreams are made of. The singer/songwriter has witnessed four back-to-back No. 1 hits with his debut album Montevallo as well as received two Grammy nominations in the all-genre category of Best New Artist and Best Country Album for Montevallo.
Sounds Like Nashville caught up with Hunt on the beach last month at Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa in Riviera Maya, Mexico, where he filled us in on his whirlwind of a year, new music and why he’s not on Snapchat yet (We’re hoping we convinced him to join!).
Hunt was in Las Vegas sleeping when the nominations for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards were announced in early December. Several text messages began to come in through his phone early that morning and he said the news kept him awake. He admits that his appreciation for the recognition has grown since he first heard the news in December.
“I was at a point at the time after a year of just slugging it out on the road and going full speed, that I was pretty tired and I was sort of desensitized to some of the really cool things that happened towards the end of the year because I was worn out,” he tells Sounds Like Nashville. “But as I got to go home and spend some time with my family and be in a more quiet place and really reflect on the year and the Grammys, that’s when all the things that led up to being nominated for a Grammy started to sink in. I think I have appreciated it more and more since hearing the news.”
The 58th Annual Grammy Awards air on Monday, Feb. 15 on CBS and that day Hunt will take over Bose’s Snapchat account. While he doesn’t have a Snapchat account of his own, he says he isn’t opposed to the idea of having one.
“The reason I haven’t gotten on Snapchat is because I’m so terrible at text messaging that I know I’d be even worse at Snapchat,” he admits with a laugh. “I was on there for about two weeks one time and people would send me Snaps and I felt guilty for not responding because I’m a bit absentminded at times so I deleted my account. I’ve realized that’s a really, really popular app. Maybe I didn’t give it enough time so maybe I’ll get on it some more. I was on it before I got to be an artist and making a record. Now, as a way to connect with fans, I could see myself getting back on.”
I’m looking forward to performing with @carrieunderwood on @thegrammys
A photo posted by Sam Hunt (@samhuntmusic) on
Hunt will share the Grammy stage with Carrie Underwood for a performance of her new single “Heartbeat” on Feb. 15. As far as his new music goes, he says he’s been working on the follow-up to 2014’s Montevallo but hasn’t quite wrapped his head around the project and is instead “painting broad strokes.”
“I don’t really have a track list yet. I have three or four songs that I’m excited about putting on the next record and then there’s a big pile of ideas and lyrics and melodies and music and things I’m going to start adding to and sifting through to add to the next record,” he explains. “I’m excited about the opportunity we’ve had creatively because of what ‘Montevallo’ has done and the success of that first record. I’m looking forward to getting back in the studio and writing as much as possible this year and putting out a record as fast as I can.”
While he hopes the album will be released later this year, he says it will more likely be early 2017 with a new single off the record out this fall. In the meantime, he’ll continue to work on the album this spring and summer.
Hunt will also hit the road this summer with Kenny Chesney. So, what are the chances he and the singer will perform Chesney’s No. 1 hit “Come Over,” which Hunt had a hand in co-writing with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne?
“It’s funny, I just saw him. I was in Santa Monica and I walked into this little, bitty Italian restaurant. There were maybe 30 people there and it was full. I saw a guy sitting by the door that looked like Kenny Chesney but I didn’t know for sure if it was him,” Hunt recalls. “It was a low lit restaurant and it ended up being him so we spoke for a minute and talked about how excited we were for the tour but we didn’t really talk about set lists or collaboration ideas. We’ll see. I’d be up for it.”
