Walker Hayes’ Headlining Tour is ‘Surreal’ For The Singer
"I could never have imagined that in my 13th year here in Nashville I'd have a single in the top ten and a headline tour," said Hayes.
The battle to earn a spot in country music has been an uphill one for Walker Hayes for many years. With numerous rises and pitfalls, the singer has finally found his niche, combining unique beats with passionate stories to create musical magic like his rising single, “You Broke Up With Me.”
Fans have been taking notice of this hard-working dad of soon-to-be-seven and the attention has allowed Hayes to embark on his first-ever headlining tour. The Good As Gold Tour, which begins Feb. 1 in Uncasville, Connecticut, has been a long-time coming for Hayes, and moreover, a dream come true.
“A year and a half ago if I’d have been like ‘Hey, I’m playing at Puckett’s in Franklin on Wednesday,’ zero people would’ve showed up. Maybe my wife and kids and some friends but yeah,” Hayes said to Sounds Like Nashville during a break in his tour rehearsal. “A song puts people in seats and I’m learning that. It is surreal. It’s surreal to be like ‘Yeah, I’m headlining.’ And what else is surreal is that when you put those tickets on sale, you have that insecurity like, ‘Am I going to sell any? Is anybody going to buy this?’ There’s a few that have sold out and it’s blowing my mind.”
Seeing fans respond to his music and pay their hard-earned dollars to spend the evening with him is something Hayes has dreamed about for well over a decade. For it to finally come to fruition is a constant ‘pinch me moment’ for him.
“Every day, when I’m driving here and I hear my song on the radio, it’s continually over and over that, ‘Oh my gosh, it happened.’ Because for so long, if you tell yourself so long, ‘I wish this will happen and I believe it can’… really, you’re just saying that after so long. I could never have imagined that in my 13th year here in Nashville, I’d have a single in the top ten and a headline tour. I’d have been like, ‘You’re crazy if you think that’s going to happen to a guy like me.’ So yeah, it is pinch me all the time,” he said with a smile.
What’s sure to be the first of many headlining tours to come, Hayes promises to take what he’s learned throughout his journey as a singer/songwriter and opener on other tours, in order to make his live show the best it can be for the fans.
“They’re spending their money that they went out and worked for to come hear you. And it is a lot of people’s first concert. They’re going to remember this forever. Maybe they’re on a date with somebody. I just want to give them great memories… I want to give them something that in three, four, five years they can be like, ‘Hey, I saw that dude’s first tour, it was crazy.’”
Fans will get to catch Hayes as he tours the country on his Good As Gold Tour with dates in 13 select cities through April. He’ll also take part in Kelsea Ballerini’s Unapologetically Tour, which begins Feb. 8 in Birmingham, AL.
Good As Gold Tour Dates:
Feb. 1: Uncasville, Connecticut
Feb. 2: Boston, Massachusetts
Feb. 3: Silver Spring, Maryland
Feb. 17: Charlotte, North Carolina
March 1: Oxford, Ohio
March 2: Chicago, Illinois
March 3: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
March 15: Cleveland, Ohio
March 16: Indianapolis, Indiana
March 17: Detroit, Michigan
March 24: Savannah, Georgia
April 26: Bakersfield, California
April 27: San Martin, California
