Hunter Hayes talks relationship, meditation and new album ‘Evergreen’

NEW YORK – Hunter Hayes is a pretty private person when it comes to his personal life. But the singer-songwriter couldn’t help but gush about how a “chaotic” trip with his “favorite person” led to the song “Every Piece” on Hayes’ sixth studio album “Evergreen” (out now).

“We still had fun and that’s not normal for me,” Hayes, 34, tells USA TODAY. The Grammy-nominated singer is the latest artist to perform for USA TODAY Acoustic, a series that provides a stage for notable and rising talent across the USA TODAY Network. “To find someone who balances my chaos the way that I found someone who does, it feels so rare. It’s a life-changing shift for me as a human.

“I love that I’m seen for all the pieces, not just like the pieces in the frame of the picture that you see when you put the puzzle together, but I feel like every piece is loved individually, and I also feel that way about this person.”

Hayes’ hit “I Want Crazy” was released in 2013 on the deluxe version of his major label debut album and saw a resurgence earlier this year thanks to fans feeling nostalgic for the song on TikTok. Hayes joined in on the fun, commenting on a few of the videos that used the song. In one video, a fan wrote that no one could understand how she related to the track’s lyrics. Hayes joked that he could relate, however, his therapist could not.

“I was on my way to an intensive therapy [session] at an airport when I wrote that comment,” he recalls with a laugh. “Talk about songs to teach you lessons. I can’t count how many times I had the question (in therapy) of, ‘Are you sure you want crazy?’ “

Hayes is gearing up for the “Evergreen Tour,” a 22-date trek which kicks off March 25 in Hopewell, Virginia, and wraps April 26 in Charleston, South Carolina. And while “Wanted” and “I Want Crazy” will make the setlist, Hayes will not be searching for any chaos off stage.

“Meditation’s been a big part of my life,” he reveals. “The good news is you don’t have to be good at it to enjoy it, but that’s a big one for me.”

Hunter Hayes performs ‘The Ones You Love’ for USA TODAY Acoustic

Grammy nominated artist Hunter Hayes performs new single “The Ones You Love” for USA TODAY Acoustic

Hunter Hayes says ‘Evergreen’ calls back to his debut album

The origins of “Evergreen” date back to 2018, a time of change in Hayes’ life. He dealt with breakups in both his personal and professional life. At first, “Evergreen” was just a song, but Hayes knew it was meant to be a part of a larger project.

“The idea of it felt very mature,” Hayes says of the song, which he cowrote with Canadian country music songwriters Gordie Sampson (Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban) and Kelly Archer (Brett Young, Cody Johnson). “It had a lot of nature and humanity in it, but I thought I would have to grow into that to write the album.”

The theme of the song “Evergreen” is a love and presence that lasts all seasons, like the tree. To grow into writing an album about that, Hayes had to release 2019’s “Wild Blue” and 2023’s “Red Sky.”

Hayes says the changes he went through in 2018 scared him at first, but ended up being “the most beautiful thing that’s ever happened” to him. It inspired “Wild Blue,” the first of what he loosely calls a “trilogy” of LPs. “Red Sky” was a continuation of “Wild Blue,” the idea that he could go out into the world and explore new things without always seeking approval. Those two albums got him to a space where he could complete “Evergreen.”

“So much of ‘Evergreen’ was, ‘I’m not there yet, but I’m getting there,'” he says. “I also believe that when I dream, I can feel things. And when I imagine things, I can feel things. My anxiety’s been doing that to me for years. Why can’t my hopes and my optimism do the same thing?

“So that’s what ‘Evergreen’ kind of became: this place for your future self to talk to you, and if you can dream it, you can feel it.”