Sam Hunt is the guest on the latest episode of ‘Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen’ to talk about his new music including new single ‘Outskirts’, which is out today.
Hunt describes his new music as being centred around returning to his rural roots and reflecting on his values, nostalgia, and letting go of what could’ve been.
Sam Hunt Tells Apple Music About the Common Thread of His New Songs
Kelleigh: Looking at ‘Start Nowhere’ and then “Walmart” and then ‘Outskirts’. I’m like, is there a common thread of this time period that you’re writing about? Even if it’s not a truly autobiographical slice of your history?
Sam: Especially with these three songs. And then a few of the other songs that I’ve sort of have in the hopper that I’m trying to get finished and out there is a common theme there. It’s sort of like this full circle moment, or not moment, but era where I’ve moved off to the big city or moved out into the world from my small, humble, rural, southern beginnings and have just made a big circle and come back home where I grew up. And essentially that’s the theme I think throughout these new songs that are coming out, especially those three that you mentioned.
Sam Hunt Tells Apple Music About Writing ‘Walmart’
[The idea] underneath [‘Walmart’] was that, you get so caught up about how you feel or how I feel, or what I missed out on, or whatever it may be. So that was sort of the underlying theme, obviously in that song. But yeah, such a small town moment for sure, that if you’ve lived in a small town, you’re inevitably going to experience that, most likely if you hang around or you get old enough.
Sam Hunt Tells Apple Music About Writing ‘Outskirts’ and How He Knew He Met the Right Person to Marry
I wrote from the perspective of a sort of free rambling man, single bachelor, trying to find his way in the world perspective. If I’m content and happy and all’s going well, I’m not necessarily inspired to grab a guitar and write a song. So that was tricky for a little while. So I guess what I kind of did was, okay, well what if I had taken this road and I could have easily, I’m pretty independent, I’m good with being on my own. If I didn’t feel like I had met the person for me to spend my life with, and that God had a plan for myself and her, I would’ve easily continued on solo. And so I pretty much wrote from the perspective of the other guy, if I had taken that solo road and chosen this other life, what would that be like?
Sam Hunt Tells Apple Music About Writing the Line ‘While you’re shootin’ all my baby names down’ from ‘Outskirts’ Just a Month Ago
That song started, I think back maybe before the pandemic. That idea came about, and it was one of those songs that, it was just a title in my phone. I had that title ‘Outskirts’. And so we got together on one of those retreats a few years ago and wrote a chorus or started a chorus and we didn’t have verses. So the verses I think were just written a month ago. So I went and just rewrote that. I think I kind of had the first verse, but went and wrote that second verse, and that was a line that definitely came from my experience having a child between when we started the song and when I put it out, all my names were shot down pretty quickly.
Sam Hunt Tells Apple Music About Hitting the Road for the ‘Summer On The Outskirts’ Tour
I think I toured quite a bit early on. We played anywhere and everywhere, and then I probably burnt myself out a little bit over the years. Also, I needed to learn how to tour, go to sleep, don’t drink too much beer. All the things. Yeah, you got to do too. Enjoy yourself out there. But when the pandemic hit, spending a year at home, I really appreciated being able to be out on the road more than I ever had before. Not that I wasn’t always grateful to be able to tour, but since then I’ve wanted to get out and tour in the summer as much as we could. So 2021 was kind of a hybrid year, then last year felt like things were getting back to normal. And then this year, obviously things are in full swing. So yeah, I’m trying to work as much as I can get out on the road and tour, make up for lost time a little bit.
Tune in and listen to the new episode of ‘Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen’ on Apple Music Country in-full at apple.co/_TodaysCountry.
