Ryan Hurd has never been one to shy away from honest storytelling, and with his sophomore album ‘Midwest Rock & Roll,' he takes listeners on a deeply personal journey through the highs and lows of chasing a dream. (Read our review here) Set for release today, March 21 via Big Machine Records, the 12-track album is a heartfelt tribute to his Midwestern roots, blending country, rock, and pop influences into a sound that is uniquely his own. Featuring songs co-written by Hurd himself, the project captures the emotions of leaving home, growing up, and embracing the unpredictable nature of life in the music industry. “It’s a coming-of-age album that feels like playing in your first band,” Hurd shares, emphasising the passion and raw energy that fuel the record.
With ‘Midwest Rock & Roll,' Hurd solidifies his place as not just a hit songwriter, but a compelling artist with a distinct perspective. Known for penning chart-topping songs for country’s biggest names, he steps into the spotlight with a collection of tracks that feel both introspective and anthemic. This album isn’t just about nostalgia—it’s about evolution, capturing the essence of who he is and where he’s headed. As he prepares to release what he calls his most fully realised work to date, we sat down with Hurd to talk about the stories behind the songs, his creative process, and what fans can expect from this new chapter.
Part one of this interview aired in February and you can read that right here if you missed it the first time around. We talk about his visit to the UK and the importance of ‘Die For It' to the genesis of the whole project.
Ryan, this is an album to be really proud of! Songs like ‘Single in the Same Town, ‘Lighthouse' and ‘California 1972' are awash with a kind of bittersweet nostalgia – was that where your mindset was when you were writing this album?
I think so, Part of it was coming to terms with the fact that I went to Nashville and built up a life and have kinda checked off a lot of boxes in the ‘dream' category. But I also go back home to Michigan a lot and I ask myself repeatedly whether or not I could have been happy just staying there. And the answer is yes! Of course I could have but I would have always had that nagging question about trying to ‘make it in Nashville.'
It's fun to have Aaron Eshuis alongside me, who is my producer. We grew up together, made music together and went to Nashville together. We both kinda ‘made it,' but we didn't appreciate how beautiful the place was that we left – you don't when you are kids, right? I felt like I was too ready and too focused on leaving – regret is not the emotion I want people to take away from this album, it's not about regret, but I do wish that at the beginning of my career I had invested in playing more shows back home.
I've sold out a lot of great rooms in West Michigan and Detroit and Chicago, which is awesome, but there's always that thing in the back of your head about what would have happened if I had just stuck around and not left for Nashville. I'm 38 years old but I think this is a ‘coming of age' record for me and I'm really proud of it.
I don't hear regret in any of the songs. I hear an artist finding himself and someone coming to terms with the things that have happened to him over the years, looking back from a place of wisdom.
That's cool, I love that. I've done this for long enough to know that I appreciate that you have received it in that way but other people might not, other people might hear completely different touchstones and emotions.
I remember when I wrote ‘What If I Never Get Over You' for Lady A – it wasn't the kind of song that I expected to be a big hit on the radio but my mom heard it in a completely different way than the one in which I intended to write it, which made me love it more. Grief is universal, right? You take what you think you are writing about, let's call it nostalgia on this record, and it can be experienced in a lot of different ways by different people.
I do hope that there are people who are touched by the songs on this album, it isn't just music that I've thrown out there to be consumed and then forgotten about. I've put a lot of time and thought into the songs on ‘Midwest Rock & Roll.'
Talking about Lady A and ‘coming of age' songs, I can't believe Dave, Charles and Hillary haven't taken ‘Youth' of you!
Thank you! It didn't get pitched to them! (laughing) My A&R at Big Machine said to me one day, ‘Are you in love with someone from your childhood?' And I was, like, ‘Nooooo! But I can just mine it.' It's my super-power, that ability to mine the past for song ideas! (laughing) I can take stories in my head and re-write them so it's not necessarily an auto-biographical song but it's biographical, it's pretty close and it's all real on a song like ‘Youth.'
The opening four or five songs are full of nostalgic bombast and then the closing set of songs veer off into a kind of Beatles / Elton John-esque reverie. ‘Funerals' is a very lyrically dense song that came across to me like a poem that you have set to music that ends with the ‘you've gotta let that shit go' denouement!
Thank you. I don't think I've even listened to that song since we recorded it. It's a hard song for me. There are a couple of things at play there. It was written in the summer time and my friend had passed away and I had to go to his funeral in Kentucky. His buddy got up infront of everybody and said that he would call the guy, Ben, with all his problems and perceived slights and Ben would listen patiently to it all and then at the end of it he would just say, ‘Man, you gotta let that shit go!'
I wish I would have done some things differently, honestly. I wish…….. there are some moments in my life that I look back on now that weren't really the big deal that I made them out to be. I lost some perspective along the way and you have to really protect yourself as you grow otherwise you are going to have entire periods of your life disappear because of anger and resentment. That's what that song is about, it's not about dying, it's about living.
Age brings wisdom, as does life experience, I guess. It's something that you acquire rather than something that you are born with. It's what makes you relatable, Ryan. People are going to listen to these songs and relate them to their own lives.
That's always the hope, that you do a good enough job so that people internalise what you've written and that takes time. One thing that I'm really proud of is going slowly with this album. I know it's only 12 songs and the trend now is to just put out these monstrosities – I'm not judgemental about that, I wish that I had 25 songs to be able to do the same! (laughing)
It took me a long time to even understand what I was trying to do. Without being critical, I think we get into this mode in Nashville where as soon as one single cycle is over we just have to have something else, right away, right now. Going away from the industry now, for even just a month, is a big deal and something artists should do more of. It helps you reset, it helps your fans reset and it gives people a break from seeing your dumb face everywhere! (laughing)
Me being away for a while gave me the chance to think about who I wanted to be and what I wanted to achieve. I can't be the guy that just pumps out singles eight times a year – for me, there has to be more thought to the writing process than that. It takes me a while to figure out what I want to say and how I want to say it.
Having the Lady A hits and songs for other artists has provided you with the comfort level to be able to carve out a little time and space for yourself, I guess?
I don't want to confuse taking time to make an album with not working! (laughing) I have been writing 200 songs a year for other artists on pitch for the last 12 years of my life! It does afford you time but at the same time it is distracting too. It's my job to essentially write for other people and it exercises a creative part of my brain that is very rewarding but if I'm writing a song for my own project….. I have to like that song for a year before I'll even consider it. Sometimes you just know that a song is a fit for a particular artist but for the most part, for me……. like, I've kicked more songs of this record than one that actually made it! You never finish wanting to add to your own albums, you just run out of time and deadlines kick in!
Talking about finishing and running out of time – the album finishes with this swirling, lush Elton John-style piano ballad with ‘The Last Song I'll Ever Write.' I could see where that song could be about Maren and I could see where that song could be about a woman you've not even met yet……………
Oh no, that was for Maren. i wrote and recorded this whole album before my personal life changed and I thought that the songs and this album deserved the opportunity for it come out as I intended it and as I wrote it. Every single song was written and recorded before anything changed or happened.
I think it's really important for people to know that – does that make something like ‘The Last Song' or ‘Die For You' a little left-footed now, maybe but not for me. For me those are very special moments in my life that happened and existed and I hold them very dearly. They are time-stamps of something real and so I am not scared to say that those songs are about her – everything is about her, the whole fucking album is about her. I don't have another muse yet – please send one soon whoever is reading or listening to this! (laughing)
I don't know, man, is it a little awkward for me……..? Yeah but it happened and also the great part of it happened too. I'm not sure how to get out of this question now though?
Awkwardness equals authenticity in my book, my friend.
Absolutely. Listen, man, this has been a delight of an interview and I just hope that people listen to the album with same depth and curiosity that you have.
Check out Ryan Hurd's fabulous new album ‘Midwest Rock & Roll' which is out TODAY on Big Machine records. Link here.
