Sitting at a computer in now-ravaged Crystal Lake, Texas, Hayes Carll reflects on missing Hurricane Ike passing through his hometown.
“The hurricane hit two days into my European tour and I was away from home,” he says with a bit of sorrow in his voice. “The destruction has been unbelievable. My parent’s house, my grandmother’s house, the bars I started out playing at, essentially the whole town of Crystal Beach is gone; it’s just sad.” Despite being left to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Ike, Carll remains upbeat about the fact that no one was seriously injured and he still has all of his family.
“Things are destroyed and it’s going to take work, but that’s what makes us stronger as people,” he says. “The way we rise and tackle difficult times builds our character.”
That mantra has helped Carll wade through the music industry and persevere. For the past six years, Carll has spent all of his time making music and gaining critical acclaim with his honest lyrics that have a touch of humor.
His single, “She Left Me for Jesus,” has been featured on NPR and been one of the “10 To Watch” by Billboard.
Even though Carll feels like he is in a low, a couple of weeks ago he won the Americana Music Association’s Song of the Year for the single.
“I didn’t think much of the song as being a hit when we wrote it,” he says. “I pulled it out of the pile when I was cutting demos for the record and thought, ‘Hey, this might get a laugh.’ I didn’t really expect it to even make the final cut, but once I decided to put it on I realized that it might be one of those songs that can run away from you a little bit and go have a life on their own.”
Carll says that writing the song with Brian Keane was an experience he holds close.
“No, I can’t say that I have ever been left for Jesus,” he quips. “Although the initial motivation for the song was from Brian, who was sort of uncomfortably in the process of watching his girlfriend find religion.”
Carll says his writing process has changed over the years.
“I used to just sit on the porch in Crystal Beach, get stoned and try to write something deep,” he says. “But I’ve found that it’s a good idea to get someone else in the room and get a different slant on things. A lot of the trip songs I’ve co-written are things that I never could have done by myself.”
Carll began writing in his teens and released two albums before his current “Trouble in Mind,” which is earning him critical acclaim from music magazines like Billboard and Rolling Stone.
“My first record I did in five days, and my second one we did in 12,” he says. “This time around I had a solid month, so it was really a luxury. It was amazing to get all these talented people in the room and have them listen to me describe my vision and then go out and try to realize that and capture it on tape. My strength isn’t that I have the world’s most amazing voice or that I’m this incredible player; hopefully it’s that there’s some aspect of my personality and my lyrics that people can relate to.”
While music has always been his first love, Carll says having a family now makes it more difficult to leave on tours.
“This is what I’ve always wanted to do so I can’t complain,” he says. “A different city every night, new people and old friends. Free drinks and folks who are generally happy to see me; it’s like being in the circus but with more girls and weirder people.”
Carll says he’s been grateful for all the feedback he’s gotten for the album and his music. He says he looks forward to his next album, which he’ll record next year.
“I’ve been working the record on tour since April, and I’m booked solid until January,” he says. “I think I’ll take a little time off around then and start working on the next record.”
If You Go
WHO: Hayes Carll
WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Santa Fe Brewing Co., 35 Fire Place
COST: $12
CONTACT: Ticketssantafe.org or (505) 988-1234
