Hunter Hayes reimagines his past with ‘Lost & Found’ project

Hunter Hayes is focused on growth. Since releasing his debut self-titled album in 2011, he has taken the country genre by storm — making waves as a young hitmaker and racking up a total of five Grammy nominations. From early country hits “I Want Crazy” and “Wanted” to the more experimental country-pop sound of 2021’s Wild Blue and 2023’s Red Sky Continued, he has evolved alongside his music. Now at 33 years old, he’s taking a brief, yet purposeful, look back to his earlier work through reimagined renditions of his songs, dubbed “Lost & Found” versions.

The first installment of these reimaginings, which Hayes plans to make a yearly tradition, arrived with a remake of 2011’s “In A Song,” a number about finding oneself in music after a relationship’s end. Hayes says that the release of “In A Song” and the two other upcoming reimaginations, “Somebody’s Heartbreak” and “Still Fallin,” are all tied together thematically, and will be released over the next couple of months, one by one. They will ultimately create a 6-song EP, with the three reimagined songs and acoustic renditions of each. The day before the acoustic version of “In A Song” was released, Hayes spoke with Melodic Magazine about the inspiration behind these re-recordings, growth and bringing his past with him into the future.

The “Lost & Found” version of “In A Song” came out a couple of weeks ago. How are you feeling about the release, and what’s the reception been like?
I’m doing great, it’s been phenomenal. I love when things like this happen, sort of in their own time and their own way. [This idea] was prompted by fans asking the question on tour during the VIP Q&A, “would you ever re-record your music?” I hadn’t really thought about it, but that planted the seed. I didn’t really have a “why” at the time, so I was like, “I don’t know.” I was like, “alright, let me entertain it,” and then it became part of the process for getting to the next project — it became the lead up to [the forthcoming LP] Evergreen. Thematically, these three songs are very much a part of the theme for Evergreen.

It just became this whole therapeutic thing, and “In A Song” could not be more perfect to be the first song, because this is something I want to be a series. I want to give myself [time] at least once a year to do something like this. What I love about introducing that concept with “In A Song” is [that it’s] like my theme song. I am “In A Song,” I find myself in music, music is my best friend. It’s just been so beautiful the way that it happened and I’m really grateful for something to have happened so naturally and to have trusted the process.

How did you go about picking the other songs that will be on the EP?
“In A Song” talks about finding yourself and how you find yourself. “Still Fallin” is a manifestation [for] a love where there’s a continuation of gratitude, there’s a commitment to gratitude and reminding yourself how lucky you are to have met this person and be in their world. That’s a very big theme on Evergreen.

Then “Somebody’s Heartbreak” is kind of like this playful version of all the different, beautiful quotes that so many brilliant people have put in the world about in order to find love, you have to be willing to get your heart broken. Part of finding love is being open enough to be vulnerable and putting yourself in a position where your heart is open and accepting whatever the results may be, for the sake of getting to that person. All three carry a very centralized theme from Evergreen.

How long have you been working on Evergreen and what’s that process been like?
This is the longest I’ve ever worked on a project because it started as a seed, if you will, in 2016. It was part three of a three-part series that I was kind of designing in my head, and I didn’t know what it was gonna look like.

There are so many songs that I’ve written that I knew were right for this project, and then there were so many songs that I knew I hadn’t written [yet] and I didn’t know how to write. That’s kind of what Evergreen has been for me for a long time. It’s still being realized as we speak. I’m in the midst of it. It’s a manifestation project about creating more of what you want in the world.

Is this process of reimagining older material a way to put your past to rest so you can move forward?
This is a way for me to bring [the songs] with me, that’s why they’re reimagined. It’s not just to have a new version of the song for people to listen to. Yes, that’s great, and yes, I love owning it being an independent artist. But the truth is just that I want them to be able to live with the next project. I want them to be able to sit on a playlist with the new album and feel like they’re coming from the same person. It’s kind of a way of answering a lot of questions and letting the music do the talking.

Is there anything that you’re hoping a listener might take away from these reimagined versions as compared to what they might take away from the original versions?
I hope it sounds like an older version of me having a conversation with my younger self; “In A Song” definitely felt that way. If you were familiar with the song and you hear this new version, I hope it puts a mirror on you and your life and your growth and your change, the things that you’ve made it through, the dreams that you’ve realized and the places in life where you’ve grown. If you’re getting it for the first time, [that’s] fucking great. Welcome to the club. Welcome to the family. This is the version of me I would prefer for you to see anyway.