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On the outskirts

"When you're making music you hope that the listener doesn't have any preconceived notions about you and what you do, or the style of music, or the genre of music, or anything. You hope that they just clear their mind, put the music on, listen to it with an open mind."
(Sam Hunt / thefader.com, November 23, 2014)

It's been almost exactly 10 years since a 28-year-old songwriter from the US state of Georgia drew attention with his fist single 'Leave the Night On'. That same year he released his first official studio album entitled "Montevallo". The never-before-heard integration of R&B, pop and hip-hop elements, as well as 4 number 1 hits on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart from the album, almost immediately made Sam Hunt a superstar.

10 years later, not only the world is different, but also the country genre. The influences that Sam Hunt had brought to country music have long since become commercial standard. At the same time, the unexpected huge success of "Montevallo" drove him from the limelight way too early.

In a 2019 conversation with Bobby Bones, he described why he didn't want to be the superstar he was made into: "The celebrity that comes with this job in this society is a little bit strange for me, the pedestal that you get put on ... I guess it's just feeling a little bit undeserving of the attention and the focus being on me just for creating some music, because music is not really a reflection of your character or your morality, the things that I feel like are more deserving of attention. It's just a talent. It's not really a heroic talent, but you're kind of looked at in that way."

His second studio album entitled "Southside" was not released until 2020. It carried no longer the excitement that "Montevallo" did. Rather, it was a collection of the songs he had released over the last few years with some new ones, the heart of which was his commercially biggest hit 'Body Like A Backroad', which has by now been listened to more than 850 million times on Spotify. Still, 4 singles from the project climbed all the way to number 1 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart.

"Southside" is only his second and, to date, still his last studio album. Which doesn't mean Sam Hunt hasn't released any music since then. Because following 2 duets, six more new songs got released until the autumn of 2023. But only the melancholic mid-tempo '23' reached the the top of the radio charts.


Eventually his current single, 'Outskirts', written together with Zach Crowell, Josh Osborne and Jerry Flowers, landed at number 1 again - and stayed there for an impressive 3 consecutive weeks at the beginning of May 2024. It almost feels like an unplanned anniversary, since 'Outskirts' becomes his 10th number 1 hit in his 10 years as professional music artist!

To the casual listener, the song may seem like one typical for the genre about the virtues of life away from the big city: somethin' 'bout a summer in the south sure shines like gold, down these old round bale, river valley back roads, way back in the holler where the grass grows.

But it quickly becomes clear that this is actually about a love that has missed its chance. Because the idealized imagination of life on the outskirts is merely a wishful thinking of what it could have been like if that particular relationship had worked out.

We were gonna give up on the fast life,
have a couple babies, raise 'em up right,
take 'em to the river, get 'em baptized.
 
Back in our day, if I'da just stayed,
I wouldn't be livin' in this condo,
hangin' out with Hailey from Toronto.
 
God almighty, baby, we were that close
to ditchin' uptown, puttin' roots down,
out here on the outskirts.
(Outskirts / Jerry Flowers, Zach Crowell, Josh Osborne, Sam Hunt)

After rumors about a separation from his wife, it seems that Sam Hunt can avoid having to make that decision and realize the happy dream of having a wife and 2 children after all. He is no longer the reluctant superstar and trendsetter from 10 years ago, but one songwriter and musician among many others whose music somehow sounds more traditional today than it did back then.

In any case, he tries to align a traditional musician's life with that of a responsible husband and father. And still work on new music, such as the EP "Locked Up", which was released on April 5, 2024. In addition to his current number 1 hit 'Outskirts', it only contains 3 additional songs (including the first song of his career that he did not have a hand in writing), and uses its title song to name his upcoming summer tour (the Locked Up Tour), which will have Sam Hunt travel the US until autumn of 2024.

The unconfirmed autobiographical song 'Locked Up' goes back to 2019, when Sam Hunt was put behind bars for 48 hours for drunk driving (the remainder of the official one-year sentence had been waived). It does indeed sound like a rueful apology to his wife Hannah Fowler, who comes from the small town of Montevallo in the state of Alabama.

I was in a young, dumb, rowdy phase,still hangin' on to my bachelor days.You were still prayin' for me to start changin' my ways,thirty years old and still actin' a fool,damn near the same kid you met back in school.I thought I might have lost you.Yeah, I thought it might have cost methe love and the light of my life.
(Locked Up / Jerry Flowers, Shane McAnally, Zach Crowell, Josh Osborne, Sam Hunt)

His wife can also be seen in the accompanying video (not only coincidently pregnant with their second child, but also) in the role of June Carter Cash. The video was filmed in a former prison in Tennessee and is based on Johnny Cash's famous performance at San Quentin State Prison in California in 1969.

Eventually Sam Hunt sounds like a human who is aware of his weaknesses when he states at countrynow.com: "Shooting that video we all felt a little more grown up and I think that was good for us."


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