Music and Baseball’s Relationship
If you haven’t heard of Hayden Baker yet, you will have by the end of this. Hayden grew up in Texas with country music by his side. Unlike other artists, he also grew up playing Division 1 college baseball. Hayden played shortstop at Houston Baptist University (HBU) for a couple of years. He enjoyed every minute of it, but baseball and country music soon became too much for him to handle together.
“I remember we had a game against Cincinnati University at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon. The problem was that I was opening for Wade Bowen at the Houston Rodeo Barbecue Cook-Off at 6pm that evening. I told my baseball coaches I had to leave the game early which they were okay with.”
However, Hayden was put into the game around the sixth inning and wasn’t able to leave until the eighth inning. And at that moment, he knew that he was going to be late to the rodeo.
Hayden further explained that “I got there as quickly as possible, and sure enough, my band was already sound checked on stage ready to go. We then went up on stage and performed for ninety minutes. Afterwards I thought to myself: ‘Wow, I have another baseball game tomorrow as well.’”
Hayden knew that this was his sign to quit baseball and pursue a career in music.
He exclaims, “I am so glad that I quit because I have learned so much from so many great people in the music industry!”
Learning the Guitar, Performing, and More
Hayden Baker has always been a guitar player first when it comes to music. He learned how to play the guitar at the age of fifteen years old. Influenced by artists like Brad Paisley, John Mayer, and Brooks & Dunn, Hayden implements their styles into his own music. In addition to playing the guitar, Hayden has a reputation for putting on extremely energetic live shows.
He states, “The best part of the shows for me has to be a mixture of having the right guitar tone that night to seeing people sing my lyrics back to me. The fans and people I perform for are the reason I do what I do.” He adds, “We are starting to get to the point where more people are singing the words of my songs back to me which is truly amazing.”
And the country music artist has had the ability to perform live in front of people thanks to the state of Texas’s recent order to reopen their communities.
“The state has been opening up since the fall. My band and I have opened for Parker McCollum a few times. We also got to open for Mike Ryan,” he explains.
Most of the music Hayden Baker performs on stage comes from his latest album Against the Grain.
Against the Grain
The album was released back in November with his song ‘Your Perfume’ tallying the most streams on Spotify. Against the Grain showcases Hayden’s diversity of sound.
“There are some songs that are ‘bluesy’. There is also a song I recorded that sounds like it’s directly off a Brooks & Dunn record. I also covered one of Brad Paisley’s songs on my album,” the artist states.
The story behind the title of Against the Grain is quite compelling to say the least. The title’s inspiration came from the artist’s single ‘Axe to Grind’.
“Against the grain
Through the wind and rain
Ain’t got the time to feel my pain”
“It’s a teeth-kicker song. I feel like the message of it is to tell people to keep on truckin’ in life no matter what they are going through,” Hayden explains.
Aside from Against the Grain, the artist informs that he has a few songs ‘in the works’ that he may release at any time. In addition, he stated that his upcoming album is going to be a huge step up in sound quality and songwriting in comparison to his last record.
For more information on Hayden Baker visit his Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Similarly, you can visit his website at https://www.haydenbakermusic.com/