103.3 Country ‘Pickin’ Party’

Ft. Walker Hayes and Conner Smith

Sunday November 7, 2021

@ Hop Springs in Murfreesboro, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Nashville country radio station 103.3 does its best to bring the hottest new music straight to the people each month, and they have continually risen the bar with their free ‘Pickin’ Parties’ at the Hop Springs in Murfreesboro, TN – just about an hour’s drive outside the neon lights of Lower Broadway and the perfect atmosphere for the fans to get up and close and personal with the artists.

In the past, their ‘Pickin’ Parties’ have featured the likes of Jimmie Allen, Dillon Carmichael, Tenille Arts, Carly Pearce, Jameson Rodgers, Drew Parker, and many more! In front of a very packed house, shoulder to shoulder, this month’s installment featured newcomer Conner Smith opening for Walker Hayes, who had found out moments before the show that “Fancy Like” had gone #1 this week.

Emceed by the morning show hosts, Big D and Bubba, who were accompanied by the station’s afternoon DJ Tyler Reese, they welcomed Brentwood, TN native Conner Smith to the stage to a great ovation.

“Y’all ready to have a good time out here on a Sunday night?” The Valory Music Co. recording artist asked. “Thanks for showing up and showing out tonight. We’re gonna start this off with one that y’all know,” he finished as he started his 5-song set with a cover of Eric Church’s “Drink in My Hand,” encouraging anyone holding an adult beverage to lift them high into the air.

“Ya know everybody always says that they’re from Nashville, but I really am from here and it feels so good to be back home with y’all tonight,” Smith said to a roar of applause from the hometown crowd. “I wrote a song about the great state of Tennessee; about taking a girl back to her roots. Sing this one with me if y’all know it,” he said as he played local favorite, “Tennessee.”

“Do we have any Ryan Hurd fans in the house?” Smith asked as the crowd responded with cheers. “I wrote this next song with him, and I’ll be out on tour with him starting in January 2022. We have shows coming up in Nashville and Knoxville as part of that so y’all come out,” he said, plugging his upcoming local shows before getting the crowd to sing along with him on the ultra-romantic “Take It Slow.”

“Do we have any college football fans here tonight?” Smith asked, knowing that most of the crowd was if the t-shirts they wore displaying their team allegiance were any indication. “We just got back this morning from playing a show out in Knoxville. I’m a huge Tennessee Volunteers football fan,” he stated to screams of approval from the local Tennessee crowd. “I put this next song out on Tik Tok about 3 weeks ago and it completely changed my life. Y’all sing this one with me,” he said as he played the viral hit, “I Hate Alabama.”

“Growing up in Nashville, I learned at six years old that being a songwriter was a job. A month ago, I got to have my first ever single go to country radio and I’m gonna close out with it tonight. Thank y’all for being here,” he gratefully said as he closed his set with “Learn From It.”

FULL SET LIST (Conner Smith)

1) Drink in My Hand (Eric Church cover)

2) Tennessee

3) Take It Slow

4) I Hate Alabama

5) Learn From It

Back in 2010, one year after I moved to Nashville, I was blessed with an incredible opportunity to be at the Bluebird Café for the kickoff show for that years Tin Pan South songwriter’s festival.

The songwriter round that night featured some of Nashville’s newest up and coming writers, Ashley Ray, Troy Olsen, Brad Tursi (prior to Old Dominion), and a shaggy haired writer from Alabama who left a lasting impression with his songs “Pants” and “Mama’s Hot,” both which myself, and my then roommate, couldn’t stop singing for weeks after the show.

Since then, Walker Hayes has had his fair share of ups and downs in the crazy music business, but at the core of all his trials and tribulations, songwriting was just something that he always loved to do and kept on keeping on with it.

Nowadays everyone knows him as the guy with the Applebee’s song thanks to his monster smash (and new #1) “Fancy Like,” but as Hayes showcased on this night, he’s still just that downhome guy who likes to write songs and transparently share his life with his fans through them.

“I love seeing all the kids out here tonight. This is a real family affair for all of us…me too! My family is here with me tonight,” Hayes said as he stood center stage fine tuning his guitar. “I know that y’all wanna hear “Fancy Like,” he stated as he finished tuning. “Well, I’m gonna play that one last so that y’all don’t leave yet! I need ya to stay.”

“Okay…we’re ready now,” he said as he strummed his guitar strings. “I’ve never played a show when I’ve had a number one before, and I’ve got to admit…I’m feeling pretty confident tonight so be warned!” he said with a humble smile on his face.

“This first song that I’m gonna play takes us back to the days of being completely broke, when Laney and I did a lot of our shopping at the Dollar Store,” he explained. “I’m pretty sure that we even got a few of our pregnancy tests there. They may be cheap, but they work! No false positives on any of those tests for us,” he finished as he played “Dollar Store” from his 2017 boom. album.

“Is there anybody out there that loves 90’s country?” Hayes asked as the crowd cheered. “I do too,” he responded before he noticed someone in the crowd holding up one his 90’s country t-shirts causing him to turn his attention toward that. “Y’all need to go and buy that shirt at my merch stand tonight cause Christmas is coming and we need more blow-ups for our front yard. It looks so tackey as it is - check my Instagram for photo proof of that...but we need more!” he finished with a laugh as he then got the crowd dancing and singing along with his popular 2018 single, “90’s Country.”

“I want to tell you a story about my wife, Laney, and this song I wrote called “Beautiful,” began Hayes. “We had dated from the time that we were 17 all the way until we were 22 years old, and then we finally got tired of the back and forth and the fighting, so we broke up. We broke up for 10 months…this was back before you could creep someone on social media, so we broke up broke up. Well, we met back up at a wedding we were both invited to, and she walked in wearing this white dress and I almost puked cause that’s how hot she still was. I don’t know why I thought she wouldn’t still be hot 10 months later, but anyways…we hooked it back up the next night after that wedding and six months later we were engaged,” he told as he then played his tribute to his wife (and that story) with “Beautiful.”

“Are you the for real him?” someone shouted from the crowd towards the stage. “Well, I am the real guy that you might have seen stocking shelves at the Costco six years ago if that’s what you mean?” Hayes responded, further showcasing his witty and fun attitude.

“Let’s talk about haters!” he then said enthusiastically. “I’ve got a few, but it’s alright. When I get haters, I do what I do with this next song…I write about his girlfriend,” he said as he and the crowd laughed together. “I was hanging out with Brad from Old Dominion one night and we were talking about haters. This one that would comment on all my posts was really funny and creative. Well anyways, I’m gonna keep this next song as clean as I can because there are kids here tonight,” he said as he played the tongue and cheek “Your Girlfriend Does,” from Vol. 2 of his 8Tracks series. 

“Have fun getting that one out of your heads tonight,” Hayes teased as the song finished.

“My daughter Lela is somewhere out there in the crowd, and ya know, I couldn’t have done this whole journey without my wife and kids by my side. I love writing songs, but it’s not about the achieving stuff for me. A number one song is awesome, but without my wife and kids…they help me stay focused through all of it. This next song is an example of how they helped me,” he finished as he played “Lela’s Stars,” which he described as being about a time when the liner on their car’s roof had ripped off and was falling down on them and they used her thumb tacks to hold it up.

“What do you say we play a hit?” Hayes asked as the crowd roared with approval. “This isn’t “Fancy Like,” but it was a big one for me, and it’s not about a girl like a lot of people think it is, but it’s actually about Nashville. When I got dropped from a label for the second time, everyone left. All our friends were gone. We had our third kid while I was signed, and our hospital room looked like a flower shop. By the 6^th kid, when I wasn’t on a label anymore, I think we got a Hershey’s Kiss,” he stated as he played the opening notes of “You Broke Up with Me,” and instantly had the crowd swaying their hips and screaming the lyrics along with the Top 10 hit.

“I need to pause for a second and talk about Jesus Christ for one song,” Hayes began. “I know this sounds crazy, but for anyone that doesn’t know and love Jesus, and is tired of hearing about Him, especially here in the Bible belt where there are more churches than people…I get it! I understand it, and I was that guy too,” he said before transparently sharing his testimony.

“My life changed when I met a guy named Craig at a church in Franklin called Redeeming Grace. The church looked like a cult y’all. I told my wife to call our friends and let them know where we were when we first pulled up to it, just in case we don’t make it out. They met on Saturday nights and that made me mad. I was drunk when we went that first night. And Craig knew I didn’t want to be there. He could see right through me, but all he said was “I’m glad you’re here” and he didn’t judge me or anything,” he finished as he played “Craig,” a song which he said was his way of saying thank you to him since he never properly thanked Craig for all he did for him and his family, including gifting them with a new van.

“My wife is a rockstar, y’all. She’s amazing!” Hayes gushed over his wife Laney,” before he slowed things down and played the very touching “Don’t Let Her.”

“So, it’s been really hard deciding what to do next because “Fancy Like” has gotten to be so huge now,” Hayes began before someone shouted out “U Gurl” from the crowd. “Do you wanna hear “U Gurl?” he asked.

“I wasn’t going to do that one, but alright, since y’all want to hear it,” Hayes said as he brought his kids to the stage. “There’s a new dance we did on Tik Tok for this song, and they’re gonna show it to you here tonight. We didn’t script this, so they’ll probably beat me up in the car on the way home but that’s okay,” he finished as he got everyone in the place dancing with “U Gurl,” before playing his next single “AA” and closing out with “Fancy Like,” which he described before playing as the song of the night and thanked the crowd for their support of it and helping make it his first #1.

FULL SET LIST (Walker Hayes)

1) Dollar Store

2) 90’s Country

3) Beautiful

4) Your Girlfriend Does

5) Lela’s Stars

6) You Broke Up with Me

7) Craig

8) Don’t Let Her

9) U Gurl

10) AA

11) Fancy Like

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