‘Catch of the Day’ – Hunter Hayes – “Yesterday’s Song” [VIDEO]

Today we feature an artist who may just be the most under-rated instrumentalist in country music, playing more than 30 instruments, and generally plays all the instruments on his albums. An artist who just recently turned 25, and who has been called by Billboard Magazine the Leader of Country Music's Youth Revolution and who won the CMA for Best New Artist in 2012.

Hunter Hayes does it all. He is a talented songwriter, an incredible singer and as an instrumentalist, he may not have a peer in country music or any other genre. His first two albums have both been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while his third album, 2015's The 21 Project, is unique in its own right, being a triple disc album, with only seven songs on the album. Each disc features either a studio, live or acoustic version of those seven songs.

Born and raised in Breaux Bridge, LA, Hayes grew up singing, learning songs in both English and French. He began playing music at age 2, when his grandmother gave him an accordion, and by age 4 he was appearing on national television programs such as The Rosey O'Donnell Show and Nickelodeon's game show Figure It Out. Reportedly, actor Robert Duvall gave Hayes his first guitar at age 6, and at age 7 he was invited to play at the White House by president Bill Clinton.

Hayes' big break came in 2004, when he appeared on the TV show America's Most Talented Kids, singing the Hank Williams classic "Hey Good Lookin'", just 13 at the time. Less than 4 years later he was in Nashville, and at age 17 signed with the Universal Music Publishing Group. He wrote the song "Play" which was recorded by Rascal Flatts for their 2010 album Nothing Like This. This led to Hunter signing with Atlantic Records Nashville later that year and was immediately sent into the studio to work on his debut album. He would tour throughout early 2011, first on his own radio tour debuting music from the album, then as the opening act for Taylor Swift's Speak Now World Tour.

Hayes' debut single, "Storm Warning" was released in May of 2011, with his self-titled debut album released in October of that year. The album, which also featured the #1 singles "Wanted" and "Somebody's Heartbreak" has been certified double-platinum, with the help of a re-release (Encore Edition) in 2013, which featured the #2 single "I Want Crazy". Hayes played all the instruments and wrote all the songs on his debut album. When "Wanted" hit #1, it made Hunter the youngest male artist to hit #1 on the Billboard Country Singles charts. The album led to Hayes receiving three Grammy nominations in 2013, including Best New Artist.

Hayes' second album, Storyline, was released in 2014, and featured the top-5 single "Invisible", which he performed at the 2013 Grammy Awards show. Though the album was not quite as commercially successful as his debut, it still managed a gold certification. The album once again feature songs written or co-written by Hayes, on which he performed all of the instrumentals.

In August of 2015, Hayes released the 5-song EP 21, following it up almost immediately in November with the album, The 21 Project, which feature the 5 songs from the EP along with two new songs. The album is a three disc project, featuring all 7 songs as Hayes recorded them in the studio, acoustically and live. He released the songs one at a time digitally, saying at the time that he didn't consider the project an album by traditional standards, but instead considered it a "box set".

Hayes is back in the studio, working on his fourth (or third) studio album. The lead single from that project is in our spotlight today. Hunter Hayes and "Yesterday's Song" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.