Just nominated for 3 Grammy Awards including Best New Artist, Fraze is pleased to welcome Hunter Hayes to the main stage for the first time. He is the epitome of someone with a natural penchant for music. He was in his first band by the age of 4, playing the accordion in his hometown of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. A year later, he became the front man of the group, and his voice has been making history ever since.

Hunter is a “do it yourself” kind of artist. He says, “I’ve never had the patience to sit down and learn from anyone. So with the guitar, and with every subsequent instrument and piece of studio equipment, it’s been a process of experimentation – pressing every button I can.” Songwriting, too, has been a constant undertaking of Hunter’s. “I wrote my first song at 6,” he recalls, “I spent every day with the guitar and I just made up songs.”

Like playing and songwriting, performing has become almost second nature to Hunter who, in just his short life, has shared the stage with the likes of Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Hank Williams Jr., Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum.

Now Hunter, in the producer’s chair with Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins) has released his self-titled Atlantic Records debut album. “I’ve released independent records before, but this feels like the first real record – with the high stakes,” he says excitedly. For Hunter, even with those high stakes, he was committed to doing it his way – “playing everything on the album, having fun and experimenting,” he stops, and then says with a smile, “I literally lived in the studio.”

The expectations may be high, but no one has set higher expectations and ambitions for his music than Hunter himself. He declares, “I hope people half my age and twice my age will listen to my music – I want it to live forever and for my audience to feel like they have a friend in my music.”