Walker Hayes joins Country Faith Radio with Hillary Scott to share how he turned his life’s tragedy into triumph. Walker also explains that he developed a powerful friendship with spiritual mentor, Craig Cooper, with whom he recently wrote a book about finding peace after being depressed. Tune in and listen to the full episode this Sunday (October 9) at 8 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. CT / 11 a.m. ET or anytime on demand at apple.co/_CountryFaith
Walker Hayes on being an atheist and an alcoholic before becoming a believer
You know, I’m ashamed to say this, but I would have called myself an atheist, a humanist, for most of my married adult life. Like everyone, I come from a big family. We have some problems. There are addiction issues. There is absence. There’s a lot of heartache in all families, and unfortunately it’s turned me into a kind of ungodly phase, I would have said. You know how Nashville can be, it’s a confusing town, and Nashville is like the popular kid in high school, you hate him, but you want him to like you so much. So we had a lot of that, Laney and I went through that together. I am an alcoholic. I’ve been sober for seven years now, but I didn’t think I’d be sober for very long. It was a problem in our relationship.
Walker Hayes on Losing a Child and Almost Giving Up on His Sobriety 2 Years Later
I was two years sober when we lost Oakley and I went to that bar to self-destruct. I intended to… I didn’t care if I killed anyone, if I was killed, if I was arrested. I just needed… And when I got to this bar, my wallet wasn’t in the door of my Honda. So I turned around and went home and when I walked into the house I remember I still had dirt on my shoe from burying Oakley. And I saw Laney alone on the couch, the other kids were all playing together, and I was just broken. For once in my life, I had no one to blame. And I was just so icky. I felt so rude. I was like, “Dude, I just left my best friend to go focus on me. I just let my kids focus on me. But at the same time, they lost a brother. She lost a daughter. And all I could see was my own pain. And that frustrated me, and Laney found me an AA meeting that night. I explained to her what I was going through and she helped me find an AA meeting and it was amazing.
Walker Hayes on When he first met his friend and spiritual mentor Craig (whom he wrote “Craig” about)
I met this guy named Craig [Cooper]. And he’s such a big part of my story because this guy Craig, I met him at a church I didn’t want to be at. I was hammered when I walked into Redeeming Grace. But I couldn’t make this guy leave. No matter how wicked my beliefs were, how different my beliefs were. No matter how crazy I thought he was, this guy wouldn’t leave. And I wasn’t used to people… Even I, look, I’m as guilty as I would say anyone has ever been to me, is that my whole life was based on performance. But I got to this season where I lost a child where I was like, “I can’t perform. I can’t even keep my child alive. But in the meantime, this guy Craig, he didn’t like me based on my performance for once.
Walker Hayes on Being Thankful for God’s Blessings but Still Wondering If He Belongs in the Music Industry
My favorite part of anything God created is writing a song. And so, I miss it. And selfishly, sometimes… People would probably be alarmed to hear this, but sometimes I’ll… My wife and I are like, “Do you think you should just write?” This case really exposes a very narcissistic version of me. And I don’t like it. I don’t like this guy, but he’s into me. I can do really disgusting things. And this affair has this weight on my heart. I find myself going out [on stage] not being grateful, saying “Why couldn’t I hear that signal?” And I’m like, “I need these details to happen because we’re at this phase now.” »And that’s a disgusting version of me. And sometimes I’m like, “Man, I wonder if I was like a high school football coach.” Would I be that rude? And the truth is, I would.
The post office Walker Hayes tells Apple Music how to turn tragedy into triumph appeared first on TCA.
Author: Herb Longs
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