Hayes Carll
Joshua Hayes Carll, known as Hayes Carll, is a singer-songwriter from The W… Read Full Bio ↴Joshua Hayes Carll, known as Hayes Carll, is a singer-songwriter from The Woodlands, Texas (a Houston suburb). He is currently signed to Lost Highway Records.
Carll has toured relentlessly in North America and abroad (performing over two hundred shows a year), founded a successful singer-songwriter music festival on the Gulf Coast of Texas, secured a record deal with Lost Highway Records, and has even seen his album Little Rock become the first self-released album to reach #1 on the Americana Music Chart.
"When I started, I moved down to this place called Crystal Beach, Texas where you need to take a ferry from Galveston across the bay to get to this little peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico," recalls Carll, who grew up just outside Houston. "It's this isolated coastal community with a wild assortment of people either hiding out, hanging on or getting lost-- a lot of drugs and drinking, a fair amount of violence, but at the same time a lot of really interesting people with great stories to tell. Folks in the bars there weren't necessarily interested in what I had to say as a songwriter-- they wanted to hear David Allan Coe and Merle Haggard, and other stuff they knew. So that's what I did six nights a week for four years. I haven't run into tougher crowds since. It was an initiation into becoming a performer."
Those experiences not only gave Carll a thick skin, they gave him plenty of material to spin into songs like the low-slung, finger-picked blues "I Got a Gig" -- populated by characters like the "barefoot shrimper with a pistol up his sleeve" -- and the tear-in-your-beer waltz "Beaumont," in which a suitor bearing a single white rose makes a fruitless trip to try to win over a lady love. Carll says of the latter tune. "I like to try to tackle a heavy topic but do it with a light touch. The more personal, weightier stuff doesn't come as easy, even though that's what I like to think about the most."
Carll has developed that touch over a long stretch that began when he was still in his teens, a stretch he spent writing poems, short stories and songs by the notebook-full. He eventually discovered that the last of those three flowed from him most easily, and while he dutifully headed off to college, he spent more time strumming and singing. To hear him tell it, "I sort of sabotaged my career options to the point where, by the time I was out of school, I was pretty much unemployable and had no choice but to be a musician."
After moving to the Gulf Coast, Carll honed his craft in the area bars and beer-joints as well as more serious folk clubs like the venerable Old Quarter in Galveston, where he opened for a wide array of respected songwriters such as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willis Alan Ramsay and many others. By 2002, he was ready to unleash his recorded indie debut, Flowers and Liquor, which, while not widely distributed, garnered plenty of critical praise, including American Songwriter's claim that the disc "suggests the young Texan might be the next great songwriter from a state full of maestros."
He lived up to that praise on his next outing, Little Rock, an offering on which Carll showed off his stylistic breadth by steering his band from searing rock to jazz-tinged balladry -- a scope that earned praise both at home and across the pond, where the Irish Times raved "This is the first mighty country record of the year, a bruised, bedraggled affair full of jagged memories and wry observations."
On his 2008 album Trouble In Mind, there's a much sharper focus to the material, thanks in part, to more time in the studio and some great players sure to be familiar to roots-rock aficionados, including, Dan Baird, Darrell Scott, Will Kimbrough and former Flying Burrito Brother Al Perkins.
“My first record I did in five days, and my second one we did in twelve," Carll explains. "This time around I had a solid month, so it was really a luxury. It was amazing to get all these talented people in the room and have them listen to me describe my vision and then go out and try to realize that and capture it on tape. My strength isn't that I have the world's most amazing voice or that I'm this incredible player -- hopefully it's that there's some aspect of my personality and my lyrics that people can relate to."
Carll’s personality, emotional but never too sentimental, mischievous, funny, world-weary and sardonic, imbues every track of Trouble in Mind. He’s never afraid to be vulnerable and direct, as on one of the standout tracks, “Willing to Love Again” - “I feel too much, I protect too much, most times I probably expect too much. I spend my life on this broken crutch, and you believe I can fly.”
Carll's 2011 album KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories) was The album includes "Another Like You," a duet with Cary Ann Hearst The L.A. Times described the album as "Carll is every bit as expressive a singer as he is a writer, drawling his trenchant observations with deceptive ease."
Carll’s live performances continue to win over fans everywhere. His clever, irreverent lyrics and sharp observations combined with his warm Texas drawl make his stories and anecdotes as compelling and entertaining as his songs. There’s that sweet taste of honey followed with the sharp sting of a wisecrack. Never is that tongue-in-cheek humor more obvious than on the red neck rant “She Left Me For Jesus”, where a clueless lover is upset and suspicious over the changes in his girlfriend. “Now she’s acting funny and I don’t understand. I think that she’s found her some other man. She’s left me for Jesus, and that just ain’t fair. She says that he’s perfect, how can I compare?” “You know I’m always a little nervous when I sing that song. Like Ray Wiley Hubbard says, the problem with irony is that people don’t always get it.”
Carll has toured relentlessly in North America and abroad (performing over two hundred shows a year), founded a successful singer-songwriter music festival on the Gulf Coast of Texas, secured a record deal with Lost Highway Records, and has even seen his album Little Rock become the first self-released album to reach #1 on the Americana Music Chart.
"When I started, I moved down to this place called Crystal Beach, Texas where you need to take a ferry from Galveston across the bay to get to this little peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico," recalls Carll, who grew up just outside Houston. "It's this isolated coastal community with a wild assortment of people either hiding out, hanging on or getting lost-- a lot of drugs and drinking, a fair amount of violence, but at the same time a lot of really interesting people with great stories to tell. Folks in the bars there weren't necessarily interested in what I had to say as a songwriter-- they wanted to hear David Allan Coe and Merle Haggard, and other stuff they knew. So that's what I did six nights a week for four years. I haven't run into tougher crowds since. It was an initiation into becoming a performer."
Those experiences not only gave Carll a thick skin, they gave him plenty of material to spin into songs like the low-slung, finger-picked blues "I Got a Gig" -- populated by characters like the "barefoot shrimper with a pistol up his sleeve" -- and the tear-in-your-beer waltz "Beaumont," in which a suitor bearing a single white rose makes a fruitless trip to try to win over a lady love. Carll says of the latter tune. "I like to try to tackle a heavy topic but do it with a light touch. The more personal, weightier stuff doesn't come as easy, even though that's what I like to think about the most."
Carll has developed that touch over a long stretch that began when he was still in his teens, a stretch he spent writing poems, short stories and songs by the notebook-full. He eventually discovered that the last of those three flowed from him most easily, and while he dutifully headed off to college, he spent more time strumming and singing. To hear him tell it, "I sort of sabotaged my career options to the point where, by the time I was out of school, I was pretty much unemployable and had no choice but to be a musician."
After moving to the Gulf Coast, Carll honed his craft in the area bars and beer-joints as well as more serious folk clubs like the venerable Old Quarter in Galveston, where he opened for a wide array of respected songwriters such as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willis Alan Ramsay and many others. By 2002, he was ready to unleash his recorded indie debut, Flowers and Liquor, which, while not widely distributed, garnered plenty of critical praise, including American Songwriter's claim that the disc "suggests the young Texan might be the next great songwriter from a state full of maestros."
He lived up to that praise on his next outing, Little Rock, an offering on which Carll showed off his stylistic breadth by steering his band from searing rock to jazz-tinged balladry -- a scope that earned praise both at home and across the pond, where the Irish Times raved "This is the first mighty country record of the year, a bruised, bedraggled affair full of jagged memories and wry observations."
On his 2008 album Trouble In Mind, there's a much sharper focus to the material, thanks in part, to more time in the studio and some great players sure to be familiar to roots-rock aficionados, including, Dan Baird, Darrell Scott, Will Kimbrough and former Flying Burrito Brother Al Perkins.
“My first record I did in five days, and my second one we did in twelve," Carll explains. "This time around I had a solid month, so it was really a luxury. It was amazing to get all these talented people in the room and have them listen to me describe my vision and then go out and try to realize that and capture it on tape. My strength isn't that I have the world's most amazing voice or that I'm this incredible player -- hopefully it's that there's some aspect of my personality and my lyrics that people can relate to."
Carll’s personality, emotional but never too sentimental, mischievous, funny, world-weary and sardonic, imbues every track of Trouble in Mind. He’s never afraid to be vulnerable and direct, as on one of the standout tracks, “Willing to Love Again” - “I feel too much, I protect too much, most times I probably expect too much. I spend my life on this broken crutch, and you believe I can fly.”
Carll's 2011 album KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories) was The album includes "Another Like You," a duet with Cary Ann Hearst The L.A. Times described the album as "Carll is every bit as expressive a singer as he is a writer, drawling his trenchant observations with deceptive ease."
Carll’s live performances continue to win over fans everywhere. His clever, irreverent lyrics and sharp observations combined with his warm Texas drawl make his stories and anecdotes as compelling and entertaining as his songs. There’s that sweet taste of honey followed with the sharp sting of a wisecrack. Never is that tongue-in-cheek humor more obvious than on the red neck rant “She Left Me For Jesus”, where a clueless lover is upset and suspicious over the changes in his girlfriend. “Now she’s acting funny and I don’t understand. I think that she’s found her some other man. She’s left me for Jesus, and that just ain’t fair. She says that he’s perfect, how can I compare?” “You know I’m always a little nervous when I sing that song. Like Ray Wiley Hubbard says, the problem with irony is that people don’t always get it.”
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Hayes Carll Lyrics
"I Got A Gig" Eight line machine and a sailor's daughter Somethin' makes…
01 Highway 87 Highway 87 is a dangerous place to be When you pissed…
02 Heaven Above Six-pack of something, bottle of pills Got to be a better…
02 It's a Shame The time has come, there is no second chance We've been…
08 Wild as a Turkey Well I'm wild as a turkey, higher than a Christmas…
11 I Don't Wanna Grow Up When I'm lyin' in my bed at night, I don't…
A Lover Like You You came a ragin' At my front door You said, "Hey, I…
Another Like You You were smoking on a cigarette Talking 'bout the deficit Pu…
Arkansas Blues Well I hide behind my guitar like a sparrow in…
Bad Liver And A Broken Heart Arkansas, my head hurts I'd love to stick around and maybe…
Barroom Lament My first hangout when I moved to Galveston was the…
Beaumont I saw you leanin' on a memory With your back turned…
Bottle In My Hand Well, I followed my feet across this land A tune in…
Bye Bye Baby You laughed and called me lucky For having you around Then y…
Chances Are Chances re I took the wrong turn Every time I had…
Chickens I got chickens in my front yard What they do is…
Don't Let Me Fall I walked the highway since I can't remember I cut my…
Down The Road * Thrift store cowboys, five and dime junkies Red dirt plowboy…
Drive Driving, driving Don't you ever sleep Calling out the exits …
Drunken Poet's Dream I got a woman she's wild as Rome She likes to…
Easy Come Easy Go Jamie was a barmaid at the Underground Longrail Seems like e…
Faulkner Street The record player's scratchin' out an old and dusty tune On…
Flowers & Liquor Well you like flowers and I like liquor Your way's nice,…
Girl Downtown There's a girl downtown with freckles on her nose Pencils in…
Good Friends We used to run around skippin' school and drinkin' beerOne…
Good While It Lasted I smoked my last cigarette I drank my last drop Quit doing…
Grand Parade Another Sunday on the corner of the neighborhood Leavin' wor…
Grateful For Christmas Well, we'd all head to Waco, for the birth of…
Hard Out Here After all these years of runnin' 'round All this flying high…
Heaven Above Six-pack of something, bottle of pills Got to be a better…
Hey Baby Where You Been Well they took all my clothes and they took all…
Hide Me After all these years of running 'round Of flying high and…
Highway 87 Highway 87 is a dangerous place to be When you pissed…
I Don't Wanna Grow Up When I'm lyin' in my bed at night, I don't…
I Got A Gig Eight line machine and a sailor's daughter Somethin' makes…
It's a Shame The time has come, there is no second chance We've been…
It\'s A Shame The time has come, there is no second chance We've been…
Jealous Moon The moon is slowly rising It's really not surprising After a…
King of the Road Trailers for sale or rent Rooms to let fifty cents No phone,…
KMAG YOYO Well, daddy joined the Air Force Said, it was a good…
Knockin' Over Whiskeys I keep knockin' over whiskeys No ones laughin' at my jokes T…
Leave Here Standing Don't take me down that road againI been there once…
Little Rock Wake up in the mornin' Long and lean Stoppin at the…
Live Free or Die Well, I'm doin' ten to twenty In the frozen granite state An…
Long Way Home Ramblin boy you've been around Dallas to the underground Hig…
Lost & Lonely Well it's hard to write a song When your three-fourths gone…
Love Don't Let Me Down I never been the lucky one Watched my dreams all…
Love Is So Easy I saw you dancing down on Maclan street Couldn't stop laughi…
My Friends I had help from hometown It's hot mess when you're held…
Naked Checkers You told your mama, you told your pa Mama called the…
Perfect Lover I could be the perfect lover if you let me I…
Richey Lee Richey Lee was his Father's boy Big, loud, Hard-drinkin' bu…
Rivertown Take me to a rivertown where you can't tell night…
Sake of the Song If you're nobody's business or you're front page news Rock, …
She Left Me For Jesus We've been datin' since high school We never once left…
She'll Come Back to Me It rains all day in the desert And Elvis is alive A…
Sit in With the Band I been drinking all day for a livin' been dreaming…
stomp & hollar Oh, little Johnny walked ′cross the border last night Runnin…
Stomp And Holler Oh little Johnny Walker caught a bullet last night Running f…
Take Me Away Rain beatin' down, on a midnight moon Oh babe, I'll be…
The Letter I meet some wild people out here Those who are pretendin'…
The Love That We Need You say 'I love you' I say 'me too' We don't think…
The Lovin Cup I got all night to remember you by I got a…
The Magic Kid Pick a card, any card Don't show it to me Abracadabra I've g…
Times Like These In times like these everyone could use a hand Instead we…
Wild As A Turkey Well I'm wild as a turkey, higher than a Christmas…
Wild Pointy Finger My wild pointy finger, it wags and it wiggles It′s always…
Willing To Love Again I drink too much and I smoke too much I laugh…
Wish I Hadn't Stayed So Long Shootin' stars and whiskey bottles all scattered across th…
You Leave Alone Billy built cars that never went nowehere Only thing working…