Levi Hummon’s debut EP came out two weeks ago, and the artist and songwriter is practically glowing. He’s been playing shows as a solo artist for two years, and – finally – he’s got more than a “coming soon” when eager fans ask where they can find his music. The self-titled release, via Big Machine, is available and in demand; years of opening for acts like Dan & Shay and Kelsea Ballerini have already cultivated a loyal following. “I just played a show with Dan & Shay this past Saturday and it was the first time I’ve ever had like 40 girls singing my music back to me,” Hummon says. “I don’t get really teary-eyed ever, but it was one of the first times I felt like I was going to cry.”
When we first spoke with Hummon just short of a year ago, he was building: he spoke of writing songs, sometimes twice a day, and heading down to a small venue in Alabama to perfect his live set. A year later, he’s still building, but bears an increased confidence born of stronger industry footing and a honed sense of identity.
“I used to be told I write like a Jackson Pollack painting,” he says – a particularly fitting metaphor for the former art student. “[Big Machine president and CEO] Scott Borchetta once told me, ‘On that huge painting that has so much information, just find that one by one inch that makes sense that’s you, and let’s really shoot for that,’ so I’m going all at this one part of who I think I am.”
Love you. Hate you. Miss you. @levihummon pic.twitter.com/s5cpMg3fi6
— Lexi Willson (@lexiwillson18) April 21, 2016
Hummon’s dynamic repertoire and cohesive debut add verity to Borchetta’s statement. Aside from his own material, Hummon co-wrote Steven Tyler’s current single “Red, White & You” (“uptempo, old-school Steven Tyler, a stadium song”) – he’s been writing with publisher Desmond Child’s project DeLaTorre (“Linkin Park meets like, The Weeknd, it’s crazy”) – proving he can dip into multiple sonic inkwells with ease. When it comes to his own music, he’s found that square of canvas: organic vibes with dynamic percussion and fresh songwriting. “I really want to make a conceptual piece,” Hummon says of the full album.
“My dad taught me when you want to express yourself this is how you do it,” Hummon says about making music. In this case, it takes one to know one – his father, Marcus Hummon, is behind some of country’s most famous songs, like Rascal Flatts’ “Bless The Broken Road” and The Dixie Chicks’ “Cowboy Take Me Away.” Levi stops mid-sentence – we’ve been chatting behind the stage, and the current performer has just launched into a new song: his father’s. He laughs as the the verse to “Cowboy Take Me Away” begins. “This is actually my dad’s song now.” This must happen a lot. “No,” he insists, “This is weird.”
Hummon is very much his father’s son, and not just because he inherited his ability to craft songs that are smart, tight, and damn catchy. He’s developed the ethic and the heart for music as well. “He writes still – for 25 years – a song almost every day,” he says of his father. “A lot of the time it’s not even for artists and it’s not for country music, it’s just to write. It’s cause he has something in his soul.”
Hummon pauses to talk to a toddler who has run up from the beach. “Do you like singing?” he asks. “I do.” The child answers “Me too!” and runs back to his parents. “Follow your dreams!” Hummon yells after him.
Check out Hummon’s debut below and buy it on iTunes.