Hunter Hayes joins Erik Zachary for a thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation about Evergreen, the album he spent nearly a decade building into what he now calls season one of a larger creative story. Hunter opens up about the freedom of making music on his own terms, why this project had to wait until he was ready to live it, and how songs like “Human Again,” “Too Late,” “The Ones You Love,” and “Around the Sun” reflect growth, grief, hope, and the complicated process of becoming who you’re meant to be. Along the way, the conversation stretches beyond the record into flying lessons, creative discipline, rare instruments, watches, mentors like Elton John, and the mindset shift from fearing “what if” to asking what happens if it all works out. 

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