Ward Hayden and the Outliers ready to take the stage again
Ward Hayden had been off the road for a long time when he wrote “Nothing to Do (For Real This Time).”
“We had a month off, which was about the most time we’d had off in about 15 years,” Hayden said.
First as the leader of Girls Guns and Glory, now as Ward Hayden and the Outliers, the Massachusetts singer-songwriter and his band have made a living on the road playing country music (the kind Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Dwight Yokum do, not the other kind). After winning Boston’s legendary Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble in 2008, the band toured, made records, toured more. A couple of times, Ward and the boys even hit Europe.
“I ended up writing ‘Nothing to Do’ during the break not thinking that a year and half later we would really have nothing to do,” Hayden said.
After the shock of being at home wore off, Hayden started writing again. He’d have the band over to the porch and they’d play a little and work out arrangements. Eventually, a set of songs came together and Hayden used Kickstarter to fund the recording sessions.
“Our fans were amazing and when this came together I thought, ‘We should give this album away to anyone who wants it,’ he said. “We’d been given a gift and we should pay it forward.”
Last month, Ward Hayden and the Outliers unveiled “Free Country.” The title is cheeky. The music hits hard. The album, which you can download for free, doesn’t shy away from the stories that dominate our days: ignorance, hate and oldfashioned heartbreak (they are, after all, a country band).
“Things aren’t over just because you are over them,” he said of writing about contemporary culture. “The last five years brought out the worst in all of us including me. … And I’ve never had more time on my hands to sit at home and think and observe and, thankfully, channel all of this into some songs.”
Despite taking a hard look at the world, “Free County” isn’t glum. It’s often too damn loud to be glum.
“It’s more of a rock record than what we’ve made before,” Hayden said.
Underneath Hayden’s perfect voice (somewhere between Elvis, Roy Orbison and Lefty Frizzell), between the twang and pedal steel runs, the songs have rock ’n’ roll hearts. “Sometimes You Gotta Leave” recalls Tom Petty. “When the Hammer Falls” adds a little shot of heavy metal to rockabilly. “Bad Time (To Quit Drinking)” has these wonderful Drive-By Truckers vibes.
While the band’s third planned trip to Europe in the past year has been pushed off again, the new stuff will sound great at upcoming New England headlining shows and choice dates supporting legends (Los Lobos!).
“These songs have been translating to big stages well because they’re just bigger songs,” Hayden said. “Like ‘Bad Time (To Quit Drinking)’ with those biggest guitar sounds, they just carry better in bigger halls.”
Of course at this point, after months off the road, big stages, small stages, they’re all welcome.