Life & Work with John Haywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Haywood. 

Hi John, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I never intended to be a singer-songwriter. I had terrible stage fright and had more of an interest in writing stories. In 2013, I earned my BA in English from Liberty University and started traveling overseas, writing journals, and basing fictional stories off of my experiences. In 2016, I drove across the US and came through Nashville for the first time. I could tell that something special was happening in this town. 40 states and three years later, it was still on my mind; so, in 2019, I returned to Nashville to write a novel about the songwriting and musical community. 

I had a few songs I had written during my travels, and I felt I needed to get into the role of a songwriter to write the best story possible; so, I started visiting the writer’s rounds and eventually found the courage to get on stage. I was extremely nervous and not confident in my abilities at all, but eventually, other songwriters began to come up to me afterward and offer to co-write with me. That was really when I began to see into the Nashville artist community and understand what songwriting was all about in this town. 

I tutored English during the day and worked as a bouncer on Broadway at night, co-writing and visiting the rounds when I could. By 2020, I had fallen so much in love with the songwriter’s lifestyle that I decided to set aside my novel and put my stories into songs from here on out. But just when I was starting to get the hang of it, COVID-19 hit. As Nashville shut down, I took to the road and eventually returned to my family home in Maryland. But I had no doubt in my mind that I would return to Nashville in 2021. I saved up money, studied songwriting, practiced guitar, and took classes on how to improve my social media presence. In January of 2021, I returned to Nashville and hit the ground running. 

Since then, I’ve played 117 writer’s rounds and 61 shows, completed 102 co-writes and 134 songs, all while working 40 hours a week as an editor for a financial advisor. I was also honored to sing the National Anthem for the Nashville Soccer Club in Nissan Stadium in May, and I earned my first song cut with Ciera MacKenzie’s “Given the Weather.” Having found my own sound along the way, I hope to start a band next year and find a producer to work on the artist side of things while continuing to write in hopes of landing a publishing deal. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been easy. Even though I had a steady job, investing in yourself as an independent artist in Nashville is costly. I went out seven nights a week to network, which was exhausting physically, mentally, and financially. But, being 32 years old and completely new to the music industry, I felt I had to work smarter and harder than everyone else to catch up. My biggest goal for 2021 was to establish myself in the Nashville community, and I’ve done that by giving all of my time and money to that cause. I worked eight hours a day and went to the writer’s rounds each night, sometimes playing 5 or 6 times a week, and began playing shows on the weekends to keep myself afloat. I rarely went home to Maryland to see my family, and, if I did, it was a 10-and-a-half-hour drive just to spend a day or two there. I didn’t have much of a dating life either. Not many people want to date someone who spends every night hanging out in bars, making friends with strangers. But I came to this town for one thing, and I was determined to succeed this year. No regrets. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on? 

I’m a singer-songwriter. I probably spend about eight hours a day doing something that contributes to my career in music, and I do the same on weekends, sometimes giving more than eight hours to it on a Saturday or Sunday. I also work 40 hours a week as an editor for a financial advisor, AllianceBernstein, but I don’t know much about finance, just words. Everything else I do is music-driven. I weigh the benefits of every activity in my mind, based on how it will affect my professional goals. It’s exhausting, but I absolutely love it. The community in Nashville is worth that kind of investment. 

I specialize in writing folk, blues, southern rock, and outlaw country music, and I aspire to be an artist that mixes those genres well. But, when I co-write with other writers, I prefer to write for them; this means I’ll write pop, contemporary or alternative country, rock, punk, hip hop, etc., and typically focus on a more commercial sound. I pride myself on being a writer with no bounds, and I love a challenge and anything that pulls me out of my comfort zone. My style is old school and is centered around honest lyricism and versatility, and I’d like to be known as an artist who can write around a great hook in the commercial fashion or free-form. 

I’m most known for the depth of my lyrics and the uniqueness of my voice. I taught myself to sing by listening to Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and all the old crooners. When I started playing out, I was told I sounded different. I chose to see that as an advantage, and it’s served me well. 

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I worked with inner-city youth, in central Virginia and Baltimore, for several years while I was in college and after graduating. I still keep in touch with a lot of the families and enjoy seeing what the kids are doing now. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.johnhaywood.info
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hey_haywood
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heyhaywood
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1gXUaZjNSBU_lL5sy2E9A

Image Credits
Dylan Reeves
Laurel Higman