boom.

With refreshing honesty and a dose of attitude, Hayes writes breezy songs that buck country-music conventions. His music is a patchwork of beatboxing, sing-rapping, and coos, whistles, and whoas that’s more reminiscent of The Shins and Jason Mraz than country radio regulars. Nashville record executives didn’t get Hayes at first, and “You Broke Up with Me” is a triumphant heartbreak anthem about being rejected by the city before making it on his own. “Guess you don’t know what you want/Until you see I’m moving on,” he sings. “I know it’s difficult to see me on a roll/But hey, you broke up with me.”