Sam Hunt Releases ‘Southside’ Album, Cites Grandfather As An Influence

Sam Hunt’s long-awaited sophomore album Southside is out now.

The album features 12 songs, all written by Sam including his most recent number one “Kinfolks” and his current radio single “Hard To Forget,” which features a sample of 1950's country star Webb Pierce and his hit "There Stands The Glass."

Hunt shared with us his history with traditional country music, something he grew up on. He told us, "It's always been in my universe. That would have been the area of country music that my grandfather listened to, and he's probably the biggest country music fan in my family. He was always singing some old country song around the house and I stayed over there quite a bit."

Sam continued, "Growing up, he had he had a little land and they lived on this road called Sleepy Hollow. So there was a lots of room for me to run around, but we'd go down to the Foster's Feed store and there would be old country music playing. That's where songs like the Webb Pierce song became familiar to me."

He added, "I listened to lots of areas of country music, but when it came to combining traditional country with a more progressive drum sound, that era (1950s) just seemed to me to marry well and it just worked."

Hunt posted to Instagram, "Southside is out today! It’s not fancy but it’s handmade. I hope y’all enjoy it. To everyone who has supported me and my band and crew over these last 5 and half years, thank you. Can’t wait to see you on the road!"