New Braunfels, TX (TOP40 Charts/ Merriweather Records) -- Newly formed
Texas based label Merriweather Records announces award winning Americana artist Rodney Hayden as it's debut act. After four critically acclaimed albums under his belt Hayden is set to release his strongest effort yet in "Tavern Of Poets" on May 4, 2010. Once a mainstay in the dancehalls of his native Texas, Rodney Hayden has been up to something slightly different over the past year.
After a decade of building a reputation as a hard touring, honkeytonking mainstay of the country circuit, Hayden has settled into life over the past year as somewhat of a solitary wordsmith, playing more solo acoustic songwriter shows than he had in the prior ten years of his professional career combined. In the last 12 months alone he�s crossed the pond 4 times and broken out maps of previously uncharted musical territories in the United States, all while keeping a pen and a notebook within arms length to record his experiences in song form along the way.
The result of this new direction, as well as the new experiences it has provided, has culminated in Hayden�s brand new studio album Tavern of Poets.
�It�s not exactly something different,� says Hayden from his New Braunfels, TX home, �but it�s not exactly the same. My roots are in tact, as they will always be, but I finally feel like I�ve found my voice. It�s only taken me 10 years or so. I guess I�m a late bloomer.�
The notion of someone who is on their 5th studio album being a late bloomer is a bit of a far-fetched one, but Hayden humbly suggests that some things can take time to come to its rightful fruition.
�I�ve never been more comfortable with a group of songs as I have this group of songs. They feel like home to me. They feel as right as anything I�ve ever done. At this point in my career�in my life�I�m really happy with the person that I�ve become, and I think it shows on this album.�
Tavern of Poets features 10 songs in total�5 of which were written solely by Hayden�with 3 co-writes with album producer and long time collaborator Drew Kennedy, 1 co-write with Nashville songbird Heather Morgan, and 1 cover of a song by the late south Texas legend Sam Neely.
Recorded in March of 2010 at Austin�s Ramble Creek, with studio owner and noted engineer Britton Beisenherz at the helm, the album boasts a variety of musical styles, all of which fit seamlessly into the general idea behind the album�that moving outside of ones comfort zone can, in fact, help you find a higher sense of comfort no matter where life may take you.
�That�s just it. I�ve gotten to stare into my own eyes in a mirror a couple thousand miles from home, and I realized that I�m always going to see the same person looking back at me. Allowing yourself to grow as the view out of your window changes� allowing yourself the time to figure out what getting older, what seeing new things can mean to someone like me� that�s what this album is about. Anyone can benefit from a little change of perspective, and I feel like this album represents that. I may not have changed much on the outside, but I feel like I�m a more complete person on the inside because of all of this, and I�m comfortable with that.�
Hayden will release Tavern of Poets on a new Texas-based imprint, Merriweather Records USA.
