Meet The Real Cowboy Singing The Music Your Grandma And Grandpa Used To Play

There will be thousands of guys and gals in cowboy hats across Nashville this week, but one man in particular will be on stage with a twang you can hear all the way from his hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Legit bluegrass roots inspire his “real country music” sound — and lucky for the fans who haven’t heard him yet, Spencer Hatcher is just getting started.

The 29-year-old first stepped on stage as a teenager in his family’s bluegrass band, playing what he calls the “rawest” form of music for anyone who would listen.

“The very first couple of shows, we were doing it for nothing … it was for probably 40 or 50 people at the retirement home not too far from my home,” Hatcher told The Daily Wire.

It was no Broadway in Nashville — but for a guy from Broadway, Virginia, it was a way to get him in front of a crowd.

“I remember just being mortified, like terrified up there. We were all sweating and forgetting the words,” he said.

The retirement home didn’t care about the teen’s musical mishaps, but the small-town grind prepared Hatcher for his eventual solo career in Nashville — where he’s inked his first music deal and is now opening for big names including Zach Top, Hank Williams Jr., and Diamond Rio.

Credit: Riker Bros

He has two shows this week in Nashville as part of CMA Fest, the Music City’s premiere week-long celebration of country music, where the fans get to experience their favorite artists in intimate settings.

It’s Hatcher’s second year being part of CMA Fest, and he’ll kick things off on Tuesday night at Riley Green’s Duck Blind. On Thursday night, he’ll take the stage at Chief’s on Broadway.

“Last year was my first year, and it was incredible, but before that, I had not even attended CMA Fest,” Hatcher said. “I’m wildly excited. I believe it is the biggest week in all of Nashville as far as people coming, the attendance … it’s absurd for CMA Fest.”

While people from all over come to Nashville to make music, Hatcher takes pride in keeping the old-fashioned country sound… and lifestyle.

“Anybody can be ‘country,’ but you gotta go live ‘country,'” Hatcher said.

In between managing his ever-growing tour schedule and follower count — he’s approaching 1 million social media followers and has already produced more than a million streams of his songs, including his latest hit “When She Calls Me Cowboy” — he still finds time to get outside where he feels most at ease.

“Working out in a field or doing something productive that’s not necessarily like your business work is where I get a lot of peace,” Hatcher said. “If you’re like bush hogging a field or making hay or something in the evening — that to me is really peaceful.”

The lifestyle he leads is clearly reflected in the songs he sings — and Hatcher says he’ll keep writing songs that bring back what he describes as “traditional country music” as he continues introducing music fans to his name, one concert at a time.