Sam Hunt: ‘I Don’t Have Any Intention of Leaving Country Music’

Sam Hunt fans might not have to wait much longer for some new tunes. The "Break Up in a Small Town" singer has revealed that he is working on the followup to his No. 1 freshman album, Montevallo.

"[Producer] Zach Crowell and I just got back in the studio," Hunt reveals to Entertainment Weekly. "He’s my right-hand man in terms of the workload. And, of course, [writers] Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne. Everybody in the little group musically has been there from the start. We’ve got such a relationship now, the personal side of it is really important to the productivity of the creative side. It took a few years to develop that, so I want to stick with it."

Hunt, who toured with both Lady Antebellum and Luke Bryan in 2015, and headlined his own Lipstick Graffiti Tour, says that playing all of those live shows has influenced his new music.

"I’ve really been able to appreciate the value of certain types of songs [for] a live audience," he explains. "Our show has a little bit more energy, and the tempo is a little bit more upbeat than the way I usually approach songwriting — I tend to lean towards ballads and slower songs. So I’m more aware of needing that balance. There will be songs that will be great to listen to in the car by yourself, songs that will be perfect for a party with your friends, or a live show."

The Georgia native has already earned three chart-topping hits, including "Take Your Time" and "House Party," which both landed in the Top 30 on the pop charts as well. But while some have criticized Hunt's tendencies toward pop sounds in his songs, the singer-songwriter says that he doesn't plan on switching genres.

"I don’t have any intention of leaving country music," Hunt maintains. "I really don’t even know how to go about doing that. The things that are going to be in all my records, for as long as I’m making them, are going to go back to who I am and where I’m from and the lifestyle that I live and come from — and I don’t know how I could ever get any of that close enough to pop to be considered a pop act."

In honor of the one-year anniversary of Montevallo's release (Oct. 27), Hunt has digitally reissued his original acoustic mixtape, Between the Pines. The record, which Hunt released independently in 2013, is available for download on iTunes.

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