Hunter Hayes calls the 2024 CMA Awards his 'homecoming' on the red carpet

NASHVILLE -- Hunter Hayes chats with On The Red Carpet at the 2024 CMA Awards. The musician reminisces on his first paid gig, "I was like four. I started sitting in with this band, and I sat in with this band this one time and I had a blast. They had a blast. They were like you should come back, and then I became a part of the band when I was like six or seven. I know it sounds made up, it does to me too, but yeah, I was playing gigs when I was like six or seven."

Something else that's a blast for Hayes? Getting invited to country's biggest night. The artist tells On The Red Carpet, "being nominated, invited is feeling seen by a town that you've been in and worked in and worked through and met people and networked and you've worked on your craft. You've studied and then all of a sudden, you're sharing a room with people who were your professors, your teachers. You're also surrounded by people who have been doing the same thing you've been doing: working on your craft, trying to better yourself, try to get to know your fans and figure out how to build your career in the context of this crazy industry."

Hayes also opens up to On The Red Carpet about how it feels attending the event, "it feels like homecoming. I never went to homecoming. I was always playing gigs but from what I've heard this is what it feels like."

Don't miss Country Music's Biggest Night beginning at 8/7c on ABC and available to stream tomorrow on Hulu.

You can watch all the red carpet arrivals live from Nashville!

"On The Red Carpet at the CMA Awards" will be streaming live at 6pm ET/3pm PT on OnTheRedCarpet.com, CMAAwards.com and YouTube.com/@OnTheRedCarpet.

You can also stream it live on Hulu and on ABC News live on Disney+.

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