The most asked question I’ve had since my interview with Craig has been “what’s he like?” Simply put, he’s an incredibly sweet, soft spoken, driven, humble man. He’s very introspective. You can tell he was raised right and has lived his life trying to be a good steward of promoting the positive, more gentle side of things. Guess that explains why he was so stoked to work on his book project. It’s part of a series of motivational books called “The Change” and will be out in June. Seeing how Craig has handled his road to success, overcoming the challenges of his career and personal life is motivation for me to grab his book and see what’s behind the man.

His musical roots started young – his dad gave him his first guitar [mandolin], “he pulled four of the strings off it, and made it a four string. That’s what he taught me to play rhythm on.” His pops still plays the Honky Tonks around TX every weekend. He taught, purposefully or not, Craig that there is more to music, musicianship, than just singing or playing a guitar. From talking to him, seeing his eyes as he talks, it’s the musicianship that drives him in his career. Craig has been in bands from blue grass to gospel singing groups since he was 7/8 years old. “Play most of the wood winds, trumpet, trombone then pretty much anything with strings on it. Any instrument I can get my hands on I just sit down and try to figure it out.”

Between him talking about what he listened to, and the types of music he played throughout his younger years, to hearing him say that if he could tour with anyone, one would have to be a legend Travis Tritt. You easily understand how his music style came to fruition. We need to say thank you to his grandma because that is where his love of traditional country music derived. “My grandma was the one that had all the country albums. She had every album that Johnny Cash ever put out along with Merle Haggard and I remember I loved it.”

He’s had some pretty awesome opportunities arise for him since winning the voice, both personally and professionally.

· He sang the National Anthem at the “National Downhill Ski Championships” there was a huge “in person” audience, and it was televised to an audience of over a trillion people all over the world, something like 97 countries. “Right when I said ‘land of the free’ the flag starts flying and the eagle spread his wings.” Listen to him describe the moment in the video, It’s definitely a #powwow moment [about 6:30 in – who besides me wants to see that picture he talks about]

· He opened for Rascal Flatts during their Vegas gig

· He’s finished his CD

· He’s written a book

· He had a little baby girl “Dakota” on New Years Eve Last year

· He got married [side note, she’s stunning and has a great sense of humor]

· A huge #powwow moment was his first time playing at the Grand Ole Opry “I’ve now since come to play it several times, I feel very honored and privileged every time

Another one of the “fun” things I learned about while prepping for the interview is he loves to cook. You can find recipes on his FB page, there is an album. High five to living with dads. I deem it our mission to get Chopped to do a country music addition. I know we have Craig and Christian Kane that could rock the kitchen.

The show that night at The Grizzly Rose was outstanding. He has a great presence on stage, very confident and interactive with the crowd. Craig and his band were spot on. Very good, very tight! He’s a hell of a performer and obviously he enjoys what he does and does what it takes for the audience, the fans to enjoy the show, enjoy what he brings to them. A few songs hit the emotional chord for me, his voice is so powerful, his belief in what he was singing culminated in #goosebumps!

Craig’s got a lot in store for us fans in the coming months! His CD is finished it was co-produced by Aaron Pearce {Aaron has produces for multiple major acts such as Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, American Idol, Lauren Alaina and many others], Craig was excited because they “grew up playing music together, we’ve known each other since we were 15/16. It was cool to get back in the studio with him. We have a like mind when it comes to music.” He is touring, his book comes out in June, these are a couple of the big announcements coming our way. He had a lot I wanted him to talk about but he couldn’t spill the beans yet. So be sure to stay tuned closely to his twitter, FB and website over the coming, days, weeks, etc.

Don’t forget CMA fest! He’s playing Thursday June 9th at the Gildan Broadway Stage at Hard Rock Cafe, his fan club party is June 9th at 3:00 pm at the Karma Lounge, and don’t forget to check out the celebrity softball game.

Tidbits ….

What will we find on your iPod – Chris Stapleton, Justin Timberlake, Jill Scott

Feel like crap pick me up song – “ I usually listen to sad songs” as he chuckles “ Merle Haggard – ‘Here I go Again’”

One of his favorite songs “One of the most motivational songs for me is called “Footlights”

Book – laughs “well it’s going to be “The Change” now”

T.V. Show – Game of Thrones and hooked into a show called Billions”

Comedy Movie – You’ve Got Mail

Super Hero/Cartoon – Thor

Color – Red

Coffee or Tea - Coffee

Listen to the full interview to hear things like how he came up with y'allers 16:15 – the fan questions he answered start after that at 17:08 and the video ends with him drawing our contest winners!

Craig's website: http://craigwayneboyd.com/
Twitter: @cwbyall ♦♦♦ https://twitter.com/CWBYall?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Craigwayneboyd/
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cwbyall/

By: Nickie Techmanski - Country Watch - @Acologal

Video Assistance by Deb Lay and Seth Techmanski