Waylon Hanel is a 21-year-old from Millington and is pursuing his dream as an entertainer with his outlaw style of country music.
Focusing on performing in Michigan, Hanel has been playing guitar since he was 15, but it wasn’t until some tough love and encouragement from his mother that started to sing alongside his music. He will be performing in the upcoming Bay City County Music Fest
“(My) mom asked me to sing when I first started playing and I told her no,” said Hanel. “I came home from school one day and my guitar was gone. She said she took it away and (I) wasn’t getting it back until you at least try to sing. A month goes by … I finally caved in and OK I’ll give it a shot. Without her doing that I would not have done any of the things I have done so far.”
From there he performed in local bars and other venues in the area frequently in his late teens. When he was around 18, he was given an opportunity by Dan Richards (along with his wife Georgann), who is a radio DJ for 103.9, to visit with country music singer and songwriter Bernie Nelson in Texas.
“They gathered up some of their money and flew me, Mom, and Dad, down there,” said Hanel. “I was able to write songs with him for four days and that is kind of where my whole songwriting thing came about. I didn’t know much about it because I was an entertainer, of course, the more and more you do something you are going to get better at it.”
Hanel prefers the performance side as an entertainer, but when he does have ideas for songs he collaborates with friends. He said it’s nice to have friends who can be a part of that process.
In those four days that Hanel spent with Nelson, he worked on what has now become his first album, “New Old Outlaws,” with a single release of the same name. The single topped out at number 54 on the music road chart in Nashville.
Waylon Hanel will be performing at the Bay City Country Music Fest with his debut album “New Old Outlaws” along with country music start Mitchell Tenpenny.
Courtesy Photo/Provided by Music City Media – Andy Evinger“I feel like that was pretty good for my debut single as an independent artist with no label,” said Hanel. “It did very well for us. We are going to throw a new single here probably in (September) and try to get my name back on the radio.”
“That album, I wrote that last year with Burnie,” he said. “There is not a bad song on that album in my opinion, I love all of them. They all tell a great story. It was so much fun working with him writing these songs because there was never a dull moment.”
He will be performing these songs in the area shortly as he will be opening for Mitchell Tenpenny alongside Jon Langston on June 16 in Bay City. He previously performed at the Bay Country Music Festival in 2022, opening for both Chris Cagle and Grammy Award Winner Travis Tritt on back-to-back days.
Before performances like this, Hanel says he always thinks about everything that could go wrong, but at the end of the day once he is performing he can work with it.
“If those things happen, who cares?” said Hanel. “Some of the people I can see who come out to these shows came out to see me and with that in my head it makes me feel a bit more confident. I’ve broken strings, I’ve dropped my hat, none of that stuff bothers me anymore because it is just fun to be there and it is fun to play.”
Hanel can also be seen across Michigan performing this summer where he will be opening for Grammy Award Winner Ashley McBryde on July 22 at the Ionia County Fair and opening for Grammy Award Nominee Jo Dee Messina on Sept. 16 at the Birch Run Speedway.
Waylon Hanel can be found online through his website waylonhanel.com as well as on Facebook and Instagram @waylon_hanel_music.