Conversations with Huey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Huey.

Hi Huey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in Atlanta, Ga., and was really lucky to get to grow up in Virginia Highland. Running around the city and seeing all the DIY bands coming up at the time inspired me to want to play music with people. I was in a bunch of bands throughout those years, but it all sort of funneled down in to one band, “Y’all”, which ultimately name-changed to Huey & the Heaven-sent. It got hard to schedule practices and tours, and I wanted to take the show on the road. It was equally hard to ask people in the band (there is a rotating cast of really amazing musicians that have played in the Heaven-sent) to take off work to go play in another state and make no money. I realized that if I wanted to tour really heavily, the best way that that was going to work was if I figured out how to do it by myself.
We still release music and perform locally as a band, but today I mostly play solo. Since then I’ve somehow managed to play over 180 shows, just me, across the US.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think that getting people to believe in what you’re trying to do is hard, and I definitely have some imposters syndrome that goes on in the background. I wouldn’t really called it a “struggle”, but it took me a long time to figure out what kind of music I really wanted to make. I think I’m still figuring that out, and wondering if people will like it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m not sure that I’m known for anything in particular, other than hustling. I think that’s the growing up in Atlanta thing at work. I just want to play as many shows and write as many songs and meet as many people as I can.
As far as the kind of music I play, it’s really melody-driven, fingerstyle guitar stuff. Imagine me, a thin line telecaster straight in to a tremolo reverb amp, basically spilling my guts stream-of-consciousness style to a bunch of strangers. That’s what you’ll get at a Huey show. I think a lot of people appreciate the vulnerability of it, and maybe relate to that.

What are your plans for the future?
This past year I started applying to musician residencies, and got accepted to a few—one in Martha’s Vineyard and another in Napa Valley CA. Next year I’ll be doing a month-long residency in Germany and touring around the country. I’m just looking for ways to kick the can a little further down the road, and residencies have been a really beneficial way for me to take time and write new material, as well as play for new audiences. Success to me is finding a way to make playing music every day sustainable—I don’t want to be doing anything else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.huey-music.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huey__music?stkn=MXQ1NjVyanR5cGx0dg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EgQTuf7ss/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/j3HRiwnLXHM?si=umddq6pMtrvMcrGG