10 Questions With Levi Hummon

Nashville native Levi Hummon is a lyrical genius, and now, he’s ready to take his career to the next step through his newly signed record deal with Red Van Records.

As the son of Grammy-winning songwriter Marcus Hummon, Levi had someone to shadow and guide him from an early age. With the help of his father, Levi developed his own signature sound and established a name for himself while also writing songs for artists like Steven Tyler and Tim McGraw.

Launching his career as an independent artist at age 24, Hummon penned tales inspired by real-life experiences and grew his fanbase through social media, streaming, and beyond.

Now 32 and signed to Red Van Records, Hummon is set to showcase his authentic storytelling, creativity, and undeniable talent with a wider audience. His newest release, “Another Shot,” arrives today as his fan-favorite collab, “Paying For It” with Walker Hayes, continues to make waves at county radio.  

We recently caught up with Levi Hummon to chat about his latest song release, debut radio single, new record deal, and more. Check out our exclusive Q&A below.

You recently signed a record deal with Red Van Records, becoming their first signee. Could you share how this partnership came about, and in what ways you envision it enhancing your career?

Oh my gosh, it’s already been life-changing. So how this kind of came to be is I’ve been independent. I’ve obviously had partnerships with people to help me put music out, but I’ve been independent since about 2017. I’ve been on this journey doing a lot of self-work. Back when I started putting out music in 2017, I think I was the only person not on the label putting songs out to Spotify. Having the support from them, Amazon, Apple Music, and everybody was amazing. I was really just trying to figure out what my journey was going to look like. After filtering through some teams and just learning the process, I was looking for a manager and I found out my buddy Phil Guerini was the CEO of this new company called Jonas Group Entertainment that was coming to Nashville. Him and I bonded immediately and I had known him since Radio Disney. We just became fast friends and we ended up working together on the management side. One day Kevin Jonas Senior, the dad of the Jonas Brothers, flew in and was like, ‘I would love to meet you since you’re going to be over here on the management side. I want to hear what you have going on.’ We talked about music and I think we just were kindred souls. He wanted to start this company and I just have this huge catalog of songs and the song with Walker. I felt like our energy levels just really matched. He said, I wasn’t going to start this company yet, but I believe in you and I want to get this thing going. So at the end of last year, the very end of last year, we signed it. This has kind of been our first this week, with ‘Another Shot’ and ‘Paying for It.’ It’s like this is our first big push together and it has been really exciting. 

What is the story behind “Another Shot?”

‘Another Shot’ is the perfect example of a song title that was brought to me and just immediately hooked me because it was from the amazing hit songwriter, Jimmy Robbins. My producer Eric Arjes and I walked into the room and Jimmy had already written half of the chorus. He was like, ‘I had this idea for a song, it’s called ‘Another Shot.’ It’s like, you want to give getting over this person another shot, but also you’re taking another shot of something.’ I was like, ‘Sold.’ It was a double entendre, flip of the words. It’s quirky and I love it. Honest to God we wrote it and it took like five seconds. Jimmy is such a badass. I really love the song and I love how it feels like a live song. So I took it out on the road and legitimately, the reason I’m putting it out more than anything is because of my band. They all looked at me when they performed the song and they said, ‘Levi, this is our favorite song to perform live. This feels so good.’ My band never compliments me, so I knew it had to be good. (laughs)

Your song ‘Paying For It’ with Walker Hayes is at country radio. With this being your first song at radio, what has the support been like and what has it meant to you?

Oh my gosh. I have been doing music my whole life, but really professionally pursuing it for about eight, nine, almost 10 years, somewhere in there.  When I say, this is my first ever song at radio, everyone’s always like, ‘you haven’t gone to radio ever? The answer is no. This is my first ever song at radio. And the reason that it is is because I hold radio on the necessary pedestal that it is in country music. It is such a valuable way to reach your fans and to meet new fans. I’ve been waiting for the right team, the right song, the right people that were down to go to radio with me because I’m not like every other country artist. I’m a little bit different. I feel like with this new situation, this new record deal and the new team, I feel like I was in a really safe place to try and take my first stab at it. I think that having a song with Walker is the absolute dream come true for me. I’m just grateful to have the support from him, from his team, from my team, from everybody. It’s been incredible. 

Have you heard it on the radio yet? Can you share what that moment was like for you?

I was at WSM Radio, which is the Opry radio station, and it was my first time being there. We just started this journey with radio the other week. We had the eighth most added song on radio and so we’ve just been going week by week, grinding it out. But today was my first time going to the studio at WSM, which is just a legendary radio station here in Nashville. Getting to hear it on the radio for the first time was just absolutely insane. I’m looking forward to traveling all over the country and getting to hear it and meeting everybody. 

Can fans expect an album or EP from you anytime soon?’

We’ve just recorded this first round of songs, and my goal right now, as it’s my first time at radio, is to transition from releasing EPs to releasing a full album.  If anybody knows any part of my story, I’ve put out EPs that I am so grateful for, but I’ve never actually put out a full album. My goal through this release process is to lead up to an album at some point. 

Would you say that songwriting comes naturally to you given that you are a hit-making songwriter and your dad is well-known for songwriting?

I mean I wouldn’t necessarily say that I learned how to write songs naturally. I always just felt like it was part of my journey and how I express myself creatively. I always grew up around music. I grew up with instruments around the house, and I genuinely think while a lot of people learn covers and learn their favorite songs growing up, I learned chords so I could sing songs that I wrote. By the age of 12, I was already just kind of strumming choruses and verses and whatever, but it was not ever like, ‘oh, I’m writing this.’ It just was supernatural. That being said, obviously, I’ve spent so much time over 10 years now back in Nashville pursuing music professionally, and I’m still learning every day. It is such a journey and with the songwriting thing, you’re always learning and you’re getting better every day. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LEVI HUMMON (@levihummon)

What would you say ultimately inspires you as a songwriter?

I would say what inspires me as a songwriter is life and relationships. I know that’s a cheesy answer, but I think it’s the truth. I think a lot of times I process negative emotions or heartbreak and I turn them into a fun uptempo song. So for instance, ‘Paying for It’ and ‘Good Riddance’ and a lot of my songs are taking the flip of a broken heart and turning it into poking fun at myself and the experience. It’s my way of not drowning in sadness. I think that in the words of Taylor Swift, it’s heartbreak and relationships that are my number one source of inspiration. I take a lot away from just living life in general. I think it’s important for me and the people that I write with to take what I’m feeling and then turn it into part of their story too. They are the best people to write with and that’s the beautiful thing about co-writing in Nashville. 

Can you walk me through your songwriting process?

I don’t even know how to describe songwriting sometimes because it feels like it’s not coming from inside of me. The songs and inspiration come through me, especially when I’m writing something truly meaningful, like the song “Love Heals” that I wrote for my mom’s company, Thistle Farms, featuring Alison Krauss. I think Tom Douglas, my dad and I wrote the song in 10 minutes. It’s amazing how when you’re feeling something so deeply, the song and the lyrics just kind of move through you and into the world.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LEVI HUMMON (@levihummon)

What is the most valuable piece of advice that you consistently rely on as an artist throughout your career?

It’s advice from my dad. The best piece of advice he gave me was that when all else feels like it’s going wrong, sit down and write a song. I feel like so much of this world, you can’t control. You can’t control the yeses and you can’t control the nos. Some days you wake up and you don’t know what is going to happen with your career, or what’s happening in the world, but something you can always do is sit down and write and be creative. So when all else fails, I just write a song.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that maybe we didn’t cover?

I’m doing a really fun show in Chicago on April 20 for Barstool River North’s inaugural Jam Fest. I love Chicago and it’s going to be an awesome show. I’m also playing Live in the Vineyard coming up, which is going to be super fun. We did it last year out in Napa Valley, California, so I’m really excited about that. We have a lot of cool stuff coming up and I can’t wait to share more. 

Fans can follow Levi Hummon on Instagram.