Today we’d like to introduce you to Waylon Hanel.
Hi Waylon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got my first guitar was 15 years old as a Christmas present from my Mom and Dad (Heidi and Jason Hanel). I taught myself how to play and I have never had a lesson! I got my first show in my hometown of Millington Michigan at a local bar. From there, I was growing slowly, but I was also growing confidence playing a bit bigger bars and clubs. When I turned 20, I had the biggest show up to that point in my career. I got to open up for Trace Adkins at the capital theater in Flint Michigan! From there, it was off to the races. I got to play on many huge stages. I also had the opportunity to open for many national artists over these last four years including Travis Tritt, Josh Turner, Jo Dee Mesina, Uncle Cracker, Ashley McBride, John Michael Montgomery and many more! I also got to sing the National Anthem for President Donald J Trump once and Vice President JD Vance twice!! With the new year of 2026 upon us now, I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
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?
No, it has not been smooth. If anything, it has been a roller coaster! But, that is not a bad thing because if it was easy to do, everyone would be doing it. It’s a lot of long nights on the road driving for hours, time away from family members, missing holidays, keeping your band members together, paying your band members paying your team of people to keep your name relevant as an independent artist (not a major record label artist) and after all of that hoping you have enough money at the end of the day to pay your mortgage, car insurance, property tax and every other bill you have. But, even after all that I wouldn’t have it any other way because it beats having a 9 to 5!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I a singer, songwriter and musician. Writing songs is one of the coolest things you could ever do in my opinion. Reason being, you get to tell a story that you created to a few people or even 1,000s of people. And there’s a chance that some of those people are gonna like that story enough to come out to a concert near where they live to hear you sing those words that mean something to them. It will give you goosebumps every time to hear those people in the audience singing the words that you wrote, back to you!
What were you like growing up?
I loved and still do love the outdoors. I’m a huge hunter and fisher. If I’m not playing a show or with my friends and family, I am in the woods! It’s a big part of my life and brings me a lot of peace as well. It’s nice to go from meeting people all around the country and playing loud country music to silence sitting in a tree stand all alone! I love it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Waylonhanel.com
- Instagram: waylon_hanel_music
- Facebook: Waylon Hanel Music
- Youtube: @WaylonHanelMusic-ve9kk
