Since winning season 7 of The Voice, Craig Wayne Boyd has been staking his place in country music. His current single, ‘My Baby’s Got a Smile on Her Face,’ debuted at number one on the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and is quickly moving up radio charts as well. The Mesquite, Texas native recently took the time to talk to New England Country Music about his experience on The Voice, his new single, and the chance to open for Rascal Flatts.
Craig Wayne Boyd grew up in a religious household listening to artists like Andrae Crouch and Michael English. His grandma was the “rebel” in the family that listened to country music. Craig Wayne would go to her house to listen to country artists like Alabama and Johnny Cash. His earliest memory is of going to the barber shop with his dad and listening to his dad play the banjo. And at age four he started playing the mandolin, at age five the bass guitar, then finally around seven or eight when his hands got large enough to he started playing the guitar.
Craig Wayne actually moved from Texas to Nashville back in 2004. We asked him what it was like making the move and he said, “it was one of those moments where you have to take a chance. There’s a scene from Indiana Jones where he’s sitting on a cliff and he’s looking out over the abyss and there’s nothing in front of him and he makes a step that’s kind of a leap of faith and there’s a path in front of him.”
Being a member of Team Blake while on The Voice was a great experience for Craig Wayne Boyd. He said, “Blake is one of those guys that what you see is what you get and it’s turned into a great friendship now.” Boyd’s current single ‘My Baby’s Got a Smile on Her Face’ is a song that Blake Shelton had but had never recorded. When it came time for Craig Wayne to put out a single, Blake brought the song to his attention. He “absolutely felt like it was the right direction to go and I’m glad that I did.”
‘My Baby’s Got a Smile on Her Face’ is only the second song in the history of the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart to debut at number one. Craig Wayne said that the success that the song is having is “affirmation that everything that I was looking at and hoping and praying and dreaming about is all coming to fruition now.”
Since winning The Voice, Craig Wayne Boyd has gotten to perform at some pretty amazing venues. He recently got to make his Grand Ole Opry debut at The Ryman Auditorium which was “a great honor to stand where the legends of country music have stood over the years.” Another amazing experience for Craig Wayne was singing the National Anthem at the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships. He didn’t know it at the time that it was being televised all over the world and 1.2 billion people were watching in 78 different countries.
It was recently announced that Craig Wayne will be opening for Rascal Flatts during their nine shows at the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas from February 25th and March 14th. Rascal Flatts is a band that he has looked up to for many years, so much so that during his move to Nashville he had their song ‘I’m Movin’ On’ “on repeat from the time I hit the Texas border until I hit the Tennessee border.”
The future is looking busy for Craig Wayne Boyd. His new album is coming along and he is hoping to have a release date soon. Craig Wayne said that he hopes this album takes people on a musical journey and that it will be more of an album instead of just a collection of songs. We here at New England Country Music can’t wait to see what the future holds for Craig Wayne and we can’t wait to see him in New England soon.