Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Scott Hayley Is Helping To Change Our World

I would advise any young person wishing to become a performing artist to sit down, think about what they really want out of their music, what their initial and long-term goals are, then map out a plan. Don’t ever rely on someone to invest in you. The best and most important thing a young artist can do is invest in themselves. Do what you must do to achieve your goals. It may be putting your music on the back burner for some time, working multiple jobs, or saving money until you are able to chase your dream.

As a part of our series about stars who are making an important social impact, I had the pleasure of Scott Hayley.

Scott Hayley is the lead singer and songwriter of the Scott Hayley Band. Never afraid of hard work, Hayley built a promising career in the West Texas oil fields as a directional drilling engineer. After 19 years making a living with his oil rig company, he turned in his hardhat to finally pursue his dream of playing Texas country music.

Thank you so much for joining us on this interview series. Can you share with us the backstory that led you to this career path?

Growing up, we were very poor. My mother had me at fourteen, and both her and my stepfather spent their time working multiple jobs to support my brother, sister, and I. In the late 1980’s, technology wasn’t really a thing in a typical kid’s life. Being we didn’t have a lot of toys, we had to make the most of being poor folk. I literally wore out a VHS tape of “The Goonies” movie.

One day, my aunt gave me a Sammy Hagar tape. It changed my life. I listened to that tape until it wouldn’t play anymore. If you don’t believe that’s possible, I promise it is! Ever since she gave me that tape, I fell in love with music.

When Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart” came out, I was hooked. When I was nine years old, I attended my first concert — Billy Ray Cyrus at Six Flags over Texas in Arlington, Texas. We couldn’t afford good seats, so my parents bought me a single seat near the stage, while they sat in the back with my brother and sister. As I sat near the stage, mesmerized, I knew right then that I would one day be a singer on a stage somewhere. Music has been a huge part of my life ever since.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What was the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?

The first time I had Covid, I had issues breathing while performing. It was so bad that I had issues getting all the words out in time with the music. One day before a show, my songwriting partner and drummer, Paul Cook, was shopping around at Academy. I had him pick me up a few of those spray cans of oxygen that skiers use in the mountains, thinking it would help me catch my breath quicker while performing.

At the next show, when I started feeling winded, I would go back to his drum set, grab one of the oxygen cans, and suck in 4–5 huffs during instrumental breaks. Following the show, the bar owner approached me with a very concerned expression and said “Look, I’m not one to judge… I will never tell you how to live your life, but several of the patrons in attendance were really set off by you huffing paint during your performance”.

Lesson learned…. Perception is the audience’s reality.

What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?

I would advise any young person wishing to become a performing artist to sit down, think about what they really want out of their music, what their initial and long-term goals are, then map out a plan. Don’t ever rely on someone to invest in you. The best and most important thing a young artist can do is invest in themselves. Do what you must do to achieve your goals. It may be putting your music on the back burner for some time, working multiple jobs, or saving money until you are able to chase your dream.

The absolute worst thing you can do is allow someone else to influence your art with the offer of financial freedom. It’s the closest feeling to selling your soul. When you do it your way with your sound and your style, there is no more of a liberating feeling.

Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?

Doug Supernaw.

After my father’s suicide when I was 8 years old, I had issues accepting my stepdad as the father figure he was attempting to be. I felt as if I was betraying my dad. A few years after my father’s passing, we were on a family trip in Arizona. I’ll never forget when I heard on the radio for the first time Doug’s hit song “I Don’t Call Him Daddy”. The words hit me hard, I covered my face with my blanket and cried for at least an hour. It was the grief that I just couldn’t find since my dad’s death.

In 2017, I was putting on a music festival, and Doug Supernaw’s manager reached out about playing the festival. I hadn’t heard his name in so long, but instantly remembered the moment I had in the car so many years ago. I booked Doug for the festival, and we instantly become friends. Through that friendship, Doug was the one who talked me into chasing my music dream after setting it aside for so many years.

Doug and I had many journeys on the road. I loved listening to his outlandish stories, and he would be a mentor for the first few years of my music career. I was at the hospital with Doug and his wife Cissy when he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. I’ll never forget how he took the news like it was a grain of salt. It never even phased him. Our adventures would continue. We rerecorded his hit song “Reno” together, which would be the last recording Doug made. He helped me put a band together and continued to be a strong mentor and friend until his death in 2020. I’ll never forget him.

How are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you’re working on right now?

As of right now, I’ve completely put my life on hold for a cause that I feel extremely strongly about. The Russian invasion of a sovereign Ukraine is terrifying. In 2022, who would have ever thought that we’d see atrocities, even genocide in Europe, not seen since the middle of the 20th century?

As a result of the Ukraine invasion, the rest of Europe is feeling the squeeze of Russia attempting to cut off its supply of oil and gas to countries of NATO. Several of these countries are just beginning to get their feet underneath them since being released from the grasp of communism after the fall of the Soviet Union. Romania, which borders Ukraine to the south, is especially one of those countries struggling to escape the horrors of the Soviet Union. I’ve had a long career in oil & gas drilling, so I decided to relocate to Romania to help them achieve energy independence. I currently operate as an advisor for a drilling operation in the Moldova region of Romania.

I have been in eastern Europe since the beginning of May, 2022. Whenever I have time off, I travel to Poland and take on a mini-music tour. Since I’ve been there, I have played around ten shows. I’ve met so many Ukrainian refugees who sought shelter in Poland. Many of the places I traveled to were taking care of Ukrainians and giving them safety.

What shocked me the most was seeing their reaction to live music. This was something they have not been able to do in a very long time. Relax and escape in the music. Playing music, I have never felt my songs impacted anyone as much as it did those people who were going through something so terribly unimaginable.

Can you share with us a story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?

A combination of timing and faith. When the stirs of war began to reach our newsfeeds, I never imagined in a million years that I would end up anywhere near it — nor did I want to. An old business associate reached out to me with the opportunity in Romania.

At first, I turned it down. In the weeks following that decision, it started to weigh on my heart. I felt a calling from God that I was destined for more than just playing smoky beer joints for a few hundred bucks, living couch to couch or out of my truck, and drinking free beer. I started to realize that the footprints I was leaving behind for my son probably weren’t the best to follow.

As these thoughts continued to grow on me, my old business associate reached out one final time. This time, I decided that it was in my destiny. I took a deep breath, prayed to God, and decided to take a leap of faith. In the weeks before I left the US, I spent as much time as I could with my son, Cannon. He fully understood my reasoning in going, and we had one of the most precious goodbyes. I was taking steps in a direction that both he and I could be proud for him to follow.

Can you share with us a story about a person who was impacted by your cause?

There was a friend I made… We’ll just call her Natalie. She was an actress and horse trick rider at a western theme park I played at in Grudziadz, Poland. This girl had been through absolute hell.

Natalie is from Kiev, Ukraine, and her family forced her to leave after the bombings and Russian troops began to close in on the area they lived. Natalie has been alone in a country where she basically knew nobody, constantly worrying about whether her family was ok. She told me the horrifying stories of friends of hers that were tortured and killed by the Russian aggressors.

When I first met her, her face was riddled with pain, and her eyes screamed with sadness. Her and I built a strong bond of friendship. Being that nobody in the park spoke English, for the five days I was there, she would have to translate for me most of the time. As the child refugees filled the park, I would dress up in my Cowboy hat and country outfit so that these kids could see and take their picture with a real Texan…. Something they had never seen before.

In the evening get togethers, we’d drink beer and vodka, exchange cultural foods, and just have a great time. I didn’t do anything special as far as playing a big music benefit, or raise a bunch of money, or do anything that could have changed her situation, but before I left, her face was happy. She had joy in her eyes. That meant so much to me.

When I meet any person anywhere, I have one goal. The goal is for that person to feel better than they did before they met me. I feel like I succeeded with that goal.

Are there three things or are there things that individuals, society, or the government can do to support you in this effort?

As individuals, I feel that we must do a better job of being informed. I still hear people say that the war in Ukraine is not real, that it’s a fabrication of our media to force an agenda. It is our own individual responsibility to be well informed when it comes to electing the leaders that will ultimately set the global pace. Make your vote count.

As a society, not just an American society, but a society of humans, we must learn from our past mistakes and be ready to pay whatever cost necessary to never allow another evil empire to rise anywhere in the world. Russia and China are threats to every single person on the planet right now.

As for our government, we must do more. Russia should be completely shut off from the world. No imports and no exports. Their economy should reach a point that the people of Russia will rise against their leadership and make a change.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started

1. You’re going to be let down and rejected by those you love the most.

2. Inevitably, success brings “haters”

3. Never turn down the opportunity to talk to a fan.

4. You can’t put passion and heart into a song that you don’t like.

5. People can sense when you are not the real you… And they don’t like it. Be authentic.

You’re a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I’m a firm believer that if you start your day off with a positive gesture toward the first person you interact with, you’re going to have a great day. Whether it be your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, the cashier at the coffee shop, Uber driver, policeman who pulls you over for speeding, whoever it may be, smile and pay them a simple compliment. In today’s fast-paced world, we tend to leave our humanity behind in our sock drawers in our rush to get out the door. When we once again learn to start our day off with a gesture of love, we will feel better about ourselves. Now, imagine a viral movement of love. That could change the world.

Can you please give us your favorite life lesson quote? And can you explain how that was relevant in your life?

I actually said it earlier… “Leave footprints behind in which others can follow.”

My father’s footprints led toward pain, misery, and eventually suicide. I set out on a course to create footprints that my son could follow that would set him on a path of success and happiness. In that course, I have found out that many more people than my son will also follow those same footprints. This makes it even more important to ensure that my path is headed toward a bright shining beacon of light and hope.

We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Without the slightest doubt, Kid Rock. Like him or hate him, you can’t doubt him for his realness. The man is an absolute inspiration to me in how he has worked his way to the top, doing it his way, and flashed the middle finger to anyone who tried to stand in his way. He’s been himself from day one and taken control of his music career. He is an inspiration to not only aspiring artists, but to anyone who ever dared to chase a dream.

Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring, and we wish you continued success!