Throughout its long history, roots music has been a crossroads of creative energy. A place where
country, rock, soul, and more collide like interstate highways, all swirling around a common
love: that visceral, heart-pounding expression of being alive we call “the stage.”
And right there, in that central spot that knows no genre distinction, that’s where Reid Haughton
lives.
A pure front man raised on the stage and steeped rock ‘n’ roll, he’s a rootsy singer-songwriter
with an old soul, who just wants to plug in, crank it up and let himself go. And as his Music City
career heats up, he’s putting that gritty live-show magic back where it belongs. … At the center
of everything.
“I don't know if I've ever been as fired up as I am right now,” the emerging River House Artists
star says. “I feel like I've hit my stride. I’m making music that is true to me. I know what I want
to say. And I know what I want to feel.”
Now releasing an explosive self-titled EP, what Haughton wants to feel is the heat of stage lights
and the power of a crowd – magnified a hundred times and captured in the studio. Mixing the
momentum of rock, the heart behind Southern soul, and the songwriting tradition of country, it’s
the culmination of a long, unexpected journey with a few twists and turns. But looking back
now, there’s no other place it could have led.
A native of Haleyville, Alabama, Haughton grew up in a tiny town just south of Muscle Shoals –
and he was drawn to the music of that world-famous recording mecca from the start. Swampy,
swaggering, soulful acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wilson Pickett, The Rolling Stones, and more
became a foundation, along with the roughneck country of Hank Williams Jr. and the ‘70s
outlaws, and guitar mastery of Jimi Hendrix.
Drawn to the six-string early, Haughton actually began lessons around 7 years old, and soon after
played his first gigs at a local church (it was a dry county, after all). He quickly figured out that
singing and playing was more fun – for him and the crowd – and by the time he started college,
the teenager was booking hours-long bar gigs around Auburn University… shows that would
change him forever.
Tasked with keeping unruly undergrad crowds dancing all night, Haughton evolved into a fiery
front man with an edgy electric-guitar style, and a singer with his heart on his sleeve. Those
Auburn gigs soon turned into shows all over the region, and by the time he graduated, Haughton
and his band had played hundreds of concerts across the South, writing tunes geared for the stage
as he went. Gradually, his originals became what fans wanted, and with heartland anthems like
“Make You Mine,” “Ain’t Close to Anywhere,” “Gettin’ Over Her” and “Got the Girl,” he
developed the kind of authentic identity no digital star can claim. There’s no substitute for the
real thing.
“That time shaped everything for me,” he says. “If I had never played those shows, I wouldn't
have known who I was as an artist – and I think that's the thing that a lot of people are missing
nowadays. My journey might have been old school – and that matches the music I make,” he
goes on. “But I'm proud it's that way. I'm glad to work for it. I still believe in cutting your teeth.”
In 2020 Haughton moved to Nashville, renting a mobile home in a “sketchy” part of town and
aiming to continue cutting those already-sharp live-show teeth. But with touring stopped for the
pandemic, the country rocker turned to writing instead … and it now forms the bedrock of a new,
far edgier chapter.
Produced by Sadler Vaden (Grammy winning guitarist for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit,
producer to Morgan Wade and more), Haughton’s debut EP finds him doubling down on his love
of cranked up live rock ‘n’ roll – and standing apart from the pack. He arrives into a Nashville
phase where EDM crossovers and hip-hop collaborations are a tempting path, but he’s not taking
that bait. Filled with speaker-blasting bar rockers about knowing who you are and sticking to it,
he leans into his roots with fresh energy instead. And although he knows it’s different, Haughton
loves every power chord.
“I really don't care what anybody thinks,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, I hope it does amazing.
But at the end of the day, this music does something for my soul, and it really truly means
something to me.”
With eight new songs, the set came together over three days at Nashville’s Sound Emporium, as
Haughton and his team aimed to capture the in-the-moment intensity of his live shows.
According to him, the “secret sauce” was simple: A live band of blaring guitars, fat-bottom bass
lines and pounding drums, played full speed ahead with no samples and minimal edits. Haughton
didn’t even go back to re-record his vocals – it was all done at once, letting the magic flow.
“There's no frills about it – it's just rock ‘n’ roll,” he explains. “Plug in your instrument, play as
hard as you can play, and does it feel awesome to listen to, or not? I wanted it to feel like a real
band was right in front of your face … just raw humanness.”
Tracks like the EP-opening “Day You Don’t” light the fuse. Co-written with Rivers Rutherford,
Joy Beth Taylor and Ben Foster, it’s one of the “old school” tracks that helped Haughton find his
explosive new sound, fusing a slicked-back groove, rootsy soul and flirtatious swagger.
“Cuttin’ Me Loose” follows suit, co-written with Dan Fernandez and Nick Columbia as a
breakup anthem with a boozy twist. Calling it a “full gas” twang rocker, Haughton says he and
Vaden added doubled vocals in a Southern-rock nod to Ronnie Van Zandt – and even some
congas, further establishing his devil-may-care spirit.
Others like “She Is” dial down the intensity for a tender ballad lost in love’s glow, exploring
Haughton’s softer side with genuine warmth and classic soul, and “Born to Do” feels like a
windows-down summertime cruise. But with “Can’t Please ‘Em All,” Haughton embraces his
creative core belief.
A swampy, slow-grooving tribute to being yourself and forgetting the rest, it’s not only his motto
for life, but for his new, “old-school” music as well.
“Living this town, and doing this for a living, people are always gonna have something to say
about your work,” he says. “But I believe in this stuff. I'm gonna sleep good 20 years from now,
knowing the whatever happens – sink or swim – I'm proud of it.”
Boilerplate
Occupying the creative crossroads where country, rock, and soul collide, River House
Artists’ Reid Haughton is a pure frontman raised on the stage and steeped rock ‘n’ roll, and a
Nashville singer-songwriter working to put gritty live-show magic back where it belongs. … At
the center of everything. A native of Haleyville, Alabama, (just south of Muscle Shoals),
Haughton’s guitar-slinging approach was inspired early on by swampy, swaggering, soulful acts
like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wilson Pickett, The Rolling Stones, Hank Williams Jr., and Jimi Hendrix.
Cutting his teeth in the bar scene of Auburn University, he developed a reputation as a fiery
frontman and built a grassroots following all over the South, releasing a series of independently
successful heartland anthems like “Make You Mine,” “Ain’t Close to Anywhere,” “Gettin’ Over
Her” and “Got the Girl.” After moving to Nashville in 2020, he now embarks on a new, edgier
chapter with his self-titled EP debut, produced by Sadler Vaden (Grammy-winning guitarist for
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, producer to Morgan Wade, and more). Mixing the momentum of
rock, the heart behind Southern soul, and the songwriting tradition of country, tracks like “Day
You Don’t” and “Cuttin’ Me Loose” take the electrifying energy of the stage and crank it up to
11, while others like “She Is” capture the tender glow of true love and “Can’t Please ‘Em All”
serves as a true-to-yourself anthem. This summer Haughton will continue to tour with dates
scheduled across the nation, including an appearance at the 2023 CMA Music Festival in
Nashville on June 8. Check his official website for more information and complete tour details.