Sean Patrick Hayes (born August 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter.

Early life

Hayes was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and raised in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

. He began playing traditional American and Irish music with a band called the Boys of Bluehill. As a young musician he traveled the southeast, from the Black Mountain Music festival (LEAF Festival) in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsy ...

down to Charleston, South Carolina and eventually to San Francisco, where he lived for two decades before moving to

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...

Career

In his twenty plus year career as a musician, Hayes has won acclaim from fans and critics alike and had his music featured in a variety of television shows, films, and commercials. Hayes' song "Rattlesnake Charm" was re-mixed by DJ

Mark Farina Mark Farina (born March 25, 1969 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American disc jockey and musician, known for his Chicago house, acid jazz and downtempo works. His notable releases include ''Mood'' (KMS Records, 1989) and the '' Mushroom Jazz'' ...

, and also appears on the

Stéphane Pompougnac Stéphane Pompougnac (born 1968) is a French house DJ and record producer. Biography Pompougnac was born in Paris in 1968 to a psychotherapist and a dental surgeon. He spent his early life in Bordeaux. His first job was as a waiter at the cour ...

compilation '' Hôtel Costes, Vol. 8''. His song "3 A.M." is featured on the soundtrack for the television show ''

Kyle XY ''Kyle XY'' is an American science fiction television series produced by ABC Family. The central character is a teenage boy (Matt Dallas) who awakens naked in a forest outside Seattle, Washington, with no more knowledge or abilities than a newbo ...

'', and his song "A Thousand Tiny Pieces", was covered by

The Be Good Tanyas The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian folk music group formed in Vancouver in 1999. Their influences include folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they perform can be referred to as alt-country or Americana. History The Be Good Tanya ...

and the group

Blame Sally Blame Sally is a collaboration of four solo female singer-songwriters from San Francisco who have recorded and performed together frequently over the past decade. The members of the group include Pam Delgado (percussion and vocals), Renee Harcour ...

, and has appeared on the television show '' Brothers & Sisters.'' The song is also referenced in the Moth Radio Hour story as told by theoretical cosmologist

Janna Levin Janna J. Levin (born 1967) is an American theoretical cosmologist and a professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most count ...

. The HBO show Bored to Death featured his song "Fucked Me Right Up" on its second episode as well as on the soundtrack for the first season. This song was also featured in the German film ' (2011). His song "Turnaroundturnmeon" is part of '' Big Change: songs for FINCA'', an album curated by

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

to benefit the anti-poverty organization

FINCA In English usage, a ''finca'' (; ) refers to a piece of rural or agricultural land, typically with a cottage, farmhouse or estate building present, and often adjacent to a woodland or plantation. Overview Especially in tourism, the term has r ...

. Hayes was also featured singing the duet "Ballantines" with

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

, released on her album ''

Smilers Smilers is an Estonian rock band formed in 1991 by Hendrik Sal-Saller. The name reportedly originated from a Rod Stewart album, '' Smiler''. The band was first named Lezer Brozers. In the early years Smilers produced two albums in Finland, bu ...

''. Hayes' song "Lucky Man" was used in the season four trailer for the show

Rectify ''Rectify'' is an American television drama series exploring the life of a man after he is released from prison after nearly 20 years on death row following a wrongful conviction. It was created by Ray McKinnon and is the first original series f ...

on the

Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States). * Sundance Channel (Canada) * Sundance Channel (Netherlands) * Sundance Channel (Europe) Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly kno ...

. His song "Powerful Stuff" was featured on the NBC sitcom, Parenthood and again by

Subaru of America Subaru of America, Inc. (commonly known as SOA), based in Camden, New Jersey, is the United States-based distributor of Subaru's brand vehicles. SOA is a subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. The company markets and distributes Subaru veh ...

as part of its campaign for the

Subaru Forester The is a compact crossover SUV that has been manufactured by Subaru since 1997. The first generation was built on the platform of the Impreza in the style of a taller station wagon, a style that continued to the second generation, while the thi ...

in the "Reunion" commercial. Hayes' song "Rosebush Inside" was inspired by a man named Moreese Bickham, who survived 38 years inside the

Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"Sutton, Keith "Catfish".Out There: Angola angling. ''ESPN Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. ...

, with fourteen years in solitary confinement. Hayes first heard Mr. Bickham's voice and spirit as expressed through the Sound Portraits story titled, "Tossing Away the Keys". In January 2009, Sean Hayes and Moreese Bickham were able to meet in person when Mr. Bickham attended a live performance at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. The story behind "Rosebush Inside" and their meeting is also featured on NPR's Snap Judgment with Glen Washington in show "Found." Hayes made a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

as Jesus in the film ''Evolution: The Musical!'', which premiered at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

in 2008. Hayes' music was featured in the HBO film '' Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution'', a documentary by James Redford that explores climate change and renewable energy. The album ''Be Like Water'' was released on November 19, 2021, and marks his ninth release. Hayes currently lives in Petaluma, CA with his wife and two sons. Sean Hayes by Kris Krug

Discography

* '' A Thousand Tiny Pieces'' (1999) * '' Lunar Lust'' (2002) * '' Alabama Chicken'' (2003) * '' Big Black Hole and the Little Baby Star'' (2006) * ''

Flowering Spade ''Flowering Spade'' is the fifth album by Sean Hayes Sean Patrick Hayes (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is best known for playing Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'', for which he won a Prime ...

'' (2007) * '' Run Wolves Run'' (2010) * '' Before We Turn to Dust'' (2012) * ''Low Light'' (2016) * ‘’Be Like Water‘’ (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Sean 1969 births Living people Singers from New York City American folk musicians American male singer-songwriters Freak folk Singer-songwriters from Virginia Singer-songwriters from New York (state)