JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
It's a rare thing for an artist to be this honest.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WYATT FLORES: This is the only thing that I've ever cared about, and for some reason I can't figure out, I don't feel a thing. I'm struggling with it, and I'm sorry, guys.
SUMMERS: Twenty-three-year-old country singer Wyatt Flores faced a crowd full of fans in February. He was in the middle of a major tour. His music had just blown up, and he was overwhelmed.
FLORES: I'm just writing the entire time. And then all of a sudden, we hit the road and start touring again, and I was like, what - I can't do this anymore. I mean, I'm either going to end up dead or never coming back to music.
SUMMERS: Flores' early music was often about death, sadness. He says he's always been open and honest about what he's feeling, but this moment of vulnerability on stage was just as important.
FLORES: We posted a video from it just because I was like, well, if we're going to be open about it and, you know, talk about mental health at every single show - so why wouldn't I show them this part?
SUMMERS: Flores took a break from the road, went to therapy, and less than a year later, he's already back touring. And he has a brand new album called "Welcome To The Plains."
(SOUNDBITE OF WYATT FLORES SONG, "WELCOME TO THE PLAINS")
SUMMERS: Compared to his last project, the album is joyous and happier. It's a celebration of life and of the people and places that made Flores the person he is today, like his home state of Oklahoma.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WELCOME TO THE PLAINS")
FLORES: (Singing) Now it's red dirt tears and broken mirrors and a little trailer park just south of here. End of the world is getting near, but I still feel the same. And it's...
The biggest compliment that we get is we're the nicest people. And I'm very proud to say that because we are. You can walk in anywhere. Everyone usually holds the door open, says, yes, please. The manners are just amazing over there. But the people are tough, just the farmers that I've worked for. And I mean, this year soy beans are - they're dried up. They're not even going to have a harvest. It's a constant struggle in Oklahoma to try and make it out. And I know from personal experience of trying to get out of Oklahoma, I fought really, really hard to make it out of my town and go and make a name for myself, and now I'm fighting with everything I have to make it back.
SUMMERS: I know that you are someone who grew up around music. Your father was a musician in a band in the '80s and '90s. It feels like that's always been a constant to you. Is there any one memory you can share from growing up about the impact that growing up in that kind of culture had on you?
FLORES: Oh, man. There's so many memories 'cause my dad's been drumming in bars since he was, like, 12. I wanted to learn how to play drums, and I didn't even want to be a singer-songwriter. I just wanted to learn how to play lead guitar, which I'm still working on. But, yeah, without my dad and him teaching me in our shop and our garage, of sitting there and learning how a band really operates, I don't believe that I'd be sitting in this chair because, you know, so much of today's music is - they call them TikTok artists. And I mean, yeah, in a way, I'm using everything that I possibly can to get recognized, and TikTok is just another tool of platform. But what's different from a TikTok artist and a real artist is when they go and play live, and if they can. And I'm very lucky that I had the background that I do and my dad being able to sit there and me and him just jam out.
SUMMERS: Is there a song on your new album where we hear echoes of that early influence, that familial love of music that your dad helped build up in you?
FLORES: I don't know. I wanted to create an album that, in some ways, made people proud of America again.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LITTLE TOWN")
FLORES: (Singing) Now I'm holding on after everyone else is moving on. I've never felt the need to go seek higher ground. As long as I got you, I'll stick around this little town.
I really wanted to find something that was, like - made your heart feel a little bit happier about where you come from instead of all the chaos of things going on. I mean, just watch the news anytime. There's so much ruckus going on. And I just wanted to give people a little piece of hope, I guess.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LITTLE TOWN")
FLORES: Let's get it.
SUMMERS: I want to talk about a different song, and it's a song that you've said is one that you really wrote for your fans. It's the song, "Oh Susannah." Let's take a listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OH SUSANNAH")
FLORES: (Singing) Oh, Susannah, don't you go cryin' for me. It's all getting better. I couldn't be who you want me to be. Thought I was a savior, but I was a fool on drunken behavior. Why did I believe I could save you, darling, without killing me?
SUMMERS: Wyatt, what were you hoping to tell your fans with that song? I mean, it's so deeply emotional and clearly so personal.
FLORES: I was trying to help as many people as I possibly could because a lot of people were like, your music is saving me and keeping me going. And then I'd have conversations with fans, which I've had to come down on my VIP experience just because there was a lot of trauma dumping. And I didn't know how to handle that.
SUMMERS: Yeah.
FLORES: I mean, one of our first sold-out shows was in Asheville, North Carolina. And I did - I met with 300 people. I just told them, line them up, and I'll talk to every single one of them, sign everything. And within the first five people, I had a kid come up to me and hand me his buddy's ID, and he goes, I promised him that I'd get something signed 'cause he had committed suicide.
And with "Oh Susannah," it was like - it was an apology of just being like, I can't actually save anyone. I'm glad that this music has done the things that I want it to because I want to be there for those that need it. I mean, I want to help, and I want to change the world. But I can't physically do that. And it's a hard thing to do, calling yourself out, you know? I was a fool on a drunken behavior, and that's just the absolute truth. I was 'cause I didn't know how to deal with it all, and I didn't know how to help really anyone because I wasn't helping myself.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OH SUSANNAH")
FLORES: (Singing) Only trying to be the cure - I was the problem. Only trying to be the cure...
And honestly, I learned that in my personal life, too, of having to take steps back from people and try again because sometimes you just get caught up in it all - of trying to help. And that's where, like, the codependency thing - I'm still trying to figure that one out - at least noticing it now and being able to look at it and try and give yourself a healthy step back, so that way you can take care of yourself before you take care of others.
SUMMERS: So you've got this new album that's out, and you're also back on tour. How does it feel being out there in front of fans, performing live?
FLORES: It's still the best feeling in the entire world. Watching the crowd sing the songs back - I mean, that's always the scary part is like, well, I'm going to rip my heart out and put it on display for y'all, hope you like it. And then to see them sing these songs back, it's the coolest feeling, and it never gets old. I did not expect this album, and I just can't believe - all the blood, sweat and tears, the sacrifices that went into it, and then to see the reactions of fans, that's the coolest part.
SUMMERS: We've been talking with Wyatt Flores. His latest album, "Welcome To The Plains," is out now. Wyatt, thank you.
FLORES: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GOOD ONES")
FLORES: (Singing) I'm missing someone damn near all the time. And right now, they're weighing heavy on... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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