By Daniel Corado —
“Fancy Like” country singer Walker Hayes started drinking at age 13 and degenerated into an “alcoholic atheist.”
But when he lost his record deal and got his family van repossessed, a friend/pastor gave him a replacement van — an act of generosity that conflicted with his childhood church hurt and set up his return to Christ.
“I will believe there’s a God if I could stop drinking,” he confessed to Pastor Craig.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, Walker Hayes challenged his wife to move to Nashville on the journey to being a country music star. “I was deadset that he was going to make it, and I would be shocked if he didn’t make it,” says Laney.
Under Capitol Records Nashville, Walker released “Pants” in 2010, but after some clunkers he was let go by Capitol in 2014-’15. To make ends meet, he resorted to stocking shelves at Costco. Meanwhile, the repo guys came and took his family van, making it impossible for him to transport all six kids at once.
But a local pastor’s wife invited Laney to church, and Walker reluctantly accompanied her, somewhat drunk. Pastor Craig welcomed him warmly.
When Pastor Craig saw that he’d lost his car, he gave the family a used Chrysler Town & Country van.
The extraordinary burst of generosity surprised Walker, who was used to the harsh judgmentalism of church with his father. He wrote “Craig” as a tribute of thanks. For his part, Pastor Craig says the video came at a great time; he was low, and it raised his spirits.
Walker stopped drinking, just like he asked. It didn’t happen through a program or through great effort. He just didn’t drink one day, and that led to another day, and to another, and so successively until he literally walked away from alcohol.
He started reading his Bible.
But the deal (of salvation) wasn’t signed until Walker’s daughter died shortly after birth. In 2018, Oakleigh passed, and this drove Walker to seek God more seriously. “I know for some reason losing Oakleigh led me to Christ,” he says in Southern Living.
Also, he read The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield. He was soaking it all in.
One day, he met up with Pastor Craig. “I believe,” he said.
Today, Walker is an artist who has something to say about grief, addiction, financial hardship and redemption. “Fancy Like” reached #1 on both Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts between late 2021 and early 2022.
