Sean Hayes is a Bay Area singer-songwriter who makes music to dance to or cry to, or maybe both at the same time. He was born in New York City, raised in North Carolina, and honed his earliest musical chops in a band playing Irish and old-time tunes — but his unique style of deeply felt, R&B-inflected folk really matured during his two decades singing and playing in cafes, bars, and night clubs of San Francisco.
His voice layers wonder and heartache upon grit and gravel, sex and soul. His lyrics carry an unpretentious wisdom. He’s dueted with Aimee Mann; been covered by the Be Good Tanyas; and toured with Jolie Holland, Anais Mitchell, Charley Crockett, The Wood Brothers, and The Birds of Chicago (Allison Russell and Jeremy Lindsay) among many others. His songs have appeared on NPR, NBC and HBO.
“There is an easy effortlessness in Hayes’ voice…the tonality of his voice is superb and as we’ve spoken of before, Hayes is doing things nobody else is doing. He has a darkened bar type of feel to him. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of going to New Orleans you might know what I’m speaking of..” - BEST NEW BANDS
“HAYES’ VOICE SUCCEEDS ON THE TENSION BETWEEN WARM, RESONANT SOUL AND DIRT-ROAD FOLK, ALL LACED WITH A WANDERING TROUBADOUR’S COO.” - SF WEEKLY
“Maybe you recall his timeless voice paired with Aimee Mann on "Ballentines," the closing song of her album @#%&*! Smilers or mentioned frequently on NPR or adding some emotion to that car commercial. He's one of those artists who camps out on the fringes of the music world, but once your ears catch wind of his natural, rhythmic, reggae-tinged form, you wonder where he's been all your life.” - PHOENIX NEW TIMES
“SEAN HAYES' ROOTSY POP-ROCK SONGS RADIATE A SHAGGY, FREE-SPIRITED CHARM.” - NPR MUSIC