California Songwriter-Artist Offers Grit, Melody + A Wistful Truth
as Boutique Indie’s First From the Ground Up Signing
“We have been looking for a very special, singular voice for HEY NOW –
someone who carries that sense of truth, life, and music forward with the same electric presence the best artists across so many genres have.
“Announcing Kyle as our first-from-the-ground-up artist is as exciting as anything we’ve done.”
– Kris Lamb, HEY NOW Records President + Co-Founder
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – HEY NOW Records hit the streets hard, delivering the first independent complete radio panel lock on a first week single with Kenny Chesney’s “Carry On.” That same passion has fueled more groundbreaking, record-shattering moments, including Chesney’s 100th charting single and elevating him to the country artist with the most Billboard Country Airplay Top 10 singles, alongside the most Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 singles.
“To follow that kind of momentum, we knew we would need a very special artist – and we have been in discussions with several songwriter-artists, performers with massive social media and/or live followings,” offers HEY NOW President & Co-Founder Kris Lamb. “But we couldn’t be more thrilled to announce our first signing being Kyle Schuesler, a West Coast-based roots-songwriter who has a way of wrapping his songs around emotions most people miss – but they’re the ones that really define our lives.”
Schuesler, a 22-year-old guitarist, vocalist and writer, makes good on the promise of Southern California’s Laurel, Coldwater and Topanga Canyon’s vast heritage. With the sweeping urgency, freedom and love of the moment that defined Buffalo Springfield, certain moments of the Byrds, the Burritos, The Beach Boys and Jackson Browne without ever becoming a reductive re-enactor, Schuesler’s music is stained as much by the foam on the waves as the cerulean skies and sun-burned roads rolling up the coastline from San Diego to San Francisco.
“People don’t really know what to call it: Indie? Alt-folk? Acoustic-pop? Coastal country? I’m not sure why people feel they need to label it instead of just listening and enjoying the music,” says the easy-going Huntington Beach, Californian. “The things I love don’t fit in boxes – Noah Kahan, The Lumineers, Zach Bryan – but they feel right when you hear them. That’s what drew me to HEY NOW, no one at the label cared what it was, as much as how much they loved these songs.”
Having signed to Liz Rose Music after releasing 12 individual singles on his own, Schuesler has been taking his writing to new heights and places. Always an introspective artist who’s unafraid of the vulnerable truths, he’s spent the last few months exploring the creative possibilities with Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston, Ryan Hurd, Troy Cartwright, Joe Fox and Lauren McLamb while continuing to play shows around his native California and beyond, plus Austin’s South By Southwest, Coastal Country Jam and opening shows for Vance Joy, Alana Springsteen, Evan Honer, Jonah Kagen and Logan Crosby.
“Kyle has such a unique way of merging styles,” says Lamb. “It’s seamless, all these genres that people love as his own sound. As a vocalist, not only does his voice have a real warmth that draws you in, he can do things very few singers can. When he goes into a falsetto, you don’t realize how hard that is – and it’s the way he makes everything seem so easy that makes you want to keep listening.”
Continuing to write with some of Nashville’s most elite songwriters, current collaborators and on his own, he’s slated to enter the studio in the next few months. Look for music on HEY NOW in late 2026.