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Photo by Caity Krone

Hudson Ingram was far from a typical 17-year-old when I met him in early 2024 for our first interview. He possessed a maturity, demeanor, and self-awareness that was well beyond his years, and had already cultivated a level of vocal skill unobtainable to most, as displayed on the staggeringly impressive vocal climax of his 2023 power ballad “If You’ll Be Mine.” 

Not long after that conversation, he graduated high school, rented a U-Haul for a solo move from his hometown of Austin, TX to Nashville, TN, and began his college tenure at Vanderbilt University in rapid succession. Incredulously, he was not done there. “I just bought a house!,” he casually announced at the start of our most recent Zoom chat.

Following the release of his 2024 project Peace, Love, and Paranoia, a project dominated by YA pop-rock-centric tunes such as “How I Feel,” “Song About A Vampire,” and “Play The Part,” Ingram soon began to pivot. He’d move into a more reflective and musically grounded singer-songwriter space with songs like “Linger” and “Baby Just Be,” fully aware of the possibility that abandoning one sound for another would result in the need to start from the ground up in more ways than one. Unsurprisingly, he accepted that challenge.

He made his way to Long Pond Studios in upstate New York to work with the renown Aaron Dessner behind the boards to create his latest project The Long Way Home Vol. 1, out now. Though Ingram likely could not provide Taylor Swift fans with the answers to their unyielding questions regarding a rumored evermore Long Pond session, he is able to articulately describe the unobstructed conditions of the location that amplify the artistic minds who walk through its doors. In his case, he found himself immersed in the plentiful works of literature available to him for inspiration, one of which made a surprise appearance during this interview to his sheer delight.

With access to new literature, Ingram strived to enhance his lyricism. Songs like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Holy Ghost” benefited from this venture, though the latter is particularly striking: “I’m gettin’ high with the Holy Ghost / Of someone I used to know to forget the women / But I gotta tell ya, you live in my head/ Even if it takes burning my lungs just to show it.” He sought to refine his vocals as well, opting to do less with more, though the effervescently warm “Look How Lonely I Can Be” accentuates his natural ability to illustrate vulnerability with his multi-faceted tone. 

Thus far this year, Ingram has traversed parts of the country on three separate occasions, hitting the road as the opening act for Noah Rinker, Brenn!, and Steinza. With these repeated visits, he has seen the rate at which cultivating a community can lead to legitimate connections with people emotionally investing in his art. 

OnesToWatch: Last time we talked, it was for a very pop-rock centric project with Peace, Love, and Paranoia. So, what happened? 

Hudson Ingram: It’s true! I listened to that EP the other day on a drive from Nashville back to Texas, and I think I hear a lot of what I’m making now secretly hidden in there. “Perfect Pretender” was the easiest song for me to write on that project, because it felt so natural. So, me writing all of these organic guitar songs is just me digging into what I naturally came from. 

If I can remember correctly, you wrote and produced all those songs by yourself in your bedroom. You were making promo TikTok’s for “If You’ll Be Mine” in your kitchen… 

[Laughs] That’s right! All of those songs were, start to finish, just me. That’s part of the process. I wanted to figure out what I was good at doing, AND what I lacked, before I expanded with this newest project and started working with other people.

Do you feel like any of those songs could be considered elementary, since you don’t play any of them now?

I don’t see them as elementary. The more time that passes, the more I can tell what I was trying to do. I still have the knowledge of all the little tricks I was using. Like, I was doing 300 vocal takes just to make sure that the syllables were all perfectly aligned, then I realized that part of what makes music so impactful is that it’s not always perfect. That is what I’m going after now. I know how to make things “on grid,” but part of the challenge with making this new project was trying to be more “imperfect.” A lot of the songs are the demo, day of, first take vocal. 

What was the realization that you liked the more intimate, natural take on a song like “Linger” as opposed to your previous methods? 

A lot of it was Aaron at Long Pond. His whole thing is focusing on the bigger picture. I’d be trying to finesse a vocal, and he’d be like, “No, that’s great. Let’s rock with it.” That’s when you realize the other stuff doesn’t really matter in the context of a song. Learning how to serve the song and make an impact as a human being as opposed to me trying to show off and do all these crazy little ear candy things. I’m still into that, but just having people around me there who are decisive and instrumental in the making of this project. 

What are Aaron’s most hands on or hands off methods? 

He’ll jump in the booth and do a full pass of a song just on an acoustic guitar. His method is making sure the song itself is there first, and then you can add production to make it pretty. But, the feeling really comes from the chords and the lyrics. Going into working with him I was very interested in that, but I had never explored that kind of music making. I grew up on Don McLean and Tom Petty, but I also grew up on Jack Antonoff and The 1975. I never realized WHY things were so impactful, so learning how to craft the song and let it speak for itself was a new thing for me. 

What is the most creatively stimulating thing about being at Long Pond? 

The fact that it’s NOT stimulating! That it’s so peaceful… there’s no TV, you put your phone away, and you’re just sitting outside listening to the frogs and the birds. You can see the stars at night. That, and the fact that Aaron is the most chill and caring guy, and his family is incredible. Everyone around him makes it a no pressure situation. 

Is “Baby Just Be” the precursor for this project? 

That was actually the first song I wrote for this. It was sitting for a long time, because I was evolving out of what I had made before and what the new version of this was. I wrote it when my friend Jack Schrepferman and I’s computer shut down. I grabbed an acoustic guitar and wrote the song start to finish. It felt like a disconnect. Metaphorically, somehow us stepping away from the computer and writing a song was the breakthrough. 

Was it easier to write the rest of these songs after you had that base to go off of? 

That IS the centerpiece of this first project. We wrote “Real Life” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” not knowing that they would be part of this project, but when I went to Long Pond for the first time, Aaron picked “Baby Just Be” specifically and said, “I think this is important for you to say.” That led to us doing the same thing with “Linger” and “Look How Lonely I Can Be,” and it all just fell together. 

“Holy Ghost” is your most pedantic song yet. Do you think you’ve upped your lyricism, as far as vocabulary goes, over the last few years? 

Yeah! But, a lot of it is me wanting to find what was fresh and new. A lot of the things that I write about tend to lend themselves to that kind of imagery and the minute details. “Holy Ghost” was the last song we wrote for this, and we wrote it in the middle of the night at Long Pond. There’s some magic in the air that gives you an extra 20% in your literary skills or something. I think it’s the books there. There’s one book called Take Me With You by Andrea Gibson. I was reading that throughout the process, and it inspired the way I was writing. 

What’s it about? 

They’re all different, but it’s a book of short poems about classic love and loss and loneliness. I read it and my view on everything changed. Oh my gosh… [Shuffles around his desk]. 

You have it right there? 

[Awed] Noah… 

It’s totally sitting right there. 

[Holds up the book] Ohhhhhh my gosh. That’s fate. It has little pictures too, so my brain can handle it. I think I strive to always be pushing the limits of how I can phrase things. 

One of the themes across this project is sort of self-adjudicated loneliness, which you sing about at least three times. What have you found that you’ve learned about yourself from those periods of loneliness? 

Talking about it on tour, I would always say that if you’re chasing something, you’re in the middle for a long time. You’re not where you want to be yet, but you’re definitely not where you came from, so you’re in transit. That’s what a lot of this first EP was. I left my hometown in Texas and lived on my own for the last two years, I went to Vanderbilt, I did a lot of things that my friends weren’t doing. In a fun way, but also in an isolated way. I had to grow up really fast. That’s what I wanted to set the stage as for this EP. Taking off and being on your own for the first time gives you perspective. That’s why it made sense to call it The Long Way Home. I’m genuinely taking off, but I’m trying to feel that love, that sense of belonging. 

So, is the Part II a continuation of that, or is it songs about how you found your footing? 

I have some songs written for Part 2, and some for Part 3, already. It’s more of an exploration. I’m still living in that world, but it’s the story of growing up. You hit a different road, you explore other things. You explore relationships, and how you grow out of things you experienced as a kid. 

“Look How Lonely…” is your most adventurous vocal on this project, but it’s nowhere near as far as you went on your last EP. Did you intentionally try to keep your vocals to a minimum? 

Honestly, part of the reason was that I needed songs that I COULD sing live. That’s part of the process. It’s me exploring what I’m good at. Things might be fun in the studio, but they don’t translate live. I wanted stuff that people can sing along to. I had started playing shows in Nashville, and ACL, and I wanted stuff I could have fun making in the studio but also have fun singing to people. That being said, “Linger” is one I have yet to master. That falsetto is quite… [winces]. I’m no Christina Aguilera.

You ARE an amazing singer though, that’s the thing. The tone that you use on, “Won’t you look, oh, won’t you just look at me” gives me chills. I can really understand what you’re saying… that phrase, ‘Look at me, I just need you to LOOK at me,’ is so powerful, and you sing it in a way that is so convincing… 

Thank you! Once I moved out, I spent a few years trying to learn how to sing correctly. It has become more of a tool to use to make words more impactful as opposed to just yelling just to yell. 

What was the training like? 

I worked with a vocal coach named Jason Catron. A lot of it was being able to be confident with what you’re singing. Knowing that every time you sing, you’re going to nail it. It changed a lot for me, especially in writing. That part of why I love writing with just me and an acoustic guitar. When I write melodies, I know how to fill the air a little more, as opposed to needing to fill the gap. Dynamics are so important for these songs. 

What is the most potent visual lyric on this project? 

I wrote “Wouldn’t That Be Nice” with Liz Rose, who I mean, you know, she’s the greatest. I had a lot of the melodic foundation, and we wrote it with a very specific vision in mind. It’s based on a true story and a feeling I felt at a certain time, and it unfolded so naturally. Every time I listen to it, I still see someone sitting alone at a bar looking down at their drink. That’s the vision, to me.

What does an official visual for “Holy Ghost” that may or may not exist look like? 

Driving around Nashville, there is a lot of old Victorian architecture, so it would be very reminiscent of that. Old cloudy day…

What is one lesson you’ve learned from being on the road for much of this year so far? 

Those tours have really changed so much. Playing the songs live and feeling them in that way has been so informative. Even with the new stuff I’m writing, having an idea of what does and doesn’t work live has been information I don’t think you get anywhere else. The fans were incredible. It taught me a lot about how to build connections with people. 

Have you had any fans see you on multiple runs? 

Yeah, oh my god, I need to show you this. Fans bring gifts! The day the EP came out, someone brought this… [Displays a tote bag with the EP cover art on front and a photo of Long Pond on back]

Whoaaaaa not a tote bag!! 

And this, straight up, a “Baby Just Be” bear [Holds up a stuffed teddy bear wearing a “Baby Just Be” shirt]. It has been crazy. Like, genuinely unreal. Every time someone says they traveled, or took a road trip with their friends for three days just to hear the song. Seriously, that is what I learned. Some people really connect with what you’re saying, feel the same thing, and appreciate that you’re putting it out in the world! It’s just a reason of why you keep doing it. 

When are you headlining? 

[Laughs] That’s the question… oh my gosh, hopefully very soon. 

Listen to The Long Way Home Vol. 1 below: