Country musician to perform

CLOVIS — A rising “red dirt” country musician makes his debut in the Land of Enchantment with a concert this weekend in Clovis.

Hayden Haddock, 19, is a sophomore at Texas A&M University during the week and a rustic-roots singer-songwriter by weekend. A native of Plano, Texas, he started learning guitar at age 14 after being inspired by an Eric Church concert.

He released his first album late last year.

A video posted online of him playing in a College Station dorm brought him gigs in Texas, and he soon found himself making a record with Grammy-winning producer Tre Nagella after a show in the small town of Addison.

Since his album “First Rodeo” came out in December, Haddock has “been just about everywhere you can imagine in Texas,” he told The News on Monday. He’s also played in Las Vegas and Colorado, and “now we’re coming to Clovis.”

“I was always a shy kid, I never thought I would have the nerve to play the guitar and sing,” he continued. Now that he has momentum, though, Haddock is hoping to continue touring and eventually “get to the top.”

In recent weeks Haddock has offered his single, “She Don’t Know It Yet,” to radio stations and is hoping to get on the air. Until then, he’s hard at work finding a following on the ground among fellow fans of stripped-down country music.

The show is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Curry County Events Center, with doors opening an hour earlier and advance tickets starting at $12. Before that, Haddock and his posse will be at K-Bob’s Steakhouse on Mabry Drive in Clovis for a meet-and-greet starting by 5:30 p.m.