Turning on a Hunter Metts song is like stepping into a colorful, cathartic world made just for two: His gentle indie folk music wraps around the ears and soul like a blanket – cozy and soft, ethereal and comforting, all coming from and speaking to a tender, aching heart. Authenticity is paramount for the artist and producer, for whom songwriting is as much a means of survival as it is one of artistic self-expression. Born into a musical family in Nashville, Tennessee, Metts began playing instruments from a young age, gravitating toward avant folk artists like Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes in his teenage years. He fell hard and fast for artists like The Paper Kites, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Lord Huron, whose intentional lyrics and sweet, harmony-rich music became his north stars as he discovered his own voice and stepped into his own distinct folk identity. Yet it wasn’t until he spent a few years in the workforce as a coder that Metts realized the nine-to-five cubicle life wasn’t for him, and he embarked on a music career . He unveiled his debut single “The River” in 2021 and has been releasing a steady stream of songs ever since, finally quitting his day job to pursue music full time in 2023. “I’m not sitting down to make music for a playlist,” he says. “This is what I want to say, this is how I want to say it; I hope people relate to it, but at the same time it’s not crafted for that.”