Back to work. Sam Hunt hit the stage on Wednesday, December 4, for his first performance since his arrest for driving under the influence.
The country singer, 34, performed for approximately an hour during his high-energy headlining set at New York’s Country 94.7’s Stars and Strings concert at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“I’ve seen him perform seven or eight times, and he was the most animated and happy I’ve ever seen him while performing,” a concertgoer tells Us Weekly. “He sounded better than ever.”
Hunt’s setlist included his 2017 hit “Body Like a Back Road” and his latest single, “Kinfolks.” He did not address his arrest while on stage, but he teased that he has been busy in the recording studio.
“We’re finishing [up a new album] before January,” he told the audience. “We’re going to hit the road and tour next year. I didn’t do a lot of dates this year, but next year we’re hitting it hard!”
The Stars and Strings concert also featured performances by Dustin Lynch, Chris Janson, Blanco Brown, Runaway June, Gone West and Matt Stell.
Hunt was taken into police custody in Nashville at 6:30 a.m. on November 21 after police responded to a call about a vehicle swerving in and out of lanes. The responding officer noticed “an obvious odor consistent with alcoholic beverage coming from the defendant as well as red bloodshot and watery eyes,” according to an arrest report obtained by Us. Hunt also had two empty beer bottles in the car.
The Grammy nominee “admitted to consuming alcohol recently,” per the report. He had a blood alcohol content of .173. The legal limit in Tennessee is .08.
Hunt was released on $2,500 bond and is due to appear in court on January 17, 2020.
The “Drinkin’ Too Much” crooner apologized for his actions on November 22, tweeting, “I decided to drive myself home after drinking at a friend’s show in downtown Nashville. It was a poor and selfish decision and I apologize to everyone who was unknowingly put at risk and let down by it. It won’t happen again.”
