Taylor Hughes sang the national anthem at the UK-Mississippi State football game last season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
County artist/songwriter Taylor Hughes is always looking for chances to return to the Lexington area to perform when her schedule permits but when the Nashville resident got asked to sing the national anthem at the University of Kentucky-South Carolina baseball game May 5.
She sang the national anthem at the UK-Mississippi State football game last season and while she’s not a huge baseball fan, Hughes is a huge UK sports fan.
“It kind of happened like it did with the football game. Someone called my dad and asked if I would be interested in signing the national anthem at the baseball game,” Hughes said. “I was like, ‘Why not?’
“I’ve never been to a UK baseball game. I used to go to Legends games all the time. My brother played baseball in middle school and high school. I don’t know much about baseball but I’ve always thought the games were fun. I just usually go to football games if I go to a sport but this is quite an honor.”
Hughes was born and raised in Lexington, attended the University of Kentucky, and has a whole family of UK sports fans. Her husband is a “huge” UK basketball fan and her family regularly tailgates at UK football games.
“I would love to get a baseball jersey to wear to sing the anthem but I am so busy on the road and with my new single,” she said. “But I will absolutely have blue on.”
She anticipates having several family members and friends at the UK-South Carolina game just like she did when she sang at the football game.
“I think I will have a nice little group,” Hughes said. “I am playing a show right after at Elkhart Tavern from 8-11. I like to stay busy and these last six or seven months things have really picked up. But Elkhorn Tavern is kind of my home spot. I always have a lot of fans come out and I still try to do one show a month there. That’s pretty much the only place in Lexington I perform now.”
She’ll be performing at Freedom Jam in Missouri next month and is trying to do more festivals.
“It’s great to get out there at festivals in front of new fans. I am excited to be more involved with the festival scene and get to travel more and see more fans,” Hughes said.
She is the headliner for the Heritage Days Festival in Hustonville on June 23 and will be in Hustonville also on May 26 to play at Ray’s Pizza.
“I’ll be playing with my full band for the festival. I think it will be a great show and is open to the public, so I am really looking forward to being there,” she said. “It will be my first time at the festival and I love doing new things.”
Eventually, she would love to add one more new thing — singing the national anthem at a UK basketball game in Rupp Arena.
“I would love that and so would my husband,” she said. “I think that would be a really cool experience and is something I would love to do.”
