TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-Sam Hunt performs new song 'Locked Up' at 2024 CMT Music Awards

A clean-cut Sam Hunt hit the stage to perform his new song "Locked Up" at the 2024 CMT Music Awards.

Wearing a black suit and TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Centerwhite dress shirt, Hunt brought some "Folsom Prison Blues" vibes to the CMT stage, which took place Sunday at The Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Alongside his band, the "Take Your Time" country star, delivered a soulful rendition of "Locked Up."

In an interview with Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, Hunt said Nashville, Tennessee, has changed a lot as a city in the past couple years.

He said that different groups have "siloed off," and that he doesn't get together with his music pals as often as he likes. To him, the awards are an opportunity to come together as a community again.

"For that reason, I'm excited about being here tonight," he said. "Just to feel a part of the community again."

"Luckily we're drawing from a video we've already done for a song that I put out last week called 'Locked Up.' It was sort of meant to be a callback, a nod, to Johnny Cash's concert at Folsom Prison. That's what we're going for," he added.

"We have some local guys who are playing inmates. We got the guard and the cage. All the guys are dressin' up in their black suits. We're gon' just try to recreate the video."

Hunt opened up about what inspiration for his new album is.

"I think growing up, starting a family, evolving out of the phase of life where I was single or maybe fighting against settling down, holding onto that rolling stone spirit for as long as I could, and sort of − if you play the EP top to bottom − there's competing voices there," he said.

"(There's) one voice that wants to settle down, one voice that wants to continue being the rolling stone. I guess it's the crossroads more than anything," he said about the new EP.