Local singer-songwriter Kyle Hutton, who has lived in The Woodlands area for 14 years, describes his music as optimistic and hopeful, which he mostly credits to being adopted at 6 weeks old.

With five full-length country-folk albums under his belt, Hutton said he strives for authenticity in each song he writes.

“When I write I’m not just writing for a record,” Hutton said. “I write when there’s something that needs to be said, or when I come up with something that I want to try to get down.”

In 2007, Hutton pioneered Real Life Real Music, a syndicated radio program taped at Dosey Doe in The Woodlands that has since produced over 200 episodes featuring country, Americana and folk musicians.

“We bring them in, and me and the songwriter sit on stage and I interview them about their music,” Hutton said. “For me, it’s kind of a continued exploration of the songwriting process—of what people are thinking and feeling when they write the songs that move me or that move other people.”

Hutton wrote his first complete song during his sophomore year at Texas A&M University. His musical influences at the time were Don Williams, Bob McDill, Steve Earle and Radney Foster.

These days, Hutton is working on a project with Foster. Together, they have written a collection of songs focused on raising awareness about children in foster care.

“I spent the first six weeks of my life in some sort of foster [care] situation before I was adopted, so that cause is important to me,” Hutton said. “Radney’s got a couple of brothers and sisters that were adopted, so it’s important to him.”

Hutton and Foster recorded the project in Nashville a couple of months ago, and their album is slated to come out in early 2017. All proceeds will go to charities that help foster children. Over the years, Hutton has written songs for himself as well as for and with other artists.

“I enjoy the collaborations, but I also love it when something just comes to me and it’s just me and a pen and a guitar,” Hutton said. “That’s cool, too.”

Looking back, Hutton said there are songs on his early albums that he does not necessarily love listening to anymore. However, he said it is all part of the process of becoming a better songwriter.

“While all of [the albums] I think were a representation of where I was at either in life or in the craft of songwriting, you hope you get better,” Hutton said. “Just like with anything else that you do, the more you do it, if you’re not getting better, then something is wrong.”