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WILL HOGE From Teacher To Tunesmith |
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by Tom Lounges
The Nashville-born and bred singer/songwriter, WILL
HOGE, discovered during his sophomore year at the University of Kentucky,
that his calling was to to be a rock ‘n’ roller rather than teaching high
school level history.
“Sometimes there’s something you just want to try to do. Something
that you don’t want to go through life regretting that you never attempted and
never experienced,” said Hoge via cell phone enroute to a gig.
Following his gut feeling, Hoge picked up a guitar for the first time in
his life at the age of 20, slapped together his first rag tag band, and began
kicking up some dust in clubs around the university.
Discovering he had a natural affinity to rock, Hoge decided to quit
school and chase his newfound dream.
That early band of beer-swilling college boys he tossed together on a
whim to play frat parties, has since evolved into the dedicated group that
self-financed the independent album –– "Carousel"
–– which has enjoyed some respectable radio play across the U.S.
“We never actively solicited our stuff to radio,” said Hoge. “Our
hometown radio station picked up on the song ‘Ms.
Williams’ and other stations have started playing that song and a few
others. We’ve been very
fortunate.” Hoge’s two-year-old
permanent band now also includes – drummer KIRK
YOQUELET , bassist TRES SASSER
and new guitarist BRIAN LAYSON (who
recently replaced ex-Georgia Satellites guitarist/frontman DAN BAIRD in the line-up). “We’re
on the road a LOT right now trying to get our music heard and get our
name out there,” Hoge explained,
“Dan’s got a family and really didn’t want to be on the road again that
much. Plus he has his own band (The
Yay-Hoos) and that keeps him plenty busy. It
was actually Dan who suggested Brian [as his replacement] and the rest of us
just fell in love with him musically.” Looking back over the
last half dozen years, the artist –– who has been favorably compared by the
media to the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello –– can not
explain why after a lifetime of being non-musical, he suddenly felt the need to
put a band together rather than crack his books. He’s only that he’s glad he
did.
“It just seemed like a good idea at that time in my life,” he said.
“I was always a fan of all kinds of music. My father inspired that in
me. He used to take me to a lot of
concerts growing up. He played bass
and sang in a rock ‘n’ roll band that used to gig around the Nashville area.
My dad’s very passionate about music and thankfully he passed that on to
me.”
Today, at the ripe old age of 27, Hoge is happy to be making new musical
history, rather than living life in some classroom lecturing from dusty old
books had he not decided to follow his heart.
Hoge writes from personal experiences and observations. He holds up the vast Lennon/McCartney songbook as something
that fuels his writing aspirations. “My
God, those guys wrote so many remarkable songs,” he said. “I think every
songwriter who has picked up a pen since the 1960s has aspired to one day be
like them.” Hoge has spent the
last year on the road with his self-named quartet supporting "Carousel,"
doing random headline gigs and as the support act on three major tours. “We
did a few weeks with Rod Stewart right after the CD came out last spring and
then we were out doing sheds with John Mellencamp and The Wallflowers for a good
part of last summer. Then we went out with Midnight Oil through the fall and [now]
we’re going back out with them again...” “Every
one of those artists have treated us really great and their audiences have
responded well to us,” said Hoge, reflecting on having had the opportunity to
share the limelight of so many established rock stars.
When the band played the Levi’s Stage at Tinley
Park’s Tweeter Center last August while with the Mellencamp tour, Hoge
appeared to have all the confidence in the world as he took command of the stage
and won over those watching. “I’m
soooooo glad to hear you say that,” mused Hoge.
“Because that means the smoke screen is working. I’m actually still
pretty nervous when I go on stage. I
guess that’s a really good thing to be though, because it makes you work
harder. But I’m glad it doesn’t show when I’m up there.” Hoge feels "Carousel"
is a solid first effort. “We
didn’t have a label or a budget when making this record,” he said.
“We’d tour for a while and then go in a record on our days off.
It took a while to get things done, but we’re very happy with the end
result.”
Their sophomore album is forthcoming and Hoge hopes and prays that CD
will have a notable label as its home.
“We’ve gotten strong interest from some labels,” he said, not
wanting to talk out of school and jinx anything.
“All I know is that I love what we’re doing with this band and
regardless, I have no plans to stop.
Meanwhile, Hoge and his boys will keep on cruisin’ down the highway and
winning over fans one town at a time. “Being
on stage is the best way I know to get your music to people,” he concludes,
“so we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing!”
(WILL HOGE BAND performs MAY
1&2 @ House Of Blues in Chicago w/ MIDNIGHT OIL)
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