2008 Woodie Awards
Will Hoge registers
By: Emily Thomey
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Recess
Last update: 10/18/07 at 7:13 AM EST
Last update: 10/18/07 at 7:13 AM EST
Joe College Day seeks to remind students what great music sounds like: at 6 p.m. this Saturday, Will Hoge will demonstrate what indie rock should be.
With a free-spirited rocker from Nashville with a keyboard player, bassist, guitarist and drummer in his entourage, "Will Hoge" refers to both the man and the band. Catching up with him by phone from a Subway somewhere outside Harrisonburg, Virginia, this fan of over five years learned a bit more about the growing legend.
Draw the Curtains , Will Hoge's latest project, was released just over a week ago and offers something very different from the thundering guitar riffs and bold vocals of his previous efforts, Carousel and Blackbird on a Lonely Wire. He explains this departure as an effort to grow as a musician and not produce the same album over and over again.
"If anything," Hoge said, "I want this album to be a little more intimate and more restrained... to let the songs speak for themselves."
The words are definitely still all Will. As a singer who does all his own writing, he draws inspiration from Otis Redding and Bob Dylan-men who are not afraid to write about relationships. His lyrics suggest he has experienced the substance of his songs.
A lullaby that Hoge wrote, "Baby Girl," is about his then-guitarist's young daughter who toured with them during her toddler years. As one of the first children-of-a-peer that Hoge watched grow up, this song was born from seeing his fellow band member "deal with things."
"We were on the road when Sept. 11 happened and shortly thereafter she came with us on tour," Hoge said. "Just watching her run around backstage, I really and truly wrote it for her as a lullaby. I played it for Brian and everyone seemed to enjoy it."
He says he has a fairly firm idea for his next two records and feels that with his new label, Rykodisc, the band will grow exponentially. Some of Hoge's songs express frustration with the mainstream music industry-he doesn't see much talent in American Idols.
With a free-spirited rocker from Nashville with a keyboard player, bassist, guitarist and drummer in his entourage, "Will Hoge" refers to both the man and the band. Catching up with him by phone from a Subway somewhere outside Harrisonburg, Virginia, this fan of over five years learned a bit more about the growing legend.
Draw the Curtains , Will Hoge's latest project, was released just over a week ago and offers something very different from the thundering guitar riffs and bold vocals of his previous efforts, Carousel and Blackbird on a Lonely Wire. He explains this departure as an effort to grow as a musician and not produce the same album over and over again.
"If anything," Hoge said, "I want this album to be a little more intimate and more restrained... to let the songs speak for themselves."
The words are definitely still all Will. As a singer who does all his own writing, he draws inspiration from Otis Redding and Bob Dylan-men who are not afraid to write about relationships. His lyrics suggest he has experienced the substance of his songs.
A lullaby that Hoge wrote, "Baby Girl," is about his then-guitarist's young daughter who toured with them during her toddler years. As one of the first children-of-a-peer that Hoge watched grow up, this song was born from seeing his fellow band member "deal with things."
"We were on the road when Sept. 11 happened and shortly thereafter she came with us on tour," Hoge said. "Just watching her run around backstage, I really and truly wrote it for her as a lullaby. I played it for Brian and everyone seemed to enjoy it."
He says he has a fairly firm idea for his next two records and feels that with his new label, Rykodisc, the band will grow exponentially. Some of Hoge's songs express frustration with the mainstream music industry-he doesn't see much talent in American Idols.