Artist: Will Hoge
Project Name: The Man Who Killed Love
Artist Site: Will Hoge

There’s a story here worth telling. On exactly my second day ever in Nashville I had an interview for an internship at a recording studio. For some reason, after the interview the owner/producer/engineer liked me enough to invite me along to check out an artist he’d been asked to consider producing that was playing at The Ace of Clubs. (At the time a very hip downtown club where all the too-cool-for-Nashville artists played.) You guessed it, the artist was Will Hoge. Interesting sidebar: Since I was barely twenty years old at the time, this posed quite the dilemma. Nowhere in my “how to get the job of your dreams” booklet did it address the question of whether or not one should use a fake ID to obtain entrance to the much-desired second phase of an interview. Would I be viewed as an enterprising, resourceful young man, or run out of town ‘cause I’m a dishonest punk? The key was not to get busted at the door, which would result in my worst case scenario. So, I puffed out my chest, put on my best Molly Ringwald “this sucks” face and handed the gorilla door guy my fake ID. In like Flynn. As time passed, I wrote it off as the right move to make, since I ended up getting the internship, which turned into a full-time gig that I held for several years.

That was in 1995, eleven years ago.

Why the stroll down memory lane? It’s to prove a point. Hoge has been working his ass off for well over a decade and has kept his eye on the ball the whole time. He’s the real life example of the super cliché “paying your dues.” Without Hoge having lived this life, songs like “Pocket Full of Change” and “Love from a Scar” would seem trite and scripted. However, due to his hard-earned background, Hoge has a dump truck load of what the kids these days call “cred.” Hoge tempers his writing style so the songs come across with more of a nonchalant feel than falling into the trap of being jaded; which is a testament to his character. With or without label support, Hoge does what it takes to release great sounding, well produced, and well written records; which is not an easy task.

So if you’re an independent artist looking for a real-life role model on how to make a great independent record (and how to write great songs) drop the whopping $15 to buy this disc, it will repay itself in spades. If you’re a fan of good music, insightful lyrics, and just the right amount of [guitar] amp noise during saucy ballads- do the same. You won’t be disappointed.

"Licensed from Chris Mara"