Will Hoge lounges alone, looking completely relaxed on the Urban Outfitters tapestry-clad couch. His apparent ease comes from the fact that this is actually his home, the place where he was raised in Tennessee. It is here in Franklin where I first met Hoge. It is here, at the Park at Harlinsdale Farm, where Hoge is playing side-by-side with music legends Willie Nelson, Steven Tyler and Sheryl Crow.
As any true Southern gentleman would, Hoge rises to shake my hand, and then waits for me to be seated. I’m nervous. I stumble over my first question about his inspiration for his album, the words clinging in my throat. But, ever the gentleman, Hoge puts me at ease, making me feel like more of an old friend than a young kid at her first big interview.
His manners and humility make it hard to believe the man is a Grammy-nominated artists, who tours with the likes of Dierks Bentley, Kings of Leon and the Avett Brothers, rather than just another Franklin resident enjoying the festival weekend.
The artists Hoge attracts displays an all too similar pattern of humble normalcy.
“The people I’m interested in is the guys and girls who’ve done it for thirty-plus years,” Hoge said. “They aren’t necessarily ‘superstars,’ in that people aren’t following them around trying to take pictures of them and their kids, and they’re not on the cover of People magazine. They’re musicians that make a living and have great fan bases.”
Among the never-ending list of inspirations is Hoge’s own father.
“My dad was a musician before I was born, and he had this incredible record collection,” he said.
This record collection, consisting of anything from the Beatles to Otis Redding to Hank Williams, is among the inventory from which Hoge draws from to influence his music. His latest album, ‘Small Town Dreams,’ was released in April of 2015 and peaked at #15 on the U.S. Country chart.
‘Small Town Dreams’ is a hybrid of country and rock, the love child of John Mellencamp and Hank Williams albums. His eleventh studio album feels more like a journal of thoughts about growing up in a small town set to twangy guitar riffs than anything, the songs each honest reflections of Hoge’s life in Franklin.
“I felt like I was really at a place where I wanted to reflect on what it was like growing up in a small town and capture that,” Hoge said of his latest album.
Shortly after releasing his album, Hoge released the single “Still a Southern Man.” Written about his journey in stepping away from the Confederate flag, Hoge wrote and recorded the song shortly after the Confederate flag was removed from the South Carolina Capitol. The single was met by mixed reviews; some of praise for Hoge speaking his mind, and others condemning Hoge for betraying tradition.
The controversy made national headlines, even spreading onto The University of Alabama campus.
“I had a teacher who played the song in class. No one could agree and some people got really heated about it,” said Courtney Wood, a senior majoring in early childhood development.
Hoge, who attended Franklin High School at a time when the mascot was the Rebel, recalled being the one to wave the flag with the Confederate soldier on it during football games.
“I was the guy who waved the flag at our games. I came from that idea that it’s not hatred, just this thing that we are proud of,” Hoge said. “Fortunately, I was able to grow up and travel the world and realize it’s not just what I think. It’s about what it looks like to other people, and I think that, as a culture, we are really starting to realize that, which is a wonderful step.”
For Hoge’s latest endeavors, he is steering a less controversial direction. Writing for friend and author Ed Tarkington, Hoge has written a few songs for the 45rpm vinyl that will be accompanying Tarkington’s book, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.”
“It’s been fun for me because I got to write some songs inspired by somebody else’s work,” Hoge said. “The first [songs] are more acoustic-oriented than on the previous record.”
As for a full album, Hoge plans to begin recording in Nashville in the upcoming months. No word yet on specific plans or directions, but Hoge, as if we’ve been friends all along, laughs and says he will let me know in six months.
Until then, Will Hoge will be performing in Birmingham this weekend. If you’re not making the trip to Athens, I suggest you try and catch his show at Workplay. The show is at 8 p.m. on Saturday with tickets available for $17.
