Artist: Will Hoge
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “It’s Just You”
Album: Wings On My Shoes
Label: EDLO Records/Soundly Music
In Their Words: “It’s the only co-write on the album. Adam Landry and I connected for that one. It was in the depths of COVID where you couldnât be inside with people, or within 6 feet and all, so we sat outside and wrote on my back porch. It was so nice to connect with an old friend and write a song with real joy in it even in those really dark times. … I didn’t realize how much this touring lifestyle had afforded me a certain level of built-in vulnerability and connection with people. Normally, you get into a van with a group of musicians, and you naturally hang out during the weeks that follow, and there’s a communal aspect. There’s a feeling of being connected. I’d gotten used to that, and without it, I went through something of a nervous breakdown. I needed to recenter myself. … I always want to embrace change — to accept new things artistically — but at the end of the day, I can try to run from this idea that I love good, guitar-based rock & roll music, or I can wear that badge of honor. I’m in the ‘wearing the badge of honor’ phase now.” — Will Hoge
Photo Credit: Katie Kauss