Archives

So we are in Phoenix AZ today. It’s a day off and it’s Blade’s birthday. You know what that means?!?!  Oh yeah. Probably dinner and then in bed by 10:30!!!  Uh huh. Party.

It’s been an interetsting drive out here. We lost our trailer on I-40 just a bit west of Little Rock. Thanks to our friends at Camping World for selling us the wrong sized trailer ball. It was a great way to initiate our new driver. Me yelling from the back lounge, “ummmm the trailer is gone “.

Fortunately we were only about 3 miles from a trailer manufacturer so we got a tow(salvaged ALL the gear!!), got a new trailer and headed to OKC. Thru all that I’d like to point out we were still only an hour and a half late for load in. Yes. Badass. I know.

The OKC show was great fun. Lots of folks showed up, especially for a Monday. We are already working on a return trip.

Drove all day yesterday and now here we are. Excited for the Phoenix show tomorrow and super thrilled about starting the Eli Young Band and Dierks Bentley tour on Friday in LA.  It’s gonna be so much fun.

There’s gonna be more info soon about new merch and more importantly new music so y’all stay tuned. As always thanks for the love and keep on spreading the word. See y’all soon.

Will

Why Headline Country loves Will Hoge…Singer/songwriter Will Hoge is finally getting some long-overdue recognition.

Where do we begin? Let’s do a quick wrap up of 2011. It was a great year. We saw the release of our new album ‘number seven’. Got an incredible response to that. Got embraced by some new folks that we never expected. The folks at CMT played the ‘when I get my wings’ video a lot. Had the best headlining tour we’ve had. Got invited to play the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. Then they had us back twice more. Yes, we all felt quite blessed.

2012 is already off to a great start. We did our first headlining show of the year in Roanoke VA and had a sold out night in a town we’ve never played. If we could make that a trend the fellas and I would be greatly appreciative. Got invited to play and had an absolutely fantastic time out at Jimmy Kimmel Live. It was so cool when we met him and he said, ‘man you’ve sure got some diehard fans! My twitter and facebook have been filled with people saying how excited they are for tonight.’ So many, many thanks to all of you for the continued love and support. It’s also a cool thing to follow the progress of the Eli Young Band and their new single ‘even if it breaks your heart’. I’ve never had a song cut by another band and it’s really a great version and they are such sweet guys. Some folks have said ‘I like your version better’ and that’s fine. But I hope that y’all understand what this could potentially mean for me, my family and this band. I’ve spent more than decade out here writing, recording, playing shows. We drive a 2003 RV. We load our own gear. We sell our own merch after shows. I drive us to and from shows. I’m by NO means complaining but it’s a LOT of strain on 4 guys. With Eli Young’s success and their choosing to release ‘even if it breaks your heart’ as a single many of these situations could possibly change. They have a huge label behind them and have the ability to get that song heard by a TON of people. I’m so flattered to finally get a bit of recognition as a songwriter. Plus if you think our show is great now, just imagine how great we could be with a full nights sleep, on a bus, with a driver and a guy to set up our gear and keep us sounding great? Hey, I can dream too dammit…..

So keep your ears and eyes out for that tune. I know all of us here have our fingers crossed.

On that note to we are excited to be sharing the stage with the Eli Young Band and Dierks Bentley for a mess of shows out west in April. You can check the tour dates page for details.

We actually play the Ryman in Nashville, just us and Dierks, this Thursday night. There’s only a few tickets left if you’re interested. It’s cool because it’ll be the last show on that stage. They are putting in a new stage the next day. I believe the old stage is wood that’s been there for 81 years? Really flattered to have even a bit of our sweat mixed in with all that great history. Maybe I’ll even sneak a board home for myself as a souvenir?

So there’s some headlining shows starting this week and we will be out a little bit through March. We are preparing for another single from ‘number seven’. There’ll be more details on that soon so I’ll save that for another post. We are also starting to prep for the next album and I can tell you I’m already so very excited for these new songs. We will keep you posted as that moves along too.

Well I suppose that’s enough for now. As always please keep spreading the word and we will see y’all out on the road.
Thanks

20-City Tour Kicks Off April 13 In Los Angeles with Special Guest Eli Young Band and Will Hoge and The Cadillac Black in Select Markets

Multi-Platinum singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley announced today that he will bring his Country & Cold Cans Tour back to the U.S. this spring with 20 cities to be announced in the coming weeks. Republic Nashville’s Eli Young Band will rejoin Bentley for the run, along with a combination of Will Hoge and The Cadillac Black in the opening slot. The tour kicks off in Los Angeles on April 13 at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live with tickets for the first show going on sale Fri., Feb 10. Other dates and on-sales will roll out by market over the coming weeks.

“Country & Cold Cans was such a great tour last fall…it’s just way too much fun to stop and we knew we had to continue it into the spring and make another run across the U.S. when we get home from Canada and Australia. We’re even going to Alaska…giving new meaning to COLD cans,” laughed Bentley. “I’m excited that EYB is coming out with us again…great dudes and they put on a killer show. I’m also a big fan of both The Cadillac Black and Will Hoge, so I’m looking forward to watching their sets every night.”

Bentley is currently gearing up for the release of his sixth studio album HOME on Feb. 7. The new album’s anthemic second single and title track received an ACM nomination for Song Of The Year last week and is pushing its way up the Top 10 of the radio charts. Billboard noted that the song is “Maybe his strongest lyrical statement to date, the single reminds us of a late 70s Haggard track — the ultimate compliment. The past few years have seen some of the best work of his career, and this is another example.” The lead single “Am I The Only One” already peaked in the No. one spot and has been certified GOLD. Bentley’s earlier albums have earned him eight No. one hits, over five million total album sales and 10 GRAMMY nominations.

Eli Young Band’s “Crazy Girl,” has been certified PLATINUM with sales of over 1.4 million downloads and was named Billboard’s No. one Country Song of The Year. The band has performed the hit on Late Show With David Letterman, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and the ACA Awards. LIFE AT BEST made its debut at No. three on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and No. six on the Billboard 200. It came in at No. one on the iTunes Country Albums Chart and No. two on the iTunes All Genre chart.

Critically acclaimed Nashville singer/songwriter Will Hoge’s seventh studio album, aptly titled NUMBER SEVEN, explores the struggles of the heart that are Hoge’s songwriting stock in trade while revealing enticing range and freshness on the sonic front. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted its “raw, impassioned power,” while the Chicago Sun-Times called it “a rich, textured album.” For the past 10 years, Hoge has maintained a rigorous touring schedule, building his fan base by playing hundreds of shows a year. Hoge recently made his late night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Cadillac Black like to refer to their sound as “Country Fuzz.” It’s a little bit country, a little bit rock & roll and a whole lot of whiskey soaked fun. On stage TCB bring a high energy show that will make your feet stomp, your beers pop and your heart skip a beat. Their debut album will be out in the spring of 2012, but has already had six songs featured in TV shows prior to its release including FOX’s “House,” CW’s “Hart of Dixie” and “Vampire Diaries.”

For more info on the new album and for a full list of “Country & Cold Cans” dates as they roll out, visit www.dierks.com .

Lisa L. Rollins – Nashville Country Music Examiner

Nashville’s own Will Hoge is kicking off the New Year in high-profile style. Not only is he touring in support of his critically acclaimed Number Seven CD, but he’s also making his late-night TV debut.

Come Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 11 p.m. (Central), the Americana/country-rocker will be among the guests on ABC-TV’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! During his segment, he’ll perform “Too Old To Die Young” from his current and seventh studio album, which was released last Sept. 27.

Locally, music fans will be treated to his live sound again on Feb. 2 at the historic Ryman Auditorium, where he’ll open for hit-making headliner Dierks Bentley on the second leg of his Country & Cold Cans Tour.

So the NEEDTOBREATHE tour wrapped up with, well, kind of a thud? Haha. The tour was wonderful. Every show was great. I hadn’t done a run of straight up opening shows in a long long time and it couldn’t have gone better. I’ve known those fellas for many years and am continually proud of what they’re doing live and on record. Such great guys on and off stage. The only bummer was the last show(thus the ‘thud’ comment earlier). Birmingham at Sloss Furnace had to be rescheduled due to weather. Unfortunately I’d already rescheduled my son’s birthday party for that Sunday, his birthday was the original show date, and there was no way I was missing that. Luckily it led to conversation with Bear and I agreeing we’d just have to play together again at some point so as not to leave things without the big damn to do finale both bands had been hoping for. So that’s that.
Quite excited for our hometown show in Nashville on Wednesday. Haven’t played Exit/In in some time and haven’t done a proper show in town since the Wreckage has been released. Should be alot of fun. Maybe yall can come? Then Bloomington, Chicago and Madison. All shows but Madison are ones that a band member or band family lives in so it’s all warm beds and home cooked meals this week. Lucky, I know.

Discussions are being had right now about the next single from the Wreckage. Should be out in August. Very interested to see what ‘the man’ comes up with on this one. Haha, the man. I like that. Yall feel free to discuss and weigh in with your opinion as well.

Lastly, but certainly not least, thanks to everyone who has emailed their concerns, prayers, etc. about this terrible flooding that went on last week. Fortunately the band and our families were all ok. Some standing water and a couple flooded basements was all we got directly. How truly lucky we are. It seems the national media at large was a bit slow to get on board with coverage. Fortunately, with the number of artists here, I think their fans spread the word and in turn the concern better than anyone. In the aftermath, which is still ongoing and truly remarkable in its scale as you see the areas hardest hit, I want to say how proud and inspired I am by my city and its surrounding areas. The countless acts of heroism during the flood coupled with the seemingly endless outstretched hands of this community to help our own, neighbors, friends, strangers have all stood as family and we WILL get through this. There have been a lot of folks outside of Nashville that have asked about helping and where/how to do it. Hands on Nashville is great(www.hon.org) as is the red cross just to give a couple. Another great option will be coming this Sunday May 16th when GAC presents Music City Keeps On Playin’. This will be the first nationally televised event to try and help raise money directly for those hit by this disaster. The list of performers thus far includes: myself and the band, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Lady Antebellum, Rodney Atkins, CeCe Winans, Jaci Velasquez and Dierks Bentley. The show will be at the Ryman Auditorium and will be simulcast live on GAC from 8-10 pm. In addition performing we will all be manning phones and taking donations. Tickets go on sale Monday at 10 am. You can get more details at gactv.com. Having spent my entire life in Franklin and Nashville I am honored to be a part of this as we want to do everything we can to help out. Spread the word, tune in, enjoy the music and most importantly HELP!!
Thanks yall.