Anchors Will Hoge

• 1The Reckoning03:42
• 2This Grand Charade03:43
• 3Little Bit of Rust03:47
• 4Cold Night in Santa Fe03:22
• 5Baby's Eyes02:29
• 6(This Ain't) an Original Sin03:19
• 7Through Missing You03:16
• 8Anchors03:55
• 9Angels Wings04:00
• 101704:04
• 11Young as We Will Ever Be03:05
• Total Runtime38:42

Info for Anchors

Recorded with an all-star band comprised of drummer Jerry Roe (Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Darius Rucker), bassist Dominic Davis (Jack White, Wanda Jackson), and guitarists Brad Rice (Son Volt, Ryan Adams) and Thom Donovan (Lapush, Ruby Amanfu), the album is a prime showcase for Hoge s searing, gritty vocals, as well as his remarkable gift for crafting complex characters with real emotional depth and plainspoken profundity. Over the course of eleven tracks, Hoge weaves elements of vintage country, literate folk, and heartland rock into a passionate, genre-busting masterpiece, one that offers an unflinching portrait of the messy challenges of adulthood and the ways in which we preserve (or don't) through hard times.

"Nashville singer/songwriter Will Hoge has released a slew of albums that actively straddle the borderland between heartland rock and Americana. Given the fact that country music's mainstream has embraced the former wholeheartedly in the 21st century, it's no surprise his songs have been hits for the Eli Young Band and Lady Antebellum, to mention just two.

Anchors arrives at an interesting time in Hoge's career. After the release of 2015's acclaimed Small Town Dreams, he faced a dilemma. Despite being able to make his living from songwriting and a successful touring regimen with his longtime band, he found that while he enjoyed playing live and writing, being in a band had outlived its purpose. He let the band go, went out on his own with a guitar and keyboard, and wrote while he traveled. The 11-song Anchors was cut with crack session players, who help to fill out Hoge's portrait not only as songwriter but as a master storyteller. He doesn't seem concerned with where his songs fit musically, just as long as they're honest. They reflect on relationships caught in tension, in emergence, and spirals of slow dissolution; they offer reminiscences of wisdom hard won and chanced upon. They look at choices in the rear view and in the headlights. While the album's two pre-release singles -- the country rock of "Little Bit of Rust" (with Sheryl Crow) and "Baby's Eyes" -- that readily evokes Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers -- are excellent examples, they aren't the best ones here by far. The shuffling, love-haunted loneliness in "Cold Night in Santa Fe" and overamped rock anthem "(This Ain't) An Original Sin" are better examples of Hoge's literate, committed writing and passionate performance style. You believe every word because he does. The title track is a dreamy rock meditation on freedom and the real (blood) ties that bind. The poignant reflection on regret and possibility in "Angel's Wings" is delivered as a straight country song (complete with an awesome pedal steel whine courtesy of Fats Kaplan), but in the grain of his voice lies a rocker's heart. Closer "Young as We Will Ever Be" is an uptempo celebration of committed love as it shifts and changes over time without surrender; a screaming guitar break and clattering cymbals and snares underscore its truth. Hoge's protagonist is still hungry for his beloved and for life itself. Anchors is not only consistent, it's completely solid in flow, dynamics, and feel. It seems that by listening to his gut, Hoge put himself in the best possible place to receive these fine songs. Lucky for us." (Thom Jurek, AMG)

Will Hoge, vocals, guitar
Dominic Davis, guitar
Brad Rice, guitar
Thom Donovan, guitar
Darius Rucker, bass
Jerry Roe, drums
Special guest:
Sheryl Crow, vocals

Will Hoge
This Tennessee native songwriter made his name honing a blend of soulful Americana and heartland rock & roll. After spending his childhood in Franklin, TN he left for Western Kentucky University to study history. Music drew him back home, however, and he relocated to Nashville to assemble a band. He issued a live release of the bar circuit in 1999 called All Night Long before signing a deal with Atlantic Records. With the label's support, he recorded his official debut album Carousel in 2000.

In 2003, Hoge released his sophomore studio album called Blackbird on a Lonely Wire and after departing from Atlantic Records, released a series of live albums, brief EPs and the full-fledged studio effort The Man Who Killed Love combined with a relentless tour schedule. Hoge's fourth album, Draw the Curtains was released in 2007, followed by The Wreckage in 2009. Number Seven is Hoge's seventh album and was released in 2011. Hoge has also been a part of other projects including singing background vocals on David Nail's "The Sound of a Million Dreams" and co-writing "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" with Eric Paslay. The song was recorded by Eli Young Band and included on their Life At Best album.

"Took a whole lot of miles to know what I know now," sings Will Hoge on "Growing Up Around Here," the opening track off of his tenth studio album, Small Town Dreams. "I'm kinda proud of growing up around here."

It's been a whole lot of miles, indeed: miles on the road, driving the bus himself from venue to venue since the nineties; miles to and from Nashville writing rooms, where he's spent hours penning songs – some for him, some for others; miles exploring lands outside of his native Franklin, Tennessee, chasing the spirits of his musical heroes. Roads meet, roads split, roads led to home.

Hoge has spent countless years and miles on the road, but he’s just recently recorded the magic fans love, on “Solo & Live – December 2015” released in March 2016. Known for his connection with audiences as well as his impressive vocal ability, he recorded the album in December of last year. The collection captures the full experience of Hoge’s show – an event that’s never predictable. Hoge’s unique connection with his fans lies in his ability to stir up somber, acoustic moments in one turn and then spring a hard-rocking, plugged-in number the next. "The magic happens in the unsafe moments," he says. The album showcases songs from Small Town Dreams as well as older entries from his catalog, including crowd favorites “Through Missing You,” “Jesus Came to Tennessee” and “When I get My Wings,” among others.

An extremely prolific songwriter with ten albums under his belt and countless songs written for others (including a Grammy nomination), Never fitting particularly neatly into a genre box, he's always just made the music that moved him.

Keeping with the recurring theme of days and nights spent on the road, Hoge recently crossed the pond and took his live show to Europe, touring through Scotland and England in the fall of 2015 and again in early 2016, traveling to Spain, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. The tour was in support of Small Town Dreams, which Hoge teamed up with Marshall Altman on. The collection of songs paints a vivid snapshot of the American experience.

Throughout everything he does, whether in his live shows or while creating a new album – one thing remains central: the stories. Hoge’s ability to tell stories is part of what has made him a vital force in fan's lives who have followed him across the country and seen countless shows – his songs speak to the reality of all our experiences, delivered in a way that is honest, true and ever changing.

This album contains no booklet.