UCN Interview at CRS 2013 – Lucas Hoge: “There are so many great ideas that haven’t been written!”

11 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on UCN Interview at CRS 2013 – Lucas Hoge: “There are so many great ideas that haven’t been written!”

UCN: So tell me a little about what’s going on right now.
LH:
The big thing is, we’re releasing a new single on a new label at the end of March/first of April. It’s called, ‘Should’ve Loved.’ It’s a great song. It’s not a ballad, but it’s not a tempo song either, it’s one of those fine line deals, but it’s a really powerful tune, and hopefully everyone responds to it. Dan Mitchell is the producer, don’t know if you know him.

UCN: I actually do know Dan. I won a songwriting competition over at Pick’s Nashville a few years ago, and I got talking to Dan because one of the things I won was some recording time at The Tracking Room. So I got to know Dan a little bit. I haven’t talked to him in years, so it’s been awhile.
LH:
That’s a great place to record, it’s one of the best in town.

UCN: I wish we would have sounded better. [laughs] LH: Oh really? That’s how it goes.

UCN: And Powersource Magazine has that been pretty instrumental? Because I know you’re more on the contemporary Christian side.
LH:
Actually I’m more mainstream country, straight up. All those other tunes have just kind of been finding their way into that realm. I guess the way it started I was filming a hunting show in South Dakota and got to know the producers of that show really well and went on to write a theme for the new show, which is called Tom’s Wildlife on GAC which still airs. But the camera guy I got to know quit the production team and he went to work at a hospice in Colorado and he’s the head of the Dying Wish program out there. And this lady was dying from ALS, or Lou Gerhig’s Disease, and my grandfather passed away from Lou Gerhig’s Disease so instantly, we had a connection. He said, “She’s written a few lines of a poem and her dying wish is she wants it to be turned into a song.” So he sent me the poem and within about an hour I’d written a song, sent it back to her, and recorded a quick demo thinking no one but she and her family would hear it. Turns out they sent it off to the Colorado radio stations out there and it’s a very inspirational song. It’s the fastest song I’ve had spread in a long time. And it spread through Christian country, Christian rock, Delilah picked it up, syndicated it on her show. I opened up for George Jones here at the Ryman and flew her down to be part of the show and things just went from there. And that’s how the whole inspirational country thing came about . They started picking up some of my other songs and I ended up writing the theme song for Sharing The Journey, which was a theme song for the hospice because they do a public access thing. It was another song I didn’t think had any legs at all and all the sudden they wanted to do something with it.

UCN: That’s fantastic!  It’s kinda cool that that dovetailed into something else.
LH:
It’s great when things kind of do their own thing, and you don’t have to do anything for it so you know there’s something behind it.

UCN: That’s a really great story behind that song!
LH:
It was very touching to have a song that has spanned the gap across the country that people respond to you and say ‘This song has touched me this way, or this song helped me get through this.’ It’s a really mind-blowing thing when somebody tells you that. It’s like, ‘Oh, you know my music?’ [laughs]

UCN: Yeah, it’s great to have those little rock star moments, like ‘I love being me!’
LH:
Yeah, it’s pretty cool, I hope that never goes away.

UCN: Seems like that kind of helps keep things in perspective.
LH:
It does.

UCN: So how often are you on the road?
LH:
We’re constantly on the road. Obviously the winter months are a lot slower, we do more weekend warrior stuff, one-off things during the winter months but as soon as spring hits, we’re gone. We’re doing a lot of stuff inside and outside the country again this year. I go overseas every year. This is my 6th year going overseas touring for our troops. I go over with the Wrangler National Patriot tour, which, they also picked up a song as a theme song for their tour, the ‘Medal Of Honor’ song that I wrote. Diamond BowTech picked that song up as well and put it in all their military bows that they send over for our troops. We also do a lot with Hard Rock Casino Resorts so we get to go to the Dominican Republic, Cancun, Puerto Vallerta and stay there for a week and play music.

UCN: That’s fantastic!
LH:
Somebody’s gotta do it. [laughs] And I’m glad it’s me! [laughs]

UCN: Those sound like better accommodations than some of the standard casinos!
LH:
And the great thing about it is they set up a stage just for our shows right on the beach and it’s at night, waves are crashing, you’re playing your music, people are hanging out just chilling, it’s like the best gig ever.

UCN: Don’t you threaten me with a good time! [laughs] LH: Drinks are flowing, the breeze is blowing…I mean, it’s awesome

UCN: That’s something right there [sings] ‘The drinks are flowing, the breeze is blowing…’ [laughs] LH: That’s right!

UCN: You’re welcome, that’s all you! [laughs] LH: I’ll take it! [laughs]

UCN: So ‘Medal Of Honor,’ how did that come about?
LH:
I grew up in a small, small town in Nebraska, a town of 44 people, a farm town, my folks still live on a farm out there. So I’ve always been a hunter, fisherman, outdoors kind of guy. So CMA Fest has this thing called the Field & Stream Celebrity Outdoor Challenge, and it was me, Darryl Worley, Craig Morgan, Mark Wills, Trent Willmon, all these cats , we go to this place they set up all these obstacle courses with bow hunting and rifle shooting on the river. So I get to talking with the BowTech people and like, ‘Yeah yeah, I go overseas every year’ and they say, ‘Oh, that’s cool we’re trying to do the troop thing.’  Two or three years roll by and I’m already going overseas with Wrangler. So they ask me, ‘Hey, are you doing anything with that ‘Medal Of Honor’ tune?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a theme song, but other than that, nothing.’ So they said, ‘Hey, do you want to put it on a compilation album and we’ll put it in all the packaging for our military bows.’ So anyone in the military who wants to order a bow from Diamond BowTech they get a hell of a discount and they get a CD and some swag. They’re a great company, they make some great bows!

UCN: So do you get that discount if you want to order a bow?
LH:
They give me my bows. [laughs]

UCN: You heard it here first, folks! [laughs] LH: I’ve got three Diamond bows on my wall and a PSE bow, which, I love the PSE bow, but Diamond’s got a great bow. They’ve got a whole span of great stuff. The latest one is the Insanity bow. So quiet you can’t even hear it coming. (laughs)

UCN: You hope! [laughs]  It’s funny because I’d play at Wanna B’s downtown and they have the Outdoor channel on, so I’d see the commercials for all the different bows and arrowheads, and sit there learning more than I ever thought I would about hunting! [laughs] LH: See you’re a professional hunter and you don’t even know it! You probably know more than half these people out there hunting probably. [laughs]

UCN: I was watching this reality show called Wardens about game wardens . They’re basically chasing down these guys hunting illegally. It’s like, man, what haven’t they made a reality show about?
LH:
So true!  Yeah there’s a lot of reality stuff out there.  Actually we’re in the process of putting one out hopefully.

UCN: Really? Talk about that.
LH:
I really can’t talk about the premise of it because we signed a non-disclosure agreement with the production company.

UCN: So it’s Fight Club. And the first rule of Fight Club is…?
LH:
Don’t talk about Fight Club. [laughs] Wanna fight?

UCN: Can’t talk about it, can’t talk about it!
LH:
It’s a great show it’s gonna be fun. It’s me and my buddies just out having a great time across the country, but bringing awareness to a lot of things that most people probably wouldn’t realize are fun.

UCN:  Musical things or other things?
LH:
It really has no music interaction at all. It’s just us having some fun. It’s gonna be a good show. It’s me, my buddy Ty Brown from The Bachelorette, and Trent Willmon. Do you know Trent Willmon?

UCN: I don’t know him personally.
LH: He’s the artist and songwriter for ‘Beer Man.’ [sings] ‘I’m a Beer Man…’

UCN: Yes!
LH:
He’s written a bunch of hits for other people. Good guy, he’s fun to be around. Trent’s a dad now, so he all like ‘I’ve got to be serious, I can’t take any risks anymore.’ So the next clip is him holding two rattlesnakes in his hands, milking the fangs and stuff, and then we shoot to another clip of him outside my house, and we’ve got this huge ditch. And he’s saying, ‘I can’t…I’ve gotta be cool,’ and he takes this four wheeler and it’s literally a 90 degree curve and it flips over and rolls him on his back. [laughs] And I’m like, ‘You’re freakin’ nuts!’ He’s crazier than I am, and I like to have fun!

UCN: I find that it’s always the guys who say, ‘Oh no no no, I can’t do that anymore, I can’t take the risks…’ I say the same thing, like if someone invites me, say, on a skiing trip. ‘Skiing trip, I don’t know man, I don’t have any medical insurance.’ But then I’m like, ‘Oh hell yeah, let’s do this!’ Those are the guys who can be talked into it! [laughs] LH: [laughs] Yeah, I’m so done with skiing. I’m that kind of guy. I can get talked into doing anything, and that’s bad, because a lot of times, I can’t back it up! [laughs]

UCN: Yeah!
LH:
We were out skiing this last season out in Park City in the mountains and my buddy owns the property  at Canyons, it’s a huge property ski resort there. They’re pro skiers and he says, “Let’s ski back to the lodge instead of taking the gondola.” And I’m like, ‘Okay.’ So we go down this nice gradual hill, and then you have to take the gondola back to the top to the freakin’ mountain and then it’s black diamond all the way. I went about 100 yards on my skis and the rest of the way on my ass. [laughs] I’m not a skier by any means! [laughs]

UCN: As far as the writing goes, do you tend to write with a small stable of people that you work well with , or are you more open to writing with anybody, or how do you do it?
LH:
When I first moved to town up until about 4 months ago I kept my writing circle pretty small. But these last few months I’ve been like, ‘hey, if you want to write, let’s do it.’ There are so many great ideas that haven’t been written and so many great ideas that have, so if you’ve got great songs, I’d love to hear them. If we can write something together, awesome.

UCN: Actually I do! Maybe we should talk about that.
LH:
I’d love to. Seriously. And I’m not bullshitting you.

UCN: That’d be great. I’m kind of the same way, I’ve kind of kept it small up until recently, but now I’m more like, eh, why not?
LH:
Exactly. If something comes of it, great, if not, you got a good friend out of it, and you move on.

UCN: It’s really kind of like dating. [laughs] LH: Yeah it is! But I never did like to date that much! [laughs]

UCN: So tell me more about the stuff you’re doing with radio. This is a radio conference, so we might as well talk about it.
LH:
Well the new single, ‘Should’ve Loved’ is the primary thing right now. Something has always led us to releasing something to radio, whether it be a theme song for a TV show or a jingle or whatever. We try to make everything as radio friendly as we can, but also when it comes to the album I just love to write great songs and put great stuff out. And if people like it, great, if they don’t, we just keep putting it out until the do like it I guess! [laughs]

UCN: Have you ever had a situation where you make plans to release one song as a single, but then another gets picked up and winds up bumping the first? Because it seems like you’ve got a lot of stuff that comes to you at random.
LH:
Definitely. My first official album had ten tracks, had the artwork done, and was all ready to go, and then a song I’d literally just written went to Smallville, the TV show. And it wasn’t country at all, it was straight up pop-rock. So we get the license for Smallville and I’m like, sweet, this is a cool vehicle to hopefully sell more records, so we trashed all the artwork for that album and slid it on.

UCN: So it seems like the placements have been the vehicle for you for getting you out there.
LH:
Absolutely. We literally do whatever we can to get our name out there, our faces out there, always just scratching and clawing to get these things, and it’s paid off. And now it’s easier to get in these doors.

UCN: It seems like that’s the new way to introduce yourself. I’ve know of a lot of artists that have gotten songs placed in TV, movies, or even video games, and it ends up becoming an important vehicle for them.
LH:
Yeah, TV and film scoring is the way to go because that mailbox money is the best money you’ll ever earn. [laughs]

UCN: Speaking of video games, have you ever played the Medal Of Honor video game? (laughs)
LH:
You know, I never have. [laughs] The game I’m stuck on now, and I don’t play a lot of video games, but I’ve got the app on my iPad is Zombie Killer. [laughs] It’s freakin’ awesome!

UCN: I’ll have to try that one out!
LH:
I freakin’ love it, man, it’s awesome! [laughs]

UCN: I used to play a lot I don’t get as much of a chance to play anymore but I’ll get one that I can play for 10 minutes and then put it away.
LH:
Exactly, I’ll do a level then I’m good for a week. [laughs] It’s something to do on the road when you’re trying to shut your brain off. [laughs]

UCN: That tends to be most often where I play them. It’s a good alternative to drinking too much to shut your brain down at the end of the day. [laughs] LH: [laughs] True. Yeah you’ve got to have some sort of outlet, because obviously your music is your outlet, but you’ve got to be able to shut that off too and get back to reality sometimes. [laughs]

UCN: Actually that’s one of the reasons why I started playing games, because it’s something somewhat mindless and when you’re dealing with music all the time, like you said, you really do need some way to shut it off.
LH:
There have been weeks where I haven’t slept because I can’t shut my brain off. I’m thinking about “we’ve got to do this, we’ve got to go here…”

UCN: I have the exactly same problem. [laughs]  But especially when you’re on the road, that’s sometimes where it hits me the most, being around it all the time.
LH:
For me it has to do with the people you travel with. If they’re good people to hang with. We finally got to that point with guys who can take care of themselves.

UCN: Where’s your next tour going to take you? You said you were going to be going overseas again.
LH:
Yeah, we’ll be going overseas and all the Hard Rocks, the Dominican Republic, Cancun, all those great places. Then, from California to Maine!

UCN: When does it kick off?
LH:
Starts in March. We’re going to Napa, starting in California, then working our way back this way.  And then back to California. We like the wine country! Lots of vineyards, and wineries, and private gigs out there.

UCN: I’ve got a friend from San Diego who plays a lot of those types of places and says that they’re really kind of an untapped resource for musicians.
LH:
Completely. And corporations will rent out an entire winery and hire a band for their entire crew. My buddy’s opening a new winery out there.

UCN: So this is the point of the interview where you can either tell me a cool road story or talk about an inspirational quote that’s stuck with you and inspires you.
LH:
Well, we were traveling in a van and trailer to Sturgis and we’d gotten to about Paducah, and all the sudden I hear this sound and realized the trailer had come of the hitch! Everybody’s freaking out and I’m like, ‘well, the chains are gonna hold,’ but then the chains snap! The trailer literally starts veering off into 4 lanes of traffic. I’m thinking calmly, but everyone’s yelling and we’re doing 70, and I’m trying to ignore them. The trailer’s literally coming ahead of me, so I speed up, then slow down, stop the trailer with the back of the van, and pin it against the side rail.

UCN: Wow!
LH:
Have no idea how, it all just happened. But we had to stop and get a different trailer for that journey. (laughs)

UCN: My motto used to be ‘What Would James Bond Do?’ but now it’s, ‘What Would Lucas Hoge Do?’ [laughs] Laura Lynn (Lucas’ wife and manager): You literally saved lives that day!
LH: And as soon as we got to the venue, we were talking to this lady who’d been reading out tweets and she told us that’s exactly how her dad died. He was hit by some trailer bounced into his lane.

UCN: Lucas Hoge, making music, saving lives, y’all! Thank you so much!
LH:
[laughs] You bet, thank you! Looking forward to seeing you down the road!

 

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter