Will Hoge - Tiny Little Movies (2020) [Official Digital Download 24/48]

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Will Hoge - Tiny Little Movies (2020) [Official Digital Download 24/48]

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For two decades, Will Hoge has carried the torch for American rock & roll, carving out his own blue-collar sound rooted in amplified guitars, melodic hooks, southern soul, and rootsy stomp. It's a sound that nods to the best moments of the past - the punch of Tom Petty's anthems; the countrified twang of Buck Owens' singing; the raw, greasy cool of the Rolling Stones -while still pushing forward into new territory with Hoge's storytelling and larger-than-life voice leading the charge on his new self-produced album, Tiny Little Movies, out today via Thirty Tigers.

In the days leading up to Tiny Little Movies’ release, Associated Press called the album “Compelling soundtrack material for the progressive political movement,” adding “whether the subject is politics or romance, Hoge sings with a hungry heart.” Rolling Stone also praised Hoge’s passionate and direct songwriting, saying, “Content but far from complacent…On Tiny Little Movies, Hoge doesn’t sugarcoat tough topics.” Fans can see Hoge and his band play the album’s first single, “The Curse,” recorded live for Public Radio Music Day at NPR Music.

With a strong acoustic guitar strum and snare drum backbeat, “Midway Motel” opens Tiny Little Movies in a throwback rock and roll splendor, setting the tone well for an album in which Hoge chose to highlight the raw chemistry of his road band. After tackling the arrangements over four days in an East Nashville rehearsal space, Hoge, guitarist Thom Donovan, drummer Allen Jones, and bassist Christopher Griffiths headed into Trace Horse Studio and tracked each song live, together and inspired. "There's a classic, rock & roll centerpiece to everything this band does, but it's still a group of four different people, and we all bring different influences to the table," says Hoge, who turned to Grammy-winning producer/engineer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Lori McKenna) to mix the album at Sam Phillips Recording. "We've got a metalhead in the group. We've got a Motown fan. We've got a guitarist who loves Johnny Marr. It's a unique hodgepodge of sounds coming together, and we tried to accentuate that."