Nashville, TN: Working in the music industry, you get a little jaded. You've got to hear this new artist! Nah, that's ok. And it's like cool country! Um, no thanks.
But I just saw a show featuring Derek Hoke and I gotta tell you -- I'm impressed. Not only because the sound is a mix of old school country with tinges of rockabilly or because his look is some sort of mesh of Buddy Holly and GQ, but also because I had no idea Derek could sing or write like he does. I knew Derek when he dated a roommate of mine and he managed the local indie movie theatre. He spent a lot of time at my house and the three of us would chain smoke in my dimly lit living room, watching bad TV. I would see him in public, shyly hanging around my extremely outgoing roommate, and wonder what he was thinking.
Now he has the spotlight and now his songs give me some insight to what he was thinking. With the help of a friend's video direction, now the rest of us - even the jaded ones - can catch a glimpse on some good new country music.