Boston Country Hub

On Sunday night, Will Hoge and his band helped Wild Wings Cafe celebrate their 25th birthday.  The set included tracks off of Hoge's 10th studio album, Small Town Dreams , released in April, as well as old favorites like "Baby Girl", "Daddy is a Gambling Man", "When I Can Afford to Lose", "The Highway's Home", and his number one hit from his album  Wreckage,  " Even If It Breaks Your Heart " recorded by the Eli Young Band.  Hoge's soulful voice, energy, harmonica, and masterful lyrics shine through live.  Hoge's set concluded a weekend of fun activities featuring local acts, lawn games, and even a wing eating contest.  The highlight of the show for me was to hear some of the tracks off of Small Town Dreams which   is easily one of my favorite albums this year with beautiful storytelling of life in 'Middle America'.  Oddly enough, the album reminds me of a Youtube video my brother showed me of Kanye We...

For Will Hoge’s latest album, Small Town Dreams, inspiration was found in the past.  Hoge, a Franklin, Tennessee native, paints a vivid picture of life growing up in his own small town.  For the album, Hoge was excited to work with producer Marshall Altman who was behind Frankie Ballard’s “Helluva Life” and Eric Paslay’s “Friday Night”.  The rocking first single, “Middle of America” features the sweet story of parents shaking their heads while their children make the same mistakes that they made in the past.  Hoge has been writing and performing his own brand of country and rock since the 1990’s but has found a more stable home in country music as the genre continues to widen.  In an interview with Rolling Stone , Hoge shared, "At some point, country music became more inclusive.  People bust on country all the time — 'this bro-country thing, it's so bad, blah blah blah' — but there's a part of me that can't say that, because I feel like those...

1.  Location, location, location The pristine blue ocean and sandy beach provided a fantastic location for the beach loving country singers like Jake Owen and Kenny Chensey. 25,000 people singing “Beachin’” while on the beach is tough to beat. 2. Zac Brown Band The band showed once again why they are in elite company at the top of the country music scene. The band was able to put together a set that covered all the hits and included super fun covers like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, and Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”. They finished their set with “Chicken Fried” and set off the most fun, raucous dance party of the weekend. 3. Sam Hunt Playing off the main stage, Hunt had the largest crowd of the weekend aside from Chesney and Zac Brown Band. Hunt played his number 1 singles “Leave the Light On” and “Take Your Time”. He also worked in some classic 90's covers like Reba’s “Fancy” and Deanna Carter’s “Strawberry Wine”. 4.  New...