Heard a song I loved, but it wasn't the one playing...

I've never been much of a country music fan, but I've been slowly warming to it over the past 10 years. Perhaps it started as long as 20 years ago when I finally started to "get" the Grateful Dead, which inevitably led to a greater appreciation of Jerry's bluegrass roots and the wider world of country music. Or maybe it was just watching "Walk the Line" that finally got me listening with open ears.

A few weeks back I heard a country song that was both exciting and a little heart breaking for me (pardon the forthcoming bad pun). I'd never heard of the Eli Young band before, but they seemed to be getting quite a bit of airplay with their new single, "Even if it Breaks Your Heart", linked below.



I gave it a second listen, as I knew the tune, but not the Eli Young Band version I was hearing. It turns out the song was penned by Will Hoge, a musician I'm a big fan of, but an artist that most music lovers I know have never discovered.  Over 10 years ago, I worked as an activities director at small college in Memphis. We brought lots of up and coming bands to the campus, but Will Hoge was one of the few that made several appearances during the few years I worked there. I loved working with him and student response was always great. Always pleasant, his band played a straight forward brand of rock that was reminiscent of the energy and earnestness of early Springsteen, a novel rarity in a time when the polished rap and punk/pop rock of Limp Bizkit and Blink 182 were ascendant.

Hearing his set, I was certain Will was going to be a star one day and that we were fortunate enough to catch him on the cusp of breaking. But Nostradamus I am not and his major label debut didn't get the airplay to "break through". Atlantic quickly dropped him. After hearing the new record, I can't say I was surprised. It didn't capture the raw rock energy that I had grabbed my attention, instead feeling more bland pop rock to my ear. I left Memphis for work in Brooklyn, but would still go to see Will when he came to town for his annual visit to the Mercury Lounge. But by this time it was evident that Will's rise to stardom was not inevitable, and becoming less likely with each passing year.

Over the years I lost track of Will's music and career. A serious accident slowed down his touring and recording and his predominently southern touring schedule would never bring him to my new home in Bufalo, NY.  But the discovery that someone, Eli Young, was playing Will's music brought all those songs back to my listening rotation. Moreover, the Eli Young cover brought a real sense of joy. After all these years of touring and writing, to see that Will is finally enjoying a pay day and has a hit on the radio was thrill. It has been long overdue. My wife and I had been routing for him all these years to make it. He might not be playing arenas, but finally he has a bona fide hit song. And it felt like a partial vindication of my musical sense. Maybe Will is not destined for stardom as I thought, but at least his music is.

Acknowledging my strong bias, I listen to Will sing this song and am struck by how much more powerful and soulful his version sounds. The Eli Young Band song sounds good, it's well produced and clean sounding. But after you listen to the Eli Young version above, play Will's below. Perhaps it's the style of laid back country that Eli plays or the highly polished and sanitized production on his track, but Eli's full band lack the power of just Will's voice and an acoustic guitar.

I can't help but wonder if this is an example of what ails the music industry nowadays. Find a songwriter who writes a great song, and drain it of all energy and soul. Make sure it is bland enough to cut across several genres of listeners; in this case ensure that it works as a country song and a pop rock song.

But the people have spoken, and their verdict is in. I'm not only lousy at predictions, but I'm not cut out for a job at the record label: the Eli Young band has 3.5 millions hits on youtube. Will's version just recently cracked 300,000 hits.

Perhaps this is finally the beginning of big things for Will Hoge. I heard he's been nominated for a CMA this year for writing this song. Either way, I'm glad he's enjoying some success and grateful that he persisted all these years through the constant touring small clubs, continued to put out original music. Check out his music, besides this track, I really loved one of his oldest recordings - Carousel. Ms. Williams and Don't Let Me Be Lonely great, upbeat rocking tracks worth a listen if you like what you hear.