Tiny Little Movies Will Hoge
- 1 Midway Motel 03:37
- 2 The Overthrow 02:48
- 3 Maybe This is Ok 03:28
- 4 Even the River Runs out of This Town 03:19
- 5 My Worst 05:37
- 6 That's How You Lose Her 03:03
- 7 Con Man Blues 02:19
- 8 Is This All That You Wanted Me For 04:13
- 9 The Likes of You 03:26
- 10 The Curse 02:59
- 11 All the Pretty Horses 03:25
Info for Tiny Little Movies
Maybe that's why Tiny Little Movies, his eleventh album, feels so cinematic. Recorded alongside Hoge's band of road warriors, the album brims with the same electric energy that fuels his shows. These are songs for highways, hotels, the heartland, and those all-too-brief moments at home, glued together by self-reflective lyrics that find Hoge making peace with life, love, and the long ladder that leads to success. This is still the same fired-up Hoge who released 2018's My American Dream, a sharply-worded protest album that tackled everything from political corruption to social issues. Those progressive stripes run throughout Tiny Little Movies, too, rearing their heads during album highlights like "The Overthrow" – a riff-heavy rocker that anticipates the removal of a no-good dictator – and "Con-Man Blues," whose overdriven guitars and pummeling percussion mark one of the most blistering moments of Hoge's entire catalog.
Even so, a theme of self-acceptance runs through the center of Tiny Little Movies. On the atmospheric "Even the River Runs Out of This Town," Hoge pines for the one who got away – or, more accurately, the one he allowed to get away, knowing she'd only be dragged down by his presence. On "Midway Motel," a track co-written with the Wild Feathers' Ricky Young, he salutes the run-down hotels that have housed his fellow musicians for decades, finding the strange beauty in places where the TVs are "as broken as the world outside." He teams up with co-writer Dan Baird (former frontman of the Georgia Satellites, as well as Hoge's former guitar player) for the R&B-influenced "My Worst," a song that finds him owning up to past mistakes, then chases down inner peace with "Maybe It's OK," an autobiographical song rooted in the realization that Hoge – mistakes and all – has done pretty well for himself.
For the self-produced Tiny Little Movies, Hoge chose to highlight the raw chemistry of his road band. The group rented a rehearsal space in East Nashville for four days, then headed south of town to Trace Horse Studio, where the group – Hoge, guitarist Thom Donovan, drummer Allen Jones, and bassist Christopher Griffiths – tracked each song in a series of live, inspired takes. The goal wasn't just to serve the song; it was to serve the band, too. "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."
Great rock & roll records rarely follow a script. Tiny Little Movies may nod to the heartland rockers who came before Hoge, but this is an album that stands in a theater of its own, accented by everything from the country storytelling of Hoge's southern roots to the soulful sway of his voice. It's Hoge at his best: raw, amplified, and inspired, with enough hunger to keep him inspired and enough contentment to add perspective to his rougher edges.
"What this album specifically does not do is overtly approach politics, a diametric contrast with his last album ‘My American Dream’, which, with its direct attacks and ridiculing of the presidency and church, amongst other targets, was guaranteed to alienate any Middle America market, which Hoge was fully aware of. This album though stays solidly in Middle America, but comment is balanced with affection, from a man maturing into satisfaction, even pride in his lot in life. ‘Tiny Little Movies’ is thus perhaps Will Hoges’s domestic album, from a man who might not have conquered the music world, but knows he is good, and his life is great, and that is more than enough." (Mark Johnson, americana-uk.com)
Will Hoge
Will Hoge
This Tennessee native songwriter made his name honing a blend of soulful Americana and heartland rock & roll. After spending his childhood in Franklin, TN he left for Western Kentucky University to study history. Music drew him back home, however, and he relocated to Nashville to assemble a band. He issued a live release of the bar circuit in 1999 called All Night Long before signing a deal with Atlantic Records. With the label's support, he recorded his official debut album Carousel in 2000.
In 2003, Hoge released his sophomore studio album called Blackbird on a Lonely Wire and after departing from Atlantic Records, released a series of live albums, brief EPs and the full-fledged studio effort The Man Who Killed Love combined with a relentless tour schedule. Hoge's fourth album, Draw the Curtains was released in 2007, followed by The Wreckage in 2009. Number Seven is Hoge's seventh album and was released in 2011. Hoge has also been a part of other projects including singing background vocals on David Nail's "The Sound of a Million Dreams" and co-writing "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" with Eric Paslay. The song was recorded by Eli Young Band and included on their Life At Best album.
"Took a whole lot of miles to know what I know now," sings Will Hoge on "Growing Up Around Here," the opening track off of his tenth studio album, Small Town Dreams. "I'm kinda proud of growing up around here."
It's been a whole lot of miles, indeed: miles on the road, driving the bus himself from venue to venue since the nineties; miles to and from Nashville writing rooms, where he's spent hours penning songs – some for him, some for others; miles exploring lands outside of his native Franklin, Tennessee, chasing the spirits of his musical heroes. Roads meet, roads split, roads led to home.
Hoge has spent countless years and miles on the road, but he’s just recently recorded the magic fans love, on “Solo & Live – December 2015” released in March 2016. Known for his connection with audiences as well as his impressive vocal ability, he recorded the album in December of last year. The collection captures the full experience of Hoge’s show – an event that’s never predictable. Hoge’s unique connection with his fans lies in his ability to stir up somber, acoustic moments in one turn and then spring a hard-rocking, plugged-in number the next. "The magic happens in the unsafe moments," he says. The album showcases songs from Small Town Dreams as well as older entries from his catalog, including crowd favorites “Through Missing You,” “Jesus Came to Tennessee” and “When I get My Wings,” among others.
An extremely prolific songwriter with ten albums under his belt and countless songs written for others (including a Grammy nomination), Never fitting particularly neatly into a genre box, he's always just made the music that moved him.
Keeping with the recurring theme of days and nights spent on the road, Hoge recently crossed the pond and took his live show to Europe, touring through Scotland and England in the fall of 2015 and again in early 2016, traveling to Spain, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. The tour was in support of Small Town Dreams, which Hoge teamed up with Marshall Altman on. The collection of songs paints a vivid snapshot of the American experience.
Throughout everything he does, whether in his live shows or while creating a new album – one thing remains central: the stories. Hoge’s ability to tell stories is part of what has made him a vital force in fan's lives who have followed him across the country and seen countless shows – his songs speak to the reality of all our experiences, delivered in a way that is honest, true and ever changing.
This album contains no booklet.