Will Hoge Hits Big Cities on Small Town Dreams Tour
After two decades in the music business, Will Hoge knows the key to a great live show: “The magic happens in the unsafe moments,” says the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter.
So, expect the unexpected on the Tennessee native’s 2015 Small Town Dreams Tour. Hoge announced cities and dates on the trek today, with his travels starting April 10th in Tallahassee, Florida, and wrapping June 7th in Uncasville, Connecticut. (See the full list of cities and dates below.)
The tour takes its name from Hoge’s 10th studio album, set for release April 7th. “It is the most representative of not only who I am as an artist but where I’m from,” says the singer of Small Town Dreams, which boasts his name as a co-writer on all 11 tracks. “Every song from the record is deeply inspired by growing up in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, and watching this area grow and change and become something that it wasn’t 25 years ago. . . As an artist, I’ve gone through that same transformation. So I feel like it’s literally in my blood and it all came out on this record.”
The first taste of that record is the anthemic “Middle of America,” which weaves together small-town characters ranging from a war veteran to a jilted girlfriend. Hoge, whose several cuts for other artists include the chart-topping “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” for Eli Young Band, wasn’t initially planning on including that song on the LP, but was talked into it by producer Marshall Altman.
“I wasn’t expecting to write a song for me,” Hoge admits to Rolling Stone Country of “Middle of America,” which he co-wrote with Jessi Alexander and Tommy Lee James. “We were just trying to write a great song, and as it went on, I started getting more and more attached to it. There’s always that moment of, ‘Do I want to keep this song for myself because I think it’s really great, or do I want to send it to Blake Shelton and make a whole bunch of money off of it?’ It’s a strange place to be, but I’m pragmatic enough to know that sometimes that’s the right play.”
Will Hoge, Small Town Dreams Tour Dates:
April 10th — Tallahassee, Florida
April 11th — Fort Lauderdale, Florida
April 21st — Birmingham, Alabama
April 22nd — Charlotte, North Carolina
April 23rd — Asheville, North Carolina
May 1st — Milwaukee, Wisconsin
May 2nd — St. Louis, Missouri
May 7th — Little Rock, Arkansas
May 8th — Dallas, Texas
May 9th — New Braunfels, Texas
May 16th — St. George Island, Florida
May 29th — Louisville, Kentucky
May 30th — Salem, Virginia
June 5th — Buffalo, New York
June 6th — New York, New York
June 7th — Uncasville, Connecticut