Derek Hoke on finding home, building community, and his latest album, ‘Electric Mountain’:
My name is Derek Hoke, and I live in Nashville, TN. East Nashville, to be more specific.”We’ll steal your heart, AND your lawnmower” as the bumper sticker says.
I grew up in Florence, SC. A quiet skate punk, with a love for all types of music. I was in punk bands, folk bands, and party bands. After High School, I moved around a lot. Living in Greensboro, NC, Columbia, SC, Atlanta, and central Florida. I moved to Nashville in 1999. I was finally home.
In 2004, I moved across the river to East Nashville. I was immediately drawn to the eclectic music scene. It seemed light years away from the pop country of Music Row. Places like the Slow Bar (now 3 Crow Bar), Radio Cafe, and Alley Cat had great music going on all the time. It wasn’t until I started hanging out at The 5 Spot, that I felt that I’d found my neighborhood home base. I was a frequent patron of their Old Time Jam on Wednesday nights. It was really a bluegrass night, but don’t tell the Old Timer’s that. It was a who’s who of the Nashville bluegrass scene.
On Monday’s at The 5 Spot, some friends started bringing their record players and hung out next to the bar spinning vinyl. They eventually put the record players on stage and a weekly dance party was established. It was HUGE. On a MONDAY! “Monday is the new Friday,” as the bumper sticker says.
That left a hole in Tuesday nights at 5 Spot. They’d either be closed, or have an act playing for whoever happened to be at the bar—myself usually being one of those people. What I realized was that I was hanging out with some really talented people. I thought, what if WE played on Tuesday nights?? Not a “writer’s night”. Something more. Something FUN. Something for this new East Nashville music community. That’s how $2 Tuesday was born. $2 cover and $2 pints of Yazoo beer and good music. Every Tuesday night.
Just before the birth of $2 Tuesday’s, I’d completed a collection of songs produced by my old pal, Dex Green. I called the album Goodbye Rock N Roll. It was a new phase in my life. A turning point. With the help of Dex, I’d found my musical voice in this vast sea of artists here in Music City U.S.A. And now with $2 Tuesdays, I had a weekly showcase to perform this new material.
Now that I had created this Tuesday night show, I had to write more songs. Keep it fresh.
Enter again long time friend and producer Dex Green. With his help and guidance, we’ve made several albums together over the past 12 years. The goal of which is for each one to be better than the last.
In between those records, I’d run into Dex’s friends, Doug and Alyssa Graham. Two of the kindest people I’d ever met, and who truly understood and celebrated the idea of a music community. That new friendship spawned my participation in the compilation album 3Sirens Presents: With Love Part 1. The Graham’s spearheaded an idea that brought the East Nashville community together to record some really cool tunes. All for the love of this little neighborhood of creative individuals we call home.
That brings us to my latest record, Electric Mountain. This album draws on influences that range from Appalachian folk music to Peter Gabriel classics to Bruce Springsteen demos, with plenty of futuristic instrumentals in between. Check out the album trailer below!
Recorded at the new creative space, 3Sirens, founded by The Grahams, and produced by Dex Green. Electric Mountain sees the culmination of musical friendships made over the years in East Nashville and beyond. The first single out off this album, “Wild and Free,” builds on a laid-back tempo and acoustic foundation with synthesizers, echoing vocals, and lyrics that hint at a brighter future. Listen and watch the music video for “Wild and Free”: