JT Hodges

JT
Hodges
isn’t
inclined
to
offer
only
a
slice
of
his
personality
when
you
meet
him.
He’s
a
full
on,
this
is
who
I
am
kind
of
guy.
Likewise
his
debut
CD
from
Show
Dog-­‐Universal
Music
does
not
hesitate
to
showcase
all
of
the
various
bits
that
make
up
the
whole:
a
songwriter/musician
and
singer
from
Fort
Worth,
Texas.
In
case
you
haven’t
heard,
Texans
aren’t
necessarily
shy,
and
tend
to
not
hold
back.
And
that’s
just
what
one
finds
with
his
self-­‐titled
debut
–
10
songs
that
offer
up
delicious
little
slices
of
all
that
make
up
the
whole.
“Goodbyes
Made
You
Mine”
gives
a
hint
of
the
romantic,
“Green
Eyes
and
Red
Sunglasses”
the
adventurer
and
the
vulnerable
everyday
guy
makes
an
appearance
in
“When
I
Stop
Cryin’.”
It’s
all
delivered
with
a
finely
crafted
mix
of
classic
country
with
a
contemporary
edge.
The
industry
is
already
catching
on
to
JT's
brand
of
music.
Toby
Keith
selected
him
as
an
opening
act
on
one
of
his
recent
Locked
and
Loaded
tours.
JT
was
also
a
semi-­‐finalist
for
Best
New
Artist
at
the
2012
Academy
of
Country
Music
Awards.
Plus,
the
renowned
Vince
Gill
makes
an
appearance
on
JT's
album,
an
impressive
feat
for
a
debut
effort.
Hodges
wrote
eight
of
the
10
songs
on
the
album,
which
gives
you
an
idea
of
his
versatility.
He
generally
prefers
to
draw
his
themes
from
the
well
of
experience.
“You
try
to
grow
from
all
the
situations
you
have
been
through
in
the
past,”
JT
says.
“It’s
really
just
my
own
interpretations
of
those
universal
themes,
emotions
that
make
a
song.
I
want
to
ignite
that
feeling
inside
myself
or
someone
else.
That’s
when
a
song
is
at
its
best
in
my
opinion.”
Several
of
the
songs
were
inspired
by
relationships,
as
in
“Right
About
Now”
and
“Out
of
My
Mind.”
Others
came
from
outside
observations
of
people
and
their
own
lives
in
songs
like
“Sleepy
Little
Town,”
and
from
good-­‐time
feelings
inspired
by
a
city,
back
road
or
even
a
season
like
“Green
Eyes
and
Red
Sunglasses”
and
“Rhythm
of
the
Radio”
or
his
summertime-­‐infused
debut
single,
“Hunt
You
Down.”
Things
take
a
much
more
sober
turn
on
“When
I
Stop
Cryin,”
the
ballad
featuring
Vince
Gill
as
its
VIP
guest.
Given
the
romantic
themes
that
dominate
the
rest
of
the
album,
this
could
easily
be
taken
as
a
lost-­‐love
song,
but
Hodges
says,
“it
could
be
the
loss
or
death
of
someone
or
it
could
be
a
breakup.
Whatever
it
is,
you
know
that
you
will
move
on
from
it,
but
right
now
you’re
in
the
moment
of
goodbye
and
you
have
to
experience
the
pain
before
you
can
move
on.
To
augment
the
melancholia,
Hodges
enlisted
somebody
who
knows
from
sad
songs.
“I
wanted
to
see
if
Vince
would
sing
backgrounds
on
it,
I
never
thought
he
would,
much
less
play
the
solo.
I
remember
watching
the
whole
thing
go
down
in
the
studio,
and
after
about
his
second
take
on
the
guitar
solo,
he
looked
up
at
me
and
said,
‘Hey,
JT,
what
do
you
think?’
In
the
back
of
my
mind
I’m
thinking,
‘Country
Music
Hall
of
Famer
asking
no-­‐name
artist
what
he
thinks.’
If
I
never
do
anything
else,
I’ll
always
have
that
moment.”
Music
has
been
in
his
blood
ever
since
he
can
remember
and
he
certainly
seems
destined
to
pursue
this
musical
path,
as
he
was
almost
literally
raised
in
a
recording
studio.
“My
family
started
Fort
Worth’s
first
multi-­‐track
recording
studio,”
he
explains,
referring
to
Buffalo
Sound
Studios,
a
facility
that
played
host
to
artists
as
disparate
as
T
Bone
Burnett
and
Michael
Bolton.
Were
the
kids
allowed
to
hang
around?
“Oh,
it
was
part
of
the
chores!”
he
laughs.
“On
weekends
when
there
were
sessions,
Pops
would
make
us
vacuum
up
and
clean
the
bathrooms.
Once
we
were
done,
my
brother
and
me
would
be
so
excited
to
go
into
my
dad’s
audio
library
and
listen
to
record
after
record.
That
was
the
environment
that
I
grew
up
in,
from
crawling
around
under
the
console
at
8
months
old
to
the
day
my
dad
finally
had
to
sell
the
studio.”
His
parents
weren’t
just
studio
owners:
Jim
and
Marsha
had
their
own
band.
“My
mom
had
a
country
record
deal
offer
with
MCA
Nashville
that
she
ended
up
turning
down.
She
and
my
dad
did
a
record
and
the
label
loved
it,
but
when
they
told
her
to
expect
300-­‐plus
days
a
year
on
the
road,
she
didn’t
want
to
leave
us
kids,
and
she
ended
up
choosing
motherhood.”
A
few
years
ago,
JT
migrated
to
the
Music
Row
songbelt,
and
made
the
most
of
every
opportunity
and
meeting—eventually
writing
with
some
of
the
music
town’s
best
writers.
In
the
spring
of
2010,
he
landed
a
record
deal
with
Show
Dog
-­‐
Universal
Music,
as
well
as
Don
Cook,
Mark
Wright
and
Mark
Collie
as
producers
of
his
debut
project.
There
is
undoubtedly
a
rock
edge
to
much
of
the
JT
Hodges
album,
as
there
is
to
most
of
contemporary
country,
steeped
as
the
music
is
today
in
the
genre-­‐adjacent
influence
of
the
Eagles,
Don
Henley,
Tom
Petty,
John
Mellencamp
and
Dave
Matthews.
But
JT
says
it
was
no
surprise
where
he’s
ended
up.
“Country
is
the
first
thing
I
ever
remember
hearing.
My
grandmother
loved
Conway
Twitty
and
we
used
to
listen
to
him
all
the
damn
time.
If
we
were
over
at
the
house
or
in
the
car
with
her,
literally
all
she
ever
listened
to
was
Conway,
and
we
would
be
like,
‘Turn
it
off!’—because
it
was
eight
hours
a
day!”
His
mama
loved
the
early
rock
of
Elvis,
Jerry
Lee,
and
Buddy
Holly,
whose
influence
can
certainly
be
felt
in
some
of
the
new
album’s
original
songs,
like
“Rather
Be
Wrong
Than
Lonely.”
As
a
grown-­‐up,
“I’ve
definitely
come
back
to
my
roots,
because
more
than
anything,
country
music
is
character.
I
was
a
very
fortunate
kid
in
that
my
mother
and
father
raised
me
right,
with
traditional
Southern
values,
Christian
values,
that
yes
ma’am,
no
ma’am
philosophy.
Whether
you
want
to
believe
it
or
not,
that
is
a
part
of
country
music.
So
yes,
I
am
a
country
artist—regardless
of
what
else
I
like
to
listen
to.
For
me,
it
started
with
country
and
that’s
where
it
ends,
too.”
Growing
up
wanting
to
be
a
songwriter
had
a
two-­‐fold
impact:
it
made
him
hungry
to
cut
his
own
material,
but
also
left
him
with
the
good
sense
to
know
when
somebody
else
had
just
nailed
it.
“The
songwriters
are
my
heroes
and
the
backbone
of
the
town,”
he
says.
“So
when
I
would
have
creative
meetings
with
Mark
Wright,
Don
Cook
and
Mark
Collie,
I
would
say
‘Look,
I’m
all
about
cutting
an
outside
song.
Something
I
wish
I’d
written!”
Now,
he’s
realizing
his
dream
of
becoming
a
true
country
singer/songwriter.
“I
just
look
forward
to
getting
my
songs
and
story
to
the
people’s
ears
because
I’m
very
proud
of
the
record
I’ve
made,”
he
says
earnestly.
“It’s
true
to
me,
and
I
think
any
artist
would
say
he
or
she
has
no
regrets
and
can
hold
their
head
high
if
that’s
the
case.
This
is
my
music
and
to
be
able
to
bring
it
to
life
is
so
important.
The
music
I
make
is
a
little
different,”
JT
adds.
“And
I
think
this
album
shows
that.”