Will Hoge at Rhythm & Brews

The Will Hoge of today is a product of the musicians who influenced him, but even more than that, he’s a product of his father’s ears.

“My introduction early on was through his record collection, and he’s got a great taste in music,” the Nashville-based singer/songwriter said. “Growing up in the ’80s, there was a lot of really bad music to listen to, and not even on purpose, he shielded me from being exposed to those artists.

“I’m a product of all those things I grew up loving.”

By the time Hoge was performing live at 17, he’d passed over the dregs (hair metal) and soaked in the work of stalwarts of soul, rock and country such as James Brown, The Rolling Stones and Hank Williams. The end result of that cocktail is an emotive brand of music that he hopes conveys a bit of honesty, he said.

“Obviously, I’ve not lived every single second of every character I’ve written about, but I’ve lived the majority of them and know the people who have lived the others,” he said. “There’s so much music out there for people to latch on to at this point, and there’s a lot of bad music out there, too.

“So when you find something where the guy or girl is laying themselves bare and telling you stories and letting you in on how they feel about things, people respond to that, and not just once. They’ll continue to come back and buy your other albums and see your show again, which is, ultimately, what we’re after.”

Convincing people of the honesty of his lyrics is what keeps Hoge, a career musician if ever there were one, on the road for a back-breaking annual schedule of more than 200 dates and nearly an album a year since 2000. Wednesday, he’ll try his hand at winning the confidence of the Scenic City at Rhythm & Brews.

“Longevity has always been the goal of this thing — to be 25-30 years down the road and still playing — and the only way to do that is to convince people with every album to give you a shot,” he said.