Nashville Skyline Anne McCue check s in from Music City USA

Jim Hoke: On The Side

BY ANNE MCCUE

They are burning and banning books here in Tennessee and intend to defund the public school system. The legislature - which has Nazi overtones - has just pulled off a massive redistricting -otherwise known as gerrymandering - and there seems to be no way to oppose it. This will make Tennessee even redder than it was before and it feels like we will be the actual hub for the Far Right Movement in America. Scary times for Nashville and surrounding areas!! I hope Australia does not follow in these totalitarian footsteps. Alert: watch out for fake Christians. They yell a lot louder than the real ones and have never performed a kind act. Meanwhile, the musicians are still ploughing on through the debris here in Nashville, making beautiful music. Today I am featuring one of the great sideman, arrangers and studio musicians of this town - Jim Hoke. Jim is quite likely the musician that has played the most different instruments on the most recordings - ever. He has also released several albums of his own musical endeavours under the names of The Floating Zone and Aqua Velvet. Despite his incredible oeuvre, Jim remains an affable, approachable and chilled out guy who somehow conveys the aura of those bohemian beat poets of yesteryear. In short, he is a cool Nashville cat!

Jim, how did you find music or how did music find you?

My parents had lots of records; light classics like “Carmen Overture” and swing music like Harry James and Benny Goodman. That got to me before rock ’n roll.

What was the first piece of music that really affected you?

“Rhapsody In Blue”

What were your aspirations as a kid as far as music was concerned?

I started learning to play several instruments and my wildest dream was to own an 8-track studio. Now everybody has Pro Tools with unlimited tracks - I wasn’t dreaming very big.

How did you end up in Nashville?

My wife’s idea. We’d just gotten married and were going to move to Boston. Upon our arrival there we quickly realized the reality wasn’t like our mental picture. Lisa suggested Nashville as a place that “has some sort of music going on, doesn’t it?”

How many instruments do you play and which ones?

Saxes, clarinets, flutes, pedal steel, harmonica, recorder, penny whistle, guitar, bass, drums/percussion, keyboards, autoharp, ukulele, dobro, accordion, jews harp, ocarina, zither, kalimba.

Can you guestimate how many recordings you have played on?

Between two and three thousand.

Can you name some of the artists you have worked with?

Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach, NRBQ, Emmylou Harris, James Cotton, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, Duane Eddy, Thomas Rhett, Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Beach Boys

Memorable recording experiences?

McCartney, with the Muscle Shoals Horns on “Egypt Station” for “wow this is really happening!”, Will Hogwild for “wow this is so bizarre” - he wanted the players to focus on a piece of artwork he hung on the wall, for inspiration. It consisted of a dirty sock nailed onto an old board.

Have you mostly been a studio musician?

Mostly, yes.

Have you toured as a sideman? And with whom?

Some with NRBQ, Emmylou Harris and the cast of the “Nashville” TV show

Can you tell us a bit about playing with NRBQ?

They’re the most unique and total musicians I’ve ever been around. Their following is incredibly loving and ardent, so the gigs are more than performances, they’re celebrations of life.

Have you had a formal music education?

I’m a music school dropout of Oklahoma City University

It seems you enjoy arranging music just as much as playing?

Yep - it’s like improvisation, slowed way down.

Has the pandemic affected your workload or changed the way you work?

Very much. I’m staying out of live music venues and many studios till Covid has gone bye-bye. However I hopefully went out on a limb and booked a gig at the 5 Spot with my band The Floating Zone. I’m betting the pandemic will have faded enough by then, plus the 5 Spot is very realistic and responsible about the virus.

What are you working on right now?

Horn arrangements for a Canadian artist produced by Fred Mollin, and an album of pedal steel overdubs for Dobbie, form Of Montreal, as well as a collection of original short, cinematic ukulele-driven instrumentals with colorful instrumentation.

How many of your own albums have you made?

Five or Six with Aqua Velvet, which is mostly me playing all the instruments, plus my first album of me singing original songs, “The Floating Zone”. People have called it “folk rock” and “sunshine pop”. That’s okay with me I guess.

And do you have another one in the works?

Yes, I have enough new originals for two