Sunday evening, I had the pleasure of attended the Will Hoge and Elizabeth Cook show at The Soundry in Columbia. Both singer-songwriters performed solo acoustic sets. They are listed as “Americana” in genre, but Elizabeth is probably a little more country. The Soundry is a really nice venue which I plan to attend more often.
I first saw Will Hoge at The Opry while on a family vacation in Nashville. He was introduced by Vince Gill and did a spotlight segment. Vince and his wife Amy Grant stated they were huge fans of Will. If I’m not mistaken it was one of his first Opry appearances. Will has released 11 studio albums with the latest release last year, My American Dream. Will Hoge brought his sound to the Soundry Sunday evening, from the heartfelt song such as, “Babies Eyes” to the satirical “Mr.Barnum” and “Nikki’s a Republican” to the fun story behind his Grammy nominated “Even If It Breaks Your Heart”. I was thoroughly entertained during the whole set.
I first heard Elizabeth Cook as a DJ on a SiriusXM Outlaw Country station which is one of my favorite stations. From the first time I’ve heard her, I’ve enjoyed her down home southern accent in her voice. She’s appeared on The Grand Ole Opry over 400 times. On this night at The Soundry, she brought her songs to life. She started the night with “Methadone Blues” and captured our attention with the clever lyrics of “Straight Jacket Love”, “Thick Georgia Woman” and “It Takes Balls to Be A Woman”. She captured my attention from the first song, and it seemed she was already on her final song leaving me wanting more.
For the last song of the night, they teamed up to do a Tom Petty song for his birthday. Both wordsmiths go from the heartfelt to satirical and downright fun music and anecdotes. To wrap this up, both singer-songwriters thoroughly entertained me and put a nice wrap on my weekend.
Enjoy photos of Elizabeth Cook and Will Hoge performing at The Soundry on October 20th. All photos copyright and courtesy of Frank Thompson.
Elizabeth Cook
