‘Strong’ man Will Hoge stands his ground

March 12, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

Tired of jumping through hoops to please everyone but himself, singer-songwriter Will Hoge is happy to report his feet are firmly planted on the ground.

The impetus for such contentment is the gravitational pull of his latest effort “Never Give In,” which was self- released on his own label Cumberland Recordings.

“The making of the record is always the same thing, just trying to get to the core of the songs and stories and performances,” said Hoge, calling from Nashville. “As far as putting the record out, we met with big and small labels, rock labels and country labels. We got good response from really all of them, but the thing I wanted to do was work AAA [adult album alternative] radio, rock radio and country radio.

“Everybody says this is what they want to do, but when you really put it in front of them, they say, ‘That will never work. You can’t do that.’ And I said, ‘Well then, I’ll start my own label.’ That’s what we’ve done, and it’s worked better for me than anything else that we’ve ever done in any other label situation, ever.”

What Hoge didn’t realize at the time was he was about to be presented with a golden opportunity that had he been affiliated with any of the small or big labels may not have come to fruition.

Months after Hoge finished recording “Never Give In,” he was still writing when he penned the song “Strong.” His initial intention was to keep it in the hopper as the centerpiece for his next album; however, fate had other ideas. Late last June, two days after he wrote “Strong,” his publisher played it for Chevy representatives looking for a song to build around their Silverado television campaign.

Less than a week later, Hoge found himself filming a video. The truck commercial debuted a few days later with “Strong” released as a single and added to the “Never Give In” track listing.

In addition to being paid for the commercial use of his song, the publicity far exceeded any marketing budget he would have been given at any major label.

“It’s just amazing,” Hoge said. “I think at this point we sold almost 250,000 singles on that song, and that’s pretty unheard of for an independent project. A lot of that is people would see it on the commercial, hold their phone up and Shazam it. ... When you’re in the independent world like me, it’s a paradigm shift in a lot of ways.”

Another impressive career shift for Hoge took place in 2012 when the Eli Young Band covered his previously recorded song “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.” Not only did that track become a No. 1 platinum-selling hit, but it received nominations for the 2013 Grammy Award Country Song of the Year, 2013 ACM Song of the Year and 2012 CMA Song of the Year.

Invariably, Hoge, who co-wrote two songs on the Eli Young Band’s new CD “10,000 Towns,” is the type of artist who fits in so many different boxes that many folks simply never give him the time of day because they can’t pigeonhole him.

“My first album, I was told too country for rock and too rock for country, and I’ve heard that every record since. I feel like having my feet kind of firmly planted in two or three of those things is just naturally what I do.”