Doug Hoekstra – Photo Credit: Devon Eloise
Renowned Chicago-originating, Nashville-residing musician Doug Hoekstra is set to release his new album, The Day Deserved, on April 30th via Drop Autumn Records.
The multi-talented Hoekstra has released poems and songs, and performed and related stories live across the years, featuring around the globe in publications and playlists, stages and setlists. His eight CDs and three books have earned Independent Publisher Award, Pushcart Prize, Nashville Music Award, and Independent Music Award nominations.
The always-busy creative is even following up The Day Deserved with a new short story collection, Ten Seconds In-Between (via Better than Starbucks press) in June.
The Day Deserved is Hoekstra’s first album in over a decade. Musically, the songs are diverse and deviate far from the typical singer-songwriter fare, with a nod to the likes of Cohen, Velvets, Kinks, and other folks Hoekstra tends to get compared to. The compositions flow from core band sessions, coalescing into a mix of the tight and the orchestral, reflecting rock, folk, and reggae touches. Lyrically the tunes are character-based, but reflective of the day and the times.
The LP was recorded at Howard’s Apartment Studio in Nashville, with Hoekstra co-producing with proprietor Dave Coleman. The backing band was Coleman on guitars, Hoekstra on rhythm guitars and keyboards, Chris Benelli on drums and percussion, and Paul Slivka on bass.
Big Takeover is pleased to host the nostalgic music video for the reflective and plaintive baseball-themed folk track “Outside Looking In” today.
The first half of the video clip focuses on Doug gazing out upon an empty pitch, taking in its contrasting sandy and grassy areas and fenced-in perimeter. It then switches to vintage footage of a packed baseball stadium with a game in progress, and the camera zooming in and panning over the crowds and the action. These two scenarios continue to alternate as the song goes on, showcasing both the throng of people and the individual reminiscing about America’s National Pasttime…
About the meaning behind the song Hoekstra comments, “When I was a kid, I used to go to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs, and we’d sit in the bleachers and look back at the manually operated scoreboard. The guy inside changes big metal number plates to reflect the score, and there are a couple openings, so he can see the game.”
“In Edward Hopper paintings, the windows often hold the subjects in, rather than the reverse. This character in the scoreboard, he’s of the park and the action, but apart, as well, outside looking in. I think it’s a feeling lots of us have and one I can relate to. He’s working at inclusion, but he doesn’t want to give up himself. It’s a good song to end the record on as he leaves the park, with a glimmer of hope.”
“This is the only non-band song on the record, me and Dave just handling the instruments as we went; beyond guitars, he played percussion on a mail box and I once again, hauled out the trusty melodica, an instrument I never thought I’d use as much over the years as I have. Eat your heart out Augustus Pablo and Damon Albarn.”
CREDITS
Video by Dave Coleman, Howard’s Apartment Studio, Nashville; filmed in Nashville and Chicago.
Pre-Order The Day Deserved at Bandcamp
