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Will Hoge represents a lost age in rock and roll, and that's, well... rock and roll. His music is basic and unpretentious, full of heart and soul, and lots of damn fun. He sings about Joe Six-pack down the street, the blue-eyed girl at the end of the bar and all the exiles on Main Street: anyone who's had a heart broken once too often. There's melancholy to spare in all that, sure, but Hoge's live shows are rocking 4/4 affairs, sweat filled and high octane. And, brothers and sisters, that's what rock and roll is supposed to be. In this day of rap-rock poseurs, airbrushed teen divas and mopey synth bands, Hoge's back-to-the-roots stance seems downright revolutionary.

"Rock and roll is not at the forefront of the mainstream right now, but it never goes away," Hoge says. "We don't have expectations of being on MTV by Wednesday, but that's okay. With what we do and being on the road so much, we see there's still a lot of people who want to go out to hear a rock and roll band and see a rock and roll show."

The 26-year-old Nashville native comes by his love of old-time rock and roll honestly. His father, himself a musician, had a record collection of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Motown and Stax/Volt soul, "all the greats, and I just wore those records out growing up," Hoge says. He received his first guitar for his high school graduation, and after a two-year shot at college, he was ready for rock and roll full time.

"That second year of college, I had joined a band and really didn't get much accomplished besides that," Hoge laughs. "But by then, I'd decided music was what I wanted to do with my life, so it's okay."

Hoge spent a few years in various bands before deciding to go it on his own. He tried a few rhythm sections before landing with bassist Tres Sasser and drummer Kirk Yoquelet in the spring of 1999. One piece was still missing, however, and that final little kick in the musical ass came in the form of a man some consider one of finest practitioners of good ol' rock and roll ever. That man was former Georgia Satellite frontman Dan Baird.

Baird, a long-time Nashville resident, was at the time without a gig when he ran into Hoge at one of the latter's shows. Impressed by the young songwriter's tunes and enthusiasm, Baird offered his services if Hoge ever got a project together. Well, as they say, stuff happens and after auditioning a few pickers, Hoge gave Baird a call. Originally, it was only meant to be a one-shot collaboration, but as fate would have it, Baird, Hoge and Company has been running the roads since last April. The uniqueness of Baird's experiences in the music business - he's truly been up and down the ladder and seen it all come and go - lend a unique perspective in the young Hoge band's struggles. Plus, he's one helluva guitar player.

"It's funny because, in a weird way, we wanted to make sure this wasn't something like Dan Baird's pet project and, of course, Dan was way into that," Hoge says. "He just wanted to be a guitar player in a band, which is something he always wanted to do. It's reassuring to the other three of us that we have a guy who's been where we want to go and can help us out when the tough decisions come up."

Of course, the true selling point of Will Hoge is the man himself. An energetic performer and engaging frontman, Hoge's deep, throaty vocals have a rich, soulful quality that brings to mind such blue-eyed soul singers as Van Morrison and Delbert McClinton, and Hoge's been favorably compared to the master, Otis Redding. As a songwriter, Hoge keeps it simple and concentrates on the ups and downs of relationships. Yet, his lyricism is so sharp and his knack for melodies so developed, Hoge has the ability instantly to hook in listeners and touch on topics we all can relate to, be they the need to raise hell all night long or unrequited love in all its forms.

"My songwriting is very 'average guy' songwriting," Hoge explains. "Maybe I can express a thought or emotion that's been shared by everyone. I don't think there are any revolutionary thoughts, but that's okay for me. You just want to write songs that have that universal theme to them, those songs everyone can relate to.

"Hoge's recent success has a lot to do with his homebase of Nashville. Long known as the home of country music, the Cumberland River town has in the past few years become a hotbed for roots-based rock and rollers. Artists like Bobby Bare Jr., Tommy Womack, Todd Snider and Will Kimbrough are eschewing the negatives and trends in current rock and instead, like Hoge, they're going back to the basics: good hooks, solid, unpretentious lyricism, and just good, plain fun.

"It's starting to become one of those towns," Hoge explains. "I think Nashville's really become a melting pot musically. Not only do you have the country music, but you got soul and blues and rock and roll. Because it's such a business town, people from L.A. and New York City come in and bring in those musical influences, and it all sort of blends in together.

"Hoge is set to release his first full-length album, Carousel, at the end of January. He currently has a live album, All Night Long, but says the studio effort will be the best representation of where the band is at now. Still fairly young, both as a musician and otherwise, Hoge has a refreshingly mature outlook on his music, his career and his chances of making it to the big show. He knows what he does isn't the current flavor of the month, but that doesn't really matter as long as he stays true to his muse. To do any less just wouldn't be rock and roll.

"We've been compared to a lot of people, like the Stones or Tom Petty, and to be lumped in with all those people is great, but it's like we're nowhere near that level," Hoge laughs. "It's entirely too much pressure for a band that had barely got one album out. Seriously, it's humbling and we've got a lot of work to do before we get to that level.

"It's all about that reaction and being able to talk about music to someone who really identifies with what you do, though, and those people who come to your shows and buy your records. You find solace in that."