Welcome back to our Independent Interviews.
Today we meet an independent artist from Oklahoma, but very Texan: Isaac Hoskins.
Hi Isaac, welcome and thank you for your time, which for an independent artist always on the road must be very little. Tell us about yourself: where you were born and raised and your experiences before becoming a professional musician.
Hello! Thanks for being so patient wiith this.
I was born in Enid, Oklahoma but spend the majority of my formative years in Wellington, Kansas.
I attended The University of Oklahoma and Wichita State University for a short time before making the move to North Texas.
I had many jobs before having the ability and the courage to make music a full-time career in 2019.
I’ve had bands and written songs since I was in High School but In that part of the world (Northern Oklahoma/Southern Kansas) playing music isn’t really a viable means-to-an-end.
I moved to Texas in 2003 an began driving a beer delivery truck, about 3 years later I began working in bars in and around Denton, Texas.
When did you decide that music would become your life?
My best friend was killed in a car accident in the summer of 2003.
It was then that I decided to live my life the way that I wanted to rather than how other people wanted me to.
I set-out to learn everything that I could learn about being a songwriter and entertainer and put the actual wheels in motion in October of 2003.
What are your biggest influences? What did you listen to when you were young and what do you listen to now? Are there artists you wanted to be like?
My biggest influeces are, or were, doubt, depression, anxiety, insecurity, and the remedy to all of those things for me at the time, alcohol.
That and Steve Earle, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver... those were and still are my guys.
Those were the guys that made me fall head-over-heals in love with songs and songwriting.
We know that life on the road is very expensive and intense, how do you manage to reconcile your life as a musician with that of your family?
I think you’re referring to the unpredictable nature of a career in music where finances are concerned, coupled with the amount of time I must spend away from home.
I married an incredibly stong and faithful woman who has her own career and we have no children, that definitely makes this life a little easier.
I don’t make terrible money and I don’t book tours I can’t afford.
As far as being away from home, there are definitely times that I miss my wife.
More than once I’ve driven home to Texas from either coast at the end of a tour so that I could be with her as soon as possible.
Streaming is important, for example your music has even crossed the ocean and arrived in Italy, but what is your relationship with this world? Is merchandising really so fundamental for an independent artist?
To be perfectly honest I don’t think that it matters what I think about streaming, it’s here to stay.
It’s their world and I’m trying to learn how to exist in that realm, as well as many others, the best way that I can.
Tell us a little about your meeting with Taylor Sheridan and what role he had in your current career.
Meeting Taylor was pure luck, he walked into a bar that I was playing in Fort Worth and liked my voice.
He’s been a great proponent of my career as well as so many other great artists.
In your career you have played around the United States a bit: which place has impressed you the most and which one do you dream of playing one day?
Music has taken me so many places, it’s incredible to think about.
The most beautiful place I think I’ve ever seen is Ashton, Idaho.
I drove throught on my way to play in Montana a couple of years ago. Just a beautiful place.
My favorite venue that I’ve ever played? Well, technically I sang at Carnegie Hall once while in college but Dan’s Silverleaf is still my favorite place in the whole country to play.
It is a golden moment for independent music, are there any artists you feel like recommending? Or any songs that you like to listen to and that have impressed you?
My friend Billie Jo Jones is an incredible singer, she’s about to drop a new single called Flame.
If you dig on country music, you’ll dig on Billie Jo.
Another artist that I just love is Charlie Shafter.
He’ll be releasing a new record in the summer as well!
Which song of yours are you most attached to? Do you have anything new coming out? I remember writing a review on my blog Trex Roads for your «Bender» released in 2022 and being very impressed by it.
It’s really hard to pick just one song because they all serve a different purpose at a different place in time.
I think that over-all people have a more meaningful response to Concrete Life than any song I’ve ever written to date.
Considering the subject matter I’d say that mental health is something that we all should give a little more attention.
Thank you Isaac for this interview and I wish you to continue your fantastic career that truly deserves success. I hope I can, in my small way, help you to become even more known.
Thanks so much, Trex.
I’d love to come to where you live and continue the converstation!
Trex
