Will Hoge gets nominated for a Grammy during Chapel Hill show

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Photos by Kevin Norris

Wednesday night brought Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoge's Let Me Be Lonely solo tour to Local 506. It was a partially seated show which is something I'd never seen in the small Chapel Hill club before.

After a few quirky and impressive tricks from local magician Michael Casey (aka Magic Mike), Hoge took the stage to play a career-spanning set, including quite a few audience requests.

Older songs like "(Pretty Sure) I'm Over You," "Hey Tonight" and "Heartbreak Avenue" were fantastic inclusions that don't make full band sets as much these days. On the other end of his timeline, Hoge played a few new songs that will be on a new album to be released sometime in 2013. The upbeat song "The Bad Old Days" about the rowdy days of being young and in a band sounds like it will be quite a groovy rock n roll number when fleshed out by a full band.


Toward the end of the set, Hoge played the fantastic "Even If It Breaks Your Heart," a song that got him nominated for a songwriting Country Music Award earlier this year after Eli Young Band's version of the song topped the country charts. After closing out the set with "The Highway's Home" and "Washed By the Water," Hoge returned to the stage to inform the crowd that while he was playing "Even If It Breaks Your Heart," his manager was informed that the aforementioned country version of the song had just earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. The crowd leapt to its feet cheering, and to celebrate the news, Hoge played the song again as everyone sang along enthusiastically.

He closed the evening with "Pocket Full of Change," a fitting choice since it's about how his own music was not accepted by music industry folks in Los Angeles. After the show Hoge did his usual rounds of meeting with every fan who wanted an autograph or photo. He did take a moment to talk to his parents on the phone, who must have be elated to hear the Grammy news.

It was a great evening of music, but to share in such exciting news with an artist who has worked so hard for so many years is what will make the evening unforgettable.

Set list
Silver or Gold
Better Off Now (That You're Gone)
(Pretty Sure) I'm Over You
When I Can Afford to Lose
Hey Tonight
The Bad Old Days
Baby Girl
(new song)
Carousel
Jesus Came to Tennessee
The Wreckage
Let Me Be Lonely
No Man's Land
Don't Believe in You
Heartbreak Avenue
Even If It Breaks Your Heart
The Highway's Home (w/ I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry)
Washed By the Water
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Even If It Breaks Your Heart
Pocket Full of Change