For his first single, JT Hodges has come out of the gate with a song about hunting. It does not involve bird calls or camouflage, but rather the most universal pursuit known to man. In a rollicking song that recalls a hot night in "Hunt You Down," catch-and-release never sounded so steamy.
Country fans are wanting to hunt Hodges down too, after getting a listen to this infectious summer single. Besides "Hunt You Down," there's plenty more to be pursued in JT Hodges, the Texas newcomer's alternately tender and raucous Show Dog – Universal Music debut. The singer/songwriter worked with a triumvirate of top producers Mark Wright, Don Cook, and Mark Collie, who collaborated for the first time to bring their find to the greater public. Those aren't the only Nashville "names" putting their imprimatur on this freshman effort: Hodges' co-writers include top veterans like Rivers Rutherford and Vince Gill even adds harmony and a guitar solo to one key ballad. What these insiders already know, fans are quickly finding out. Behind those baby blue eyes lies the seasoned soul of a country-rock classicist.
Hodges grew up wanting to be a songwriter, which had a two-fold impact. It made him hungry to cut his own material, but also left him with the good sense to know when somebody else has just nailed it. In the end, Hodges co-wrote nine of the album's 11 songs.
Some of the songs on this record were inspired by Hodges' own comings and goings in relationships as in songs like "Right About Now" and "Out of My Mind." Others came from outside observations of people and their own lives in songs like "Sleepy Little Town" and from good-time feelings inspired by a city, back road, or even a season like "Hunt You Down," "Green Eyes and Red Sunglasses," and "Rhythm of the Radio." Things take a much more sober turn on "When I Stop Cryin," the ballad that has Vince Gill as its VIP guest.
There is undoubtedly a rock edge to much of the JT Hodges album, as there is to most of contemporary country, steeped as the music is today in the genre-adjacent influence of the Eagles, Don Henley, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews, but Hodges says it was no surprise that he ended up in country music.
JT Hodges makes his acting debut as a lead in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie "Finding Christmas."
