Gold Patch Winners, Returning Favorites Featured on New Episode of The Hook

Can you turn a stage and a microphone over to mostly aspiring songwriters, and get better results than when you turn on your average corporate radio station, or listen to a “hot country” playlist? If The Hook is any indication, the answers would be “yes.” This is not what we anticipated when we founded The Hook. We assumed it would be a mix of pretty good and pretty bad songwriters, while hopefully uncovering a gem in the rough upon occasion. What we’ve found is a whole community of artists deserving of greater attention.

Those that appear via The Hook’s random pick process and blow us away earn the coveted Gold Patch, which allows them to perform on The Hook any time they wish. For the latest episode of The Hook recorded on September 27th at Sagebrush in Austin, we let a couple of these Gold Patch performers also comprise the panelists. Tom Pritchett has worked as a teacher in Hook co-founder Catilin Cannon’s prison program. He also happened to injure his finger recently, which has disallowed him from performing. So there was no better excuse than to put him on the panel.

Tuskola has also been one of The Hook’s greatest Gold Patch performers, turning in a host of superlative songs. He started Episode 16 of The Hook off with his excellent song about rental life called “Pecan Tree” before taking a seat on the panel as well.

It’s not just the songwriting that is showcased on The Hook. Nick Teale who made his third appearance on as many shows absolutely stunned with his fingerpicking guitar on the song “Drive You Home.” It also happened to be an excellently-written song, reminiscent of peak Gordon Lightfoot. But he really sold himself as a well-rounded musician. Same goes for Jerry Renshaw, who comes across as one of those grizzled honky tonk characters in the best of ways. He also made his third appearance on The Hook, and turned in perhaps his best song yet with “Cowboys Last Waltz.”

Episode 16 also saw a couple of long awaited returns. Cory Kosel from north Texas drove down to perform a song he said was inspired by his first experience on The Hook called “High in Midlo.” Midlothian is a Dallas suburb that Kosel lives nearby (Waxahachie), and he used the town’s peculiar name to create the song’s hook.

Marsha Craft was one of the coolest characters of the early episodes of The Hook, but had to head back to California for work. She returned to Austin to pack up her things, and stopped by The Hook to sing her song “Ruby,” which displayed incredible craft with the way she took the title and employed it in so many different ways.

Gold Patch winner Owen Salerno made a return appearance as well, singing a new song called “After The Carnival.” His father Anthony “Papa” Salerno also got an opportunity to perform, and played the song “One More Hour” that added the aspect of time into a song about death that really brought the emotion to the forefront. Sterling Cabbiness also made his return, singing the song “Hearts On Fire.”

Episode 16 saw many returning performers. But it also saw a couple of new faces. Owen Rader recently moved to Austin to be a graduate student at UT, with the secondary excuse of being able to move to a music town. He performed his song “Nomad,” which will hopefully be one of many songs he performs on the show. Larry Llodra of the band Roaring Sun also showed up for his debut performance, singing his optimistic song about turning for 40, “Everything’s Going My Way.”

Also a technical note on the episode: The reason the color looks a little weird during the early portions is there was an issue with the lighting on stage. Luckily we got it resolved about halfway through.

The next taping of The Hook happens on Sunday, October 4th from 3:00 – 5:00 pm at Sagebrush in Austin. If you want to sign up for a chance to perform, make sure to arrive by 2:30.

– – – – – – – –

The Hook is not just for songwriters. Fans of songwriting are also encouraged to attend. For more information, visit savingcountrymusic.com/thehook. Please subscribe to The Hook’s YouTube Channel, and follow The Hook on Instagram and Facebook.

You can now also stream the audio of The Hook via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, PocketCasts, as well as Deezer and other major podcast networks.

The Hook is sponsored by Big Hat Premium Cocktails and Mocktails, Ear Trumpet Labs, Keystone Artist Connect, and Sagebrush.

– – – – – – – – – – –

If you found this article valuable, consider leaving Saving Country Music A TIP.