“The Hook” Has Successful Test Run, Sets Next Show Sept. 29th

Monday, September 29th will be the next installment of “The Hook”—a songwriting showcase featuring established songwriters, and ANYONE else who wants to sign up for an opportunity to perform their unreleased song in front of an audience and film crew. The event is FREE, and open to both songwriters and anyone who wants to listen to some great songs.

The show will take place at Eastside Bowl in Nashville at The ’58 room from 7:30 to 9:30. Those looking to sign up to perform should get there at about 7:00 and bring their guitar if possible.

September 1st saw the final test run of The Hook, and proved this bird can fly. The show started off with Alabama-born and Nashville-based singer/songwriter Victoria Camp. She turned in a killer version of her unreleased song “Jonesin’.” Camp is just the kind of songwriter The Hook looks to highlight as she pays her dues performing nightly on Lower Broadway, and preps her debut album. Camp also helped kick off the very first test run of The Hook at Joelton Hardware north of Nashville during CMA Fest in June.

Along with turning in a stellar performance, Victoria Camp also officially became The Hook’s first “Golden Patch” winner, meaning she can come back any time and perform a song on the show. Songwriters earn that distinction when they turn in a superlative performance and song. Victoria Camp has done that twice now. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world gets clued into her talent.

Victoria Camp would not be the only one bestowed with the Golden Patch honor on the evening. Country music artist Jami Grooms appeared and performed his song “The Night I Killed Myself.” With a title like that, Jami Grooms had to deliver, and that’s exactly what he did. It was one of those songs that The Hook was founded to find out in the wild. According to Grooms, the song been on “hold” by numerous big performers. Hopefully someone eventually cuts it and brings it to the masses.

Cody Tinnon might be best known as the bass player for the Stillhouse Junkies, but he’s in the midst of launching a solo singer/songwriter career and just recently moved to Nashville. These are the kinds of just-to-town songwriters The Hook hopes to give a platform to. Tinnon performed a great tune called “Treeline” about having to scramble down the mountain during a lightning storm. Of course, the song is also a strong metaphor, and Tinnon walked away with a silver patch.

Songwriter Paul Orehovec who performs under the name Poor Life Choices played a song about the unfortunate scenario of having a husband or boyfriend wanting to fight you after a show because the wife or girlfriend becomes smitten—apparently a more common scenario for performers in Nashville than you might think.

Afton Wolf performed the song “I Deserve To Be Forgiven” that earned him a silver patch. He has a new album coming out on November 30th called Ophiuchus for when the Sun enters the eponymous constellation Ophiuchus. He delivered one of the more involved and entertaining performances of the night.

Other performers included Joel Shewmake, who performed an unreleased song called “Wildflower,” inspired while doomscrolling on TikTok. Nashville via California songwriter KP Hawthon also performed ahead of the release of her most recent album Til The Glitter End, and Elise Meschery who also acted as the “wrangler” on the night performed “Love Can Build a Paradise.”

Along with the live show, a full production crew was on site to capture all the moments. Though the video portion turned out excellent, the audio presented some challenges. But that’s okay; that was the reason it was a test run. Perhaps at some point in the future the audio can be cleaned up for release, and the full show can see the light of day. But now all the kinks have been worked out for September 29th when the pilot episode will be shot.

The Hook is hosted by Kyle “Trigger” Coroneos and songwriter Caitlin Cannon. For more information on The Hook, visit savingcountrymusic.com/thehook.