TWO Gold Patch Winners Crown Latest Episode of The Hook
Two Gold Patch winners on the same show? That’s what transpired on the latest installment of The Hook, now available in full on YouTube.
Also, amid popular demand, you can now stream the audio of the first five episodes of The Hook via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, PocketCasts, as well as Deezer and other major podcast networks. You can also subscribe to the show’s RSS Feed. Episode 6 will be posted in audio form shortly.
Veteran Air Force combat aircraft pilot Thomas M. Pritchett absolutely stunned The Hook with his incredible song “Pilot’s Lament.” So many thoughts get stirred, so many emotions get evoked by the playing of this song. Pritchett flew in the Air Force for 20 years, and recently moved to Austin, TX after retiring.
“The way I like to tell people about the song is that you fly combat aircraft long enough, you come out feeling bent, not just physically, but also emotionally. Moral injury was a phrase I started hearing getting thrown around. I don’t know that I could claim that I have that. But I have friends that do.” Pritchett said. “You come out with a lot of questions. Maybe more questions than answers.”
The second Gold Patch winner was Kory Quinn. He wasn’t the only one weeping at the end of the performance of his unreleased song “To Dream.” He was passing through Austin after touring from Stanley, Idaho, trying to get home to Houston for Father’s Day.
The Gold Patch is only given out when a songwriter absolutely blows the panel away. During the previous two shows, nobody had won a Gold Patch. Now Thomas M. Pritchett and Kory Quinn join Katrina Cain and Tuskola as Austin area Gold Patch winners, along with the handful of Gold Patch winners in Nashville.
Above and beyond the big Gold Patch winners, the June 23rd show at Sagebrush in Austin might have been the best showcase of songs overall. Austin-based songwriter Ali Holder started off the show with her song “A Different Kind of Lonely,” and then joined Silas Lowe on the panel who was filling in for regular co-host Caitlin Cannon who was off conducting her Beyond Bars prison program.
A couple of big Austin mainstays also made appearances. Matt “The Shredder” Tedder is one of the best current guitar players in town, and helped close the show out playing his most recent single “West Is Halfway Home” co-written with Silas Lowe. Ruby Dice is the reigning “Bass Player of the Year” according to the Austin Chronicle, and she was selected randomly out of the hopper and played a song she co-wrote with Matt Tedder called ”Till The Company Comes.”
There were so many other great songs, including from the first hopper pull Nick Taylor who performed his song “Heaven,” and Cory Kosel who nearly earned a Gold Patch himself with the song “Machine of My Design.” Camille Terracina, JD Combs of the metal band Viking Sex God, full-time songwriter and musician Chuck Shaw, Brandon Hudgeons, Nathan Stevens of the band Micajah, Brandon Hudgeons, Kory Quinn, and Tyler Richards with a great song called “Undertow” also performed.
The next taping of The Hook happens on Sunday, July 12th from 3:00 – 5:00 pm at Sagebrush in Austin. If you want to sign up for a chance to perform, arrive by 2:30.
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The Hook is not just for songwriters. Fans of songwriting are also encouraged to stop by. For more information, visit savingcountrymusic.com/thehook. Please subscribe to The Hook’s YouTube Channel, and follow The Hook on Instagram and Facebook.
The Hook is sponsored by Ear Trumpet Labs, Keystone Artist Connect, The Willie Bus, Mule Kick Productions, JWA Media, and Sagebrush.
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July 5, 2026 @ 10:37 pm
!!👏👏👏
July 6, 2026 @ 8:52 am
I liked this episode as well, and I thought co-host Silas Lowe was excellent in his role. As a result of the post here I checked out the episode again, and I just now noticed the comment around minute 25.30 about his buddy remarking that “our job now is to write songs that AI can’t or wouldn’t write” or something like that.
I thought that was interesting as I have been wondering about something similar, and actually mentioned it in the comment section on a recent Taylor Swift post. I mentioned how I used words in my lyrics that can be seen as having double meanings which fit both a more literal and a more figurative interpretation, and I wondered whether that might be something unique that musicians and songwriters can bring to the table so to say.
Anyway, some other lyrics I wrote might also be examples of that. I wrote some lyrics where the same words (“I know”) are used but with a very different emotion connected to it depending on the sentences that came before. I wonder if AI can produce that. The lyrics aren’t very good I think, but the idea is still interesting. I also wrote some lyrics where a story is told, with some sort of message or idea becoming clear for the listener. Story telling is a part of country music I would say, and I wonder whether AI can produce this easily. If not, that might be something to hone in on as a songwriter.
I also wrote some other lyrics, which are kind of strange as the sort of mix human experience with some words usually associated with birds. I hope it’s okay to share, as I thought it might fit in well with the comment by Silas Lowe about writing songs AI can’t or wouldn’t. Perhaps this might be an example of that, at least regarding the lyrics. They are words where I hope the listener can kind of make up the scenario or emotions involved, even though the actual words used might be seen as a bit weird. Here’s a poem, or here are some lyrics, titled “Two Birds”:
Two Birds
I flew away, or I let you fly away
I still don’t know exactly what to say
Maybe your song was too beautiful for me
Or maybe we sort of set each other free
I thought of your chirps over time
It sometimes seemed like a song without rhyme
But maybe your chirps in their entirety
Constituted a song with a beautiful melody
Then all of a sudden on one particular day
I heard your call in a place not far away
I answered back with a particular sound
At that moment, it was the best I found
Apparently it wasn’t easy chirping along
After hearing your unexpected song
Once more I wonder whether it could be
That it might just be too beautiful for me
Still, I hope to hear your chirp again one day
But, if you will, you have to chirp from far away
If I do not answer back immediately
I am looking for a better spot to hear and see
In the meantime I am cleaning my feathers
And searching for a place that better weathers
If I fly now I will likely fall to the ground
I want to chirp back when I can make a better sound
So, if you want to, you could someday chirp again
And I will likely answer back when I can
Then, if you will, you can hop to the next tree
And I’ll do the same, to better hear and see
Then on one morning when you are near
I will sing a song precise and clear
You will know it is meant for you
And I will know it is the best I can do
July 6, 2026 @ 4:24 pm
“I mentioned how I used words in my lyrics that can be seen as having double meanings which fit both a more literal and a more figurative interpretation, and I wondered whether that might be something unique that musicians and songwriters can bring to the table so to say.”
In songwriting terms this is often referred to as the double entendre. It is more common in country music songwriting, and especially in traditional country songwriting to where some recognize it as a trope. It can definitely be a strong lyrical tool. The song “Catydid” by Aiden Rackley on Episode 4 of The Hook is a great example of that.
July 6, 2026 @ 5:11 pm
I associated the term double entendre with something slightly different, and I looked it up and it might be that that is reserved mostly for the less obvious meaning being something risque or suggestive or too socially unacceptable. I wonder whether, for example, the “Katydid” double meaning of the name for a type of bug and “Katy did” would be considered a double entendre or merely a wordplay or some other term. Anyway, I thought that was clever, especially with the combination of the music composition he used, where there was a pauze at the moment the line “But Katy did” was sung.
July 6, 2026 @ 3:04 pm
I actually thought that “Heaven” by Nick Taylor was the stand-out track of this episode (up there with “Damn Rodeo” by Zac Aaron from one of the earlier episodes). That, for me, would have been worthy of a gold patch.
July 6, 2026 @ 4:25 pm
“Heaven” by Nick Taylor was great, as was Zach Aaron’s song. Hopefully they both return. I could see both of them earning a Gold Patch in the future.
July 8, 2026 @ 1:14 pm
I just started watching these. I love this. I really like how you don’t try to beat anyone down. There’s always some constructive criticism. Also some amazing performances. I really like how much thought Silas Lowe puts into his comments. The Tyler Richards EP Unwind is awesome. Keep it up.
July 8, 2026 @ 1:15 pm
Thanks for watching Robert.