With his muscular, straightforward American rock, Nashville artist Will Hoge has garnered frequent comparisons to such heartland giants as Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. The singer/songwriter was raised in Franklin, TN, a rural Nashville suburb, and eventually left town to study history at Western Kentucky University. Music drew him back home, however, and he relocated to Nashville to assemble a band that included former Georgia Satellite Dan Baird on guitar. Hoge then cut his teeth on the Southern bar circuit and issued a live release, 1999's All Night Long, before inking a deal with Atlantic Records.