DOUG HOEKSTRA
The music drives the words and the words drive the music, and for Doug Hoekstra it’s always the indefinable spaces that live on the page, off the canvas, or between the notes (as he writes in the introduction to his poetry collection, Unopened).
MUSIC
Doug Hoekstra’s instantly recognizable musical persona anchors his work, setting sympathetic narratives against understated vocals, memorable melodies, and subtle but unexpected arrangement turns. His eight critically acclaimed albums have earned Nashville Music Award and Independent Music Award nominations, a bevy of top 10 list appearances, and a longstanding reputation as a “songwriter’s songwriter” (CMJ Music Monthly). His first long player in a decade, The Day Deserved, was released in the U.S. and Europe in Spring, 2021.
What People Are Saying…
“A lot of people write songs, Hoekstra writes five minute worlds.”
Philip Van Vleck, Wired Magazine
“Poetic observations of people, places and times unencumbered by musical boundaries…folk, rock and even reggae….The Day Deserved merits repeated listening, an experience akin to returning to an art gallery several times and finding something new on each visit.”
Lyndon Bolton, Americana-UK
“Unopened is a reminder of how good a writer Doug Hoekstra is. As heartbreaking as it is often hilarious, it chonicles life, as Hoekstra’s songs also have done, with matter-of-fact honesty and realism.”
John Clarkson, Pennyblack Music UK
“Doug Hoekstra has quietly become an icon of Americana music and the Nashville scene, writing beautifully spare songs that contain genius-level observations about people… Blooming Roses consists of another eleven perfectly understated songs that incorporate elements of country, rock, and even jazz.”
Jeff Vandermeer, Amazon.com / Omnivoracious feature
“When he’s carefully constructing places out of words, and notes, and sounds, Doug Hoekstra stumbles onto something magical, a genuine secret power music can have.”
Dave Heaton, Pop Matters
“Hoekstra is a man with focus and creativity galore, I would recommend anything that springs forth from this brilliant man’s mind.”
Baby Sue Magazine
Written Word
Throughout his creative journey, Doug Hoekstra has been participant and observer, casting his stories in song, word, and visual art. His short fiction, essays, poems, and flash fiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and his first book Bothering the Coffee Drinkers earned a Bronze Medal for Best Short Fiction in the 2007 Independent Publisher Awards (IPPY). The Bothering experience also garnered stellar print reviews and signature appearances at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville and WXPN World Café’s Summer Reading Series hosted by David Dye. Hoekstra has published two subsequent books, The Tenth Inning (short stories) and Unopened (poetry). His latest book, Ten Seconds In-Between earned a Royal Dragonfly Award for Best Collection of Short Stories 2021 and was a Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist 2022
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Doug Hoekstra 