Today we’d like to introduce you to Quinten Hope
Quinten, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up, my Dad played guitar and had a huge love for music. There was always music playin through the house. Mostly, it was Country or Blues. On any given day, you would hear Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williams and so on.
My Dad played guitar and that is what inspired me to play. I thought he looked so cool playing his guitar. I was fascinated with it… the amps, the mics, the drums… just everything about music.
Like most people, I jumped around in my room for years with a tennis racket that I pretended to be my guitar. Once I discovered Rock and Roll I was hooked for life. I specifically remember the time I said to myself that I may want to actually learn how to play the guitar if I want to do it for life.
The first song I learned on guitar was Van Halen “Aint Talkin’ ’bout Love”. It came naturally and from then on I started a dedicated journey of learning to master the guitar. I would put on records and learn by ear.
My early years of development was mostly rock guitar heros… Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai. Then, one day, a friend of mine gave me a tape of Stevie Ray Vaughan. My world changed again!! It blew me away that this guy was doing all of THAT with a Fender Strat and a Fender Amp. It was raw. It was real and it was full of soul. That spoke to me more than anything at that point. The sound coming out of the speakers was like I was sitting in the room with him. I learned later on when I started recording how hard and special it is to capture that on a recording. That is when I started to lear to play the Blues. I remember sitting in my room trying to play a shuffle like SRV. It took me weeks before I got that feel down.
Fast forward a bit and I started an original Rock band with a bass player that I met. We covered a lot of ground and that is where I saw the other side of the industry. We had such wild and crazy times and I learned a lot. After about 3 years, that went away. After the breakup, I was figuring out what I wanted to do. I want to UNT to study music.
Being at UNT was a very interesting time. I was going to classes during the day, working construction after class and playing in Blues bands at night. I didn’t go there to be a Jazz musician. I went there to become a BETTER musician. I already had a great foundation of Theory. I LOVE music theory and analyzing music. It is like a puzzle for the ears.
As far as playing the guitar, It was a time of the absolute worst playing I had ever done in my life. I was trying to sound like Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Pat Martino…. all AMAZING and ICONIC Jazz giants of guitar. As much as I love their style and playing, that isn’t what I am about. It’s not my makeup. My hero and influences are SRV and Eric Johnson… Texas guitar players!! Those are the styles that come thru in my playing and that was a struggle at that time.
I worked my way up to lessons with Fred Hamilton, the head of the Jazz Guitar Department. The first sitting with Fred was THE most important lesson in my entire life. We were sitting there, he was stroking his beard and just said, “I can’t make you play any better. We can talk about styles and licks. We can transcribe solos and study how other players approach certain changes and tunes. But YOU (he points to me) have to do the work. YOU have to get your head between the headphones and GO BACK to the music that you love and the music that drives you. You are a rock/blues player. So, BE THAT!”
I love Fred so much for those being the first words he said to me in that session. I felt free. I felt like I could be myself instead of trying to be something I wasn’t to satisfy an academic agenda. To this day, I still have that as a number one rule and that lesson applies to everything in life… be yourself and do not try and fake it.
After UNT, I was playing in different bands and then started my own band, The Quinten Hope Band. We started playing out live and building an audience. It was really inspiring to go play instrumental music and have people respond and love it as much as they do.
I was writing new material and getting ready to record again. I had Dan Wojciechowski (Peter Frampton) on drums, Will Lee (Late Night Show with David Letterman, Fab Faux, etc) on bass and Bradley Knight on keys and B3. That recording was the “Start of a New Day” project. Such a blast making that record. We spent several days in the studio making it happen. It is always nice to sit back at the end of the sessions and listen back to what we just created. So rewarding.
I continued to play live, travel a bit and write. A couple of years later, we were all back in the studio together again and recording my “Reunion” record. One tune on that project that received a lot of attention is the “Electric Gigue”. A very fun song and I love to play that one Live as well.
Shortly after that project was out there some life changes and I almost moved to NYC. But, stayed in Texas as this is my home state and home base. I was playing in Grapevine at a great venue, Tolbert’s, with my buddy Jerry Don Branch. I love playing with Jerry and we have a great chemistry and have been playing together a long time. This particular night, we had a guest come out. Alex, the drummer for that band, was also playing drums for Chaz Marie. He invited her out to come hear us and hang out.
I saw her come around the corner in her jean shorts, Chucks and baseball cap. When she got on stage and sang a couple of songs with us I was taken back. Not only did she look good but she sounded amazing! I told myself, “Don’t be the creepy guy and hit on her, I am sure all guys do that”
Time goes by and we had run into each other a couple of times. One day, it was a Saturday, I was getting ready for a gig for that evening and I got a message from Chaz asking if I was available on that May 2nd as she did not have a guitar player booked on that gig. Now, it just so happens that the gig I WAS scheduled for on that May 2nd got cancelled just 30 minutes before she contacted me. Some stars were aligning for sure!
She sent me the material for her show and as I was working on it I just kept getting drawn in more and more by her voice. The night of the gig ether was instant chemistry. It may as well have been the 4th of July because fireworks were exploding!
So, we started playing together as a duo and then in her band. She would come out to my Quinten Hope Band gigs just to hang and be supportive but I always made sure she got up and sang. The crowds love it!!
We both knew that what we have is pretty special. We went to the Dominican, I proposed and we came back and scheduled a wedding and got married.
We cut a 5 song EP shortly after with songs that Chaz had already written and songs that we wrote together. Just recently, we released a new song “Damned if You Do” and there are many more on the way this summer and fall.
At the same time, the Quinten Hope Band is still active and up and running, as well. I released several tunes with some of my guitar friends. “Shoreline” with Monte Montgomery; “Lets Play” with Oz Noy; Bomb Diggity” with Brent Mason and “C’mon Girl” written by my buddy Will Lee. I have about 7 more tunes that I am currently working on and will be released as soon as they are ready. I find that releasing SINGLES, for me. is better than trying to put together an entire record of 9-12 songs and release it all at once.
Tedeschi Trucks Band is one of our favorite bands. Derek Trucks is one of THE most amazing guitarists ever and Susan is an amazing powerhouse. We felt with our story and the combining of our talents that it is kind of like that. They both had their individual bands and sounds and then they combined the two. We decided to just call it “Chaz Marie” and make that our brand name. When you come to our shows you will get Chaz tunes and Quinten Hope tunes and everything in between.
Between writing songs, playing shows, working on branding, marketing and bookings we both still do studio work for other projects well. We stay pretty busy. It is a magical thing to be able to do life with your best friend and musical partner.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Anyone that says this business is a smooth road is not telling the truth. There are many, many, many hardships to this business. But, you have to LOVE it. If you do not LOVE it, then it isn’t for you.
You have to get used to the word “NO”. A lot of people are going to say ‘No”. There will be times when they are not going to want to book you, they are not going to want to pay you what you are worth, they are not going to want to pay you at the end of the show, they will cancel a show with no heads up and not pay a cancellation fee, etc.
You have to have tough skin in this business. People will talk about you, will criticize you, will go behind your back with venues, clients, colleagues, family, spouses. You have to keep pushing forward and stay focused on your goals. You have to have a plan and execute it the best you can and stay focused and on track.
If you are a person that likes to have everything set in stone and budgeted out with no surprises, then this will be a hard business to thrive in. You have to roll with so many changes at the drop of a dime.
We have arrived to a point to where we deal with a lot of people who are amazing people. They have great work ethics, they are great friends and the relationship knows the difference between friends and business. We work with a lot of great people.
When you are starting out and trying to build you have to go through those times of dealing with situations that are difficult to learn to see those hazards ahead. As long as you are paying attention and learning, you grow from those times. You learn the importance of well written contracts and good attorneys.
Besides the business side of things, there are the emotional and physical sides of things. With as busy as we usually are, we still have to find that time to decompress and just let the mind rest for a minute. You have to get away from things to avoid burnout and becoming stagnant. You also, have to stay physically healthy. Music is very physical. You have to take care of your body to maintain longevity.
Again, this business is more of a labor of LOVE more than anything else. If you can make it in the music business, you can make it in just about any business. Once you get a handle on the business, finances and life balance the rewards are immeasurable.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a musician, I set out to be better than I was the last time I played. If I am playing a show tonight, I want it to be better than the last. There is always that excitement of improv and spontaneity that keeps you on your toes.
My specialty is guitar. Electric and Acoustic… I love them both.
I am also a composer/arranger and producer. It is good to wear different hats.
I can get a call to play on someone’s record, to play guitars on their song or entire project. That is when I get to be “guitar player/sideman”. They can send me the files and I can record them in my own studio. Or, I will go into the studio with their band if that is what they are planning on doing. Most of the time, these days, people just send me files and I track to those and send them back.
I compose my own tunes and the music for Chaz. My instrumentals can be very cinematic. Check out “My Prayer” and “Kingdom Forever” on my “Start of a New Day” recording. I am always writing. If I am just noodling around I will hear a line and I will immediately grab my phone and capture it. The ideas can go away as fast as I played them and I need to capture it immediately so I can work on it and develop it at a later time. I have about 200 ideas sitting to be developed.
I have also helped produce other people’s songs. Sometimes they may not know where to start with getting their idea out of their mind and into the world. That is where I come in and can help with writing, arranging and getting it recorded and into the world.
I also produce all of my own material. Chaz and I co-produce on our music. I love that role as well. There is so much freedom for experimentation and the results can be very rewarding.
What am I most known for? That all depends on who you ask… hahaha. I am always complimented on my guitar tone. Fans, sound engineers, colleagues… I get a lot of compliments and people asking for me to help them better their tones.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
There are so many. The one that stands out now was just having a great family. My Mom and Dad were awesome and my Grandparents on both sides were amazing as well.
My Grandpa on my Mom’s side took me to the horse races a lot . I would stand outside the gate and he would ask which horse I liked. I always picked by name… what did I know? He would always come back with some cash and told me “I won”, even if I didn’t. He just wanted me to have a good time. And my Grandma loved me more tan life itself.
On my Dad’s side, it was the family gatherings on holidays. Everyone together, telling stories and jokes, smiling, laughing, having a great time. Never a bad moment.
My Mom and Dad were my biggest fans. Always supportive and allowed me to grow and learn to become my own person.
I am very, very blessed to have had the childhood I had.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.quintenhope.com
- Instagram: qhope71
- Facebook: quinten hope and quinten hope band
- Other: qhope@quintenhope.com
Image Credits
John Hames Photography
