Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Hoke
Hi Bobby, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Being a working musician is all I wanted to do since age 12, after I started lessons. Had a school-sponsored band in high school – skipped school to practice, skipped prom to attend a concert, skipped graduation ceremony for a recording session. It seems I was obsessed!
I was hired to be a music arranger and band leader at age 19, although I didn’t ask for either job! Thankfully the much wiser singer saw my talent, and soon was thriving in both, By age 23, my love of synths and programming grew massive, with an arsenal of keyboards around me for every show..
Fast forward a few decades, and I’m still blessed to be doing what I love, and a bit wiser myself. That infamous singer and I became great friends, and still converse to this day.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
NO! (lol). Early on, the biggest challenge was overcoming my parents’ objections to my career path. But, within a couple of years they had relinquished their expectations of me once they saw that my initial frustrations become rewards and strength, through perseverance and overcoming obstacles.
Another big struggle as a band leader is maneuvering the quintessential musician persona – challenges with others’ ego, personality, discipline, addiction, self-destruction – all the things that design and destroy the musical mind. To come out on the other side a whole person is no small feat.
Later on, personal obstacles tried to shatter my dreams – tragedy, loss, divorce, health. But music always saved me when nothing else came close.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Through a lengthy timeline of repetitiveness and reputation, I guess I’m most defined as assembling great, long-running bands such as Le Cure (The Cure tribute) and Thin White Dukes (David Bowie tribute). I’m also very proud of my current work with Who’s Best (The Who tribute) and Hard Nights Day (The Beatles tribute), as well as earlier collaborations with PriMadonna (Madonna tribute), Cy Curnin (The Fixx) and Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go’s).
My love of music arranging, songwriting, and synth programming is as rewarding as ever, and is called upon every day by my bands and studio clients at Orbaudio.
Finally, I’m most proud of my past and present relationships within the music community. I’ve always strived to be extremely fair and forgiving, and I think I’m seen that way by others. Many of my music collaborators have become dear friends – the best achievement I could ask for.
What’s next?
I did set a goal a few years back to taper off my gig schedule a bit to explore other aspects of life. Problem is, I suck at curtailment! I feed off of booking that next show and conquering the next musical arrangement. So far I haven’t found anything else remotely as rewarding as that. Any aspirations of downtime seem to be a myth that I keep halfheartedly grasping for..
One change I made recently is to do more “one-off” projects – single big production themed shows. And once again strive to…maybe…hopefully…perform just a bit less.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hokusspokuss_now/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobby.hoke.1/
- Twitter: @bobbyobbyob
Image Credits
Cassie Preston, photographer. Courtesy of www.f/stopme.com
