Jake Hoot Dishes On Plans For Recording An Album With A ’90s Country’ Vibe After ‘The Voice’
After winning ‘The Voice,’ Jake Hoot isn’t rushing to put out new music right away. He told us all about his plans for what’s next, what his album will sound like, and much more!
We caught up with Jake Hoot one day after his tremendous victory on season 17 of The Voice. It’s been a long few months for Jake, who has a four-year-old daughter, as well as a girlfriend with another four-year-old daughter, at home. Because of that, he’s putting music on the back-burner — for a few weeks, at least! — and focusing on what’s most important as the holiday season approaches.
“I think the next step is to enjoy the holidays with the family and go back home and spend some time with them,” Jake told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “As far as keeping momentum…that is always a scary thing. You worry about it…because you don’t want to lose it after coming off such a high. I have an EP that I have not released yet, but obviously, I don’t want to release it just to release it. So, I think once the holidays are done, I will sit down and we will game-plan from there. I am trying to come out with something that is really good, rather than something to just have something out there.”
Still, when Jake does start preparing to put out his music, he knows the vibe he wants. “I love 90s country,” he explained. “I have always said that’s the style I want to sing.” However, Jake also pointed out that “Better Off Without You,” the song he co-wrote and sang during The Voice finale, also drew some inspiration from groups like The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. “Those are two big influences in my music and how I write,” he said. “And I think a couple of other songs on the EP are similar — they are country, predominately, but they also have undertones of Fleetwood Mac rhythms and some Eagles stuff.”
Regardless of the sound, though, Jake said he knows that he will tell a story through whatever music he puts out. “Whether it’s an album or a single, I want to be able to tell stories and connect to people through my songs,” he explained. “[I’m not sure what that looks like] yet, but it will depend on who I am writing with and what kind of direction I want to take everything in. But I’m just excited to start working ASAP!”
Of course, Jake said he hopes to work with his coach, Kelly Clarkson, again in the future (although he promised to let her have some downtime with her family first)! He also offered up some advice to possible future contestants, and it stems from something that Kelly has been teaching him all along.
“Just do it,” Jake insisted. “What do you have to lose? As long as you are grounded and you know who you are, because in the music industry, even successful musicians have down times. Kelly was talking about it to me — if you are worth it, then your success in music will have down times, so you should never doubt yourself because of that. Your worth should be who you are as a person. So, to anybody that is debating it…just do it. It has easily been one of the greatest things in my life.”