Big Hoke is the namesake for all of Justin Gorski's original material.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

T. Lane on percussion and drums. I have played in groups with Tim since the early 2000's. His love of 70's jazz and fusion bring much to the table. 

Ed Stephens on bass. Ed played on my first release in 2000. Ed plays with Ringworm! Ha! But Ed's upright playing is amazing. He's one of the only guys I know that is that versatile and that simply loves music. He doesn't just play one style.

Raymond Flanagan on guitar- electric/slide/acoustic. Ray has been playing the Cleveland scene for a while now and is finding his own voice. I love Ray's attitude and he has a great feel.

Curtis Leonard on guitar- electric/slide/acoustic. Curtis has been playing Cleveland forever too! I met him years ago playing an impromptu jazz party. He was amazing then and still is now. He is tasteful and caring. He and Ray play off one another nicely and know when to be quiet.

Revolution Brass Band- horn section. Jake Winne and his crew (T. Lane plays drums with these guys too) are the best horn section in Cleveland. They have been doing the New Orleans thing for years and are the perfect ensemble for this project.

Chris Yohn on fiddle. Chris played bass on and off in an Americana group I was in named the Whiskeyhounds and later The Magpies. I thought he was the best bass player we ever had! He plays fiddle now with The Boys From County Hell (a Pogues tribute band). I've always admired his playing- again, tasteful stuff!

Elizabeth Smith & Nicole Posar on backing vocals. These two young ladies are a part of my family. They have been singing with groups for years and are kind enough to lend me their talents with this band. I have never worked with them before, but am looking forward to singing with them!

Justin Gorski on piano, accordion and lead vocals. I've been playing over 35 years now. It's just a joy to be able to get out and play music that I love with the people that I love. It's going to kick ass.

For starters, what bands were you a part of prior to Big Hoke? How long has Big Hoke been around?

I started out playing when I was five. I was doing cocktail hours and church meetings and masses as well as playing with a traditional Irish group by the age of 14. I love the traditional Irish music- great history, story telling and musicianship. I went to the University of Dayton where I studied for a Music Performance degree in Piano and played in jazz bands and jam bands. One of the most funny band names I was in was called Gulliver's Traveling Medicine Show! Ha. I played with them through college and a few years after that too.

I was able to bring my own songs them and they were up for anything musically, so it worked out great. I moved back to Cleveland in 2000 and starting working on Big Hoke material then- I was really into Tom Waits at that point and put out my first Big Hoke release entitled "My Last Date". But I continued to play with bands.

I went on tour with singer/songwriter Mike Jantz. We got a dozen or so gigs playing with the Brian Wilson/Paul Simon tour. That was a ton of fun. I also started playing with a Jazz/Boogie band called The Madison Crawl. I just love all that Louis Jordan stuff! During all this time I continued to work on my own material putting out two other Big Hoke albums- "The Black Album" and "the top". Both totally different in production styles. It was fun to find my voice through these projects. I quit the Madison Crawl to join up with The Whiskeyhounds around 2005 or so. We toured the states.

All DIY stuff. I didn't work too much on the Big Hoke stuff there because I was writing and arranging with those guys at the time. We changed our name to the Magpies soon thereafter and I continued to work with them and put our several albums there too. After we broke up I started another Hoke album but didn't finish it for another 7 years or so- I had started a new business and a family, so playing music took a back seat!

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed names before?

Names have always been a little tough for me although Big Hoke came easy! I was sitting one day listening through some rough mixes and I was feeling a little down. You'll find that you go through a range of emotions when listening to your own material on a consistent basis! Anywho...I found myself saying to myself "this is the hokiest (is that even a word??? HA!) shit I have ever heard!" Then it hit me. BIG HOKE! HA! It just stuck from then on. It also has sort of a Americana/country/roots vibe to it that I love. It's also unique as hell!

What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

Themes and topics for the material on all of my albums have evolved from project to project, year to year, etc... It's damn near impossible to stay the same person and play the same stuff. If you are an artist you are constantly rethinking what is going on around you and inside you. Now sometimes that takes a few years to move through, but you eventually do. I take those topics/themes and do my best to put words and music to them. I find that all the songs I write have a personal connection to me.

They all have something to do with what I have gone through. I'm just trying to make sense of what is going on inside me. I also found from an early age that playing music is cathartic. I need that shit. And if you're able to write a song yourself and play it, that takes that feeling to a higher level. It's healing stuff and I'm glad other people enjoy it as well.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

I listen to all kinds of shit now. I always loved the Who and Floyd- I grew up in house with 8 people in it, so I was always getting hit with Big Band era, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, Genesis, as well as stuff I was hearing on the radio in the 80's/90's. I was listening to Blood, Sweat and Tears at the age of ten! Ha! It didn't it was weird at the time, but it was! I also love The Band, Dylan, John Prine- classic singer songwriters. My brother loved NRBQ and I've looked up to them since I was in my teens- in fact that was one of the first shows I ever went to at the Agora in Cleveland! But now I'm open to latin jazz, old psychedelic stuff, Vivaldi, polkas, Tower of Power, Bowie, George Harrison, The Staple Singers, Randy Newman. I mean the list goes on and on. There is so much music out there, man. My God!

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start playing music?

I think those NRBQ shows I used to go to in the 90's on the East Side of Cleveland really made a huge impression. I don't know if you are familiar with them, but they were the best bar band EVER. They had a quirky, goofy sense of humor and were some of the best musicians I had ever seen! They would blow through rock-a-billy numbers and then play some Sun Ra and then bring puppets of themselves out on stage and do a rendition of "Mellow Yellow".

You couldn't make this shit up! It was so goddamn entertaining you never wanted them to stop. They would tear the roof off the place!!! I was lucky- I was able to see them with the best line-up they had- Terry Adams, Tom Ardolino, Joey Spampinato and "Big" Al Anderson. Those guys also wrote material too- I love their album Workshop and Tiddlywinks.  

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Never been asked this one! I never used to do anything, really. Maybe besides have a few beers. As I get older I appreciate and acknowledge that the place where I am at does effect the show. Over the past ten or so years I have been meditating on a daily basis and doing yoga/working out several times a week. This helps me stay in a good place no matter what the hell is thrown at me. For the recording I meditated beforehand. This helped out a ton! It's good to free your mind before diving in.  

What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Going on that Brian Wilson/Paul Simon Tour in the 2000's was amazing! We got to see/hear all of the sound checks and hang out with the band a few times. We even got to eat with them a few times. Now Brian and Paul weren't around, but we had a great time. I also loved working with Gordy Quist of the Band of Heathens on this last record. I met Gordy years ago while I was touring with The Magpies. He has amazing insight to songwriting as well as patience. He taught me quite a bit while I was recording this record in Austin last Summer. 

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

The Band. They had a hell of a good time on and off the stage. Period! No, it would have been fun just hanging out with those guys and talking shop. They seemed like real people just going out there and playing music they believed in. That's what I'm trying to do- create real music for real people.

I think The Who would have been a baddass time too- I still get pumped up listening to Live at Leeds. I always loved Pete's songwriting and Keith Moon man...FUCKING KEITH MOON!!!! Love that guy. What an energy. Now that I think of it, I would have loved to go on the road with those early rock n' roll bands- Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins.

I still feel an energy with those recordings to this day- it must have been wild playing that stuff in front of people who were hearing it for the first time. I could go on...and I will! How about Willie Nelson and the Red Headed Stranger Tour? Frank Zappa and the Mothers- that would have been mind blowing! Sitting in with Oscar Peterson on the road in the 60's would have blown my mind.

Listening in to Bill Monroe or hanging out backstage with Bob Seger. I love all this stuff, man. And now that I'm getting going I would have fallen apart to be on a bill with Louis Armstrong. I still love listening to his stuff. Oh, and Tom Waits- I think he went out on the road for his earlier stuff. That would have been my favorite time to be playing with him.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just a thank you for taking the time to listen to this record. This took about 8 years to conceive and finish and it really means the world to me. I feel it's the best work I've ever done and am extremely proud of it. Big thanks for helping me out!!!