Anyone who’s paid even a modicum of attention to Gary Hoey during the past 30 years knows the guy can play anything. His catalogue is filled with scores of six-string excursions, twangy surf rock, and reimagining’s of holiday music classics. Then there’s the blues. Starting with 2013’s Deja Blues and continuing with 2016’s Dust & Bones, Hoey has tapped into his early musical influences and applied his own feral skills to take the format in a unique direction. He stays in the same lane on his latest endeavor, ‘Neon Highway Blues’. This new record sees Hoey steering 11 tracks with the confidence and assuredness of a veteran, combined with the freshness of someone who’s still in the process of discovery and refinement.
With help from his friends Eric Gales and Lance Lopez, Hoey strived to put forth a strong blues record that appeals to a wide audience. Speaking on the development of ‘Neon Highway Blues’ Hoey notes, “This wasn’t a quick one to make. I really wanted to make sure this album had a lot of blues on it for the die-hard fans, along with some instrumentals and rockin’ stuff. There’s definitely a variety here.” Despite the changes, Hoey is confident that listeners will hear the growth present throughout ‘Neon Highway Blues’. “The last record was more Robin Trower,” he explains. “On this one I was listening to Albert Collins a little bit more. I wasn’t afraid to take inspiration from those guys and make it my own. I just let it rock, and let it be. That’s how I found my voice within this style of music.”
