Life & Work with Joe Hott

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Hott.

Hi Joe, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was about 5 years old The Lewis Family played the fair in my hometown of Augusta West Virginia. That was my first-time hearing Bluegrass and shortly after that night I discovered The Stanley Brothers and I was hooked ever since. When I was 16, I started a band called The Short Mountain Boys they were named after the mountain I grew up on. We would play anywhere and any place that would have us.

When I was 18 my vocal coach introduced me to Barbara Mandrell’s long-time manager who brought me to Nashville and started introducing me to other folks that were big in the industry. I’m blessed now to be working with a great team and a great group of musicians.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Thankfully it’s been a smooth ride, for the most part, I’ve been blessed by God beyond my wildest dreams. All the crossroads and unknowns of starting completely over were stressful and while nothing happened overnight looking back everything just seemed to fall in place at the moment it needed to the most.

The biggest struggle of all was the pandemic. Just like everyone else in this business we lost all our work, studio time, and other projects we had planned.

We also lost our label right in the middle of things which felt like this could be the end of everything and early retirement was on the way but by the grace of God, we held on through that trying time and started rebuilding once again after the pandemic started fading away.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a recording artist for 615 Hideaway Records in Nashville TN. I’m not much of a Bluegrass picker so I’d say I specialize in singing lead, playing rhythm guitar, and songwriting.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I don’t know that this classifies as surprising but in my downtime when there isn’t anything music-related happening, I’m always outdoors fishing, hiking, or just enjoying the day outside.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joehottmusic.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoeHottMusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9hQzMtSn-ooTgBHbjd4dpQ
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7oTVZB55sd1cxM7MSxfsh5