DOUGH HOEKSTRA > Blooming Roses

Like the title of the opening song, Hoekstra’s literate, folk-leaning songs may be an “acquired taste,” but those who have not sampled some of the Nashville-based songwriters’ wares are missing out on a delicacy. Backed by a tight group of Music City players, which includes Bobby Bare Jr., these 11 tracks are marked by lush instrumentation and lyrics that lean to the literate, feeling more like a collection of short stories. 

Label: Wingding
3 STARS

Like the title of the opening song, Hoekstra’s literate, folk-leaning songs may be an “acquired taste,” but those who have not sampled some of the Nashville-based songwriters’ wares are missing out on a delicacy. Backed by a tight group of Music City players, which includes Bobby Bare Jr., these 11 tracks are marked by lush instrumentation and lyrics that lean to the literate, feeling more like a collection of short stories. Hoekstra touches on a variety of themes, and takes tales of ordinary life and his keen observations, and paints memorable musical landscapes with them. “Gavin Geist” is an ode to a long forgotten high-school misfit, who Hoekstra uses as a metaphor for the everyman. The title cut, “Blooming Roses,” is the strongest song with its imagery of low-income housing and seeing the hope amidst this perceived hopelessness-with roses blooming where bullets once lay.