The Augusta Civic Center will host a May 3 concert featuring three acts: headliner Dierks Bentley and openers the Eli Young Band and Will Hoge. This lineup is one country music fans will flock to, and to that end a telephone interview was arranged where Will Hoge called from the road to chat about the tour. This singer/songwriter recently released his seventh studio album “Number Seven,” and with more than a decade of affecting folks with his honest and straightforward songs, he appears ready to take his talents to a wider audience, courtesy of Bentley. When he called on April 17, the obvious first question was…

Q: Where are you calling from?

Hoge: Portland, Ore.

Q: Are you out with Dierks Bentley or does the tour start later on?

Hoge: Well, Dierks and the Eli Young guys flew up to Anchorage, Alaska. yesterday. We skipped that show, we played our own show in Portland and then we hook back up with those guys tomorrow in Spokane.

Q: So how’s this going on the road with Dierks?

Hoge: Man, it’s been great. You know, we did a couple of shows a month or so ago when his record first came out — we played a show in Nashville and we did a show in New York and those were great. They were sort of smaller, just record-release shows. We did the first night of this tour in Los Angeles last week with Eli Young and Dierks and it was great. I mean, it’s three really great bands that were already friends with each other, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to have the whole thing out on the road for the next few weeks.

Q: Well, that will make all the difference in the world — traveling with other groups you know and respect. I think that that would make for a very cohesive and enjoyable tour.

Hoge: Yeah, it does and a lot of pressure’s gone as far as, ‘Am I going to like these guys?’ or ‘Are there going to be egos that clash?’ That’s all completely out the window, now it becomes more of a conversation about what songs are we going to sit in with one another on, and things like that. I really becomes a big communal good time, which is great.

Q: That must make it special for the audiences, too.

Hoge: I hope so. One of the things I like the most about this tour is all of the bands — all the musicians — are still fans and still go to shows. I want to see from the audience’s perspective, too, so you’re keeping that in mind when you’re putting shows together. It makes a huge difference.

Q: Have you performed in Maine before?

Hoge: We played once years ago in some brewery up there but it’s not a real regular stop for us so we’re hoping that maybe this’ll be a good foot in the door and we can change that. This show should be a lot of fun. It’ll be a good one for you all to get.

Q: Did I hear correctly that you wrote the Eli Young Band’s newest single?

Hoge: That’s right, yeah. I put it out on a record two or three years ago and they just recorded a version of it. It seems to be doing real well for them, I think it’s number 18 on the charts at this point. It’s really a flattering thing, I’ve never had another artist record one of my songs and it’s cool. I love their version. It’s a song I’m so proud of, and when I hear their version I’m even more proud of it because I think it transcends just my performance. They’ve been inviting me up to play it with them and when all of a sudden you see 5,000 people singing your song back to you, it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of.

Q: What’s the name of the song?

Hoge: It’s called “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.”

Q: Was that on your “Wreckage” album?

Hoge: It was, yes.

Q: When did “Number Seven” come out?

Hoge: It came out late last year — September, maybe, of last year.

Q: Are you working on your next one?

Hoge: We are — we’ve got a new project that I think will be out in July or August.

Q: Will it be another studio album?

Hoge: Yes.

Q: How long a set do you have on this tour?

Hoge: We get 30 minutes as an opening act.

Q: Well, that’s good.

Hoge: Hey, man, you can’t complain — I mean, we’re in front of a whole lot of people that wouldn’t see us, normally. I mean, we could do our own show for an hour and a half in front of 15 people, or we can some and play for 30 minutes in front of 5,000 people. We’re going to opt for the latter of those two choices.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to have passed on to the readers of this article?

Hoge: Make sure they get out of the parking lot early and come in and see all three acts and enjoy themselves. I’m really glad to be a part of it.

Lucky Clark has spent over four decades writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.