Fred Hostetler
Fred Hostetler is an indie artist, American musician, singer/songwriter, and author who has worked with major artists including Johnny Winters, Graham Parker, the Knack, Billy Squier, Jeff Beck, and Grammy award winning producer Jack Douglas.
Fred Hostetler along with Karen Lawrence founded the highly acclaimed southern California blues band Blue By Nature. His style, while grounded in blues and Americana traditions, cannot be defined by a single genre. (see biodata)
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An iconic looking musician carrying a guitar case headed into the whirlwind of the unknown into the maze into the labyrinth of life as reflected in the different stops along the way. Destination: the Heart Radio.
“LA Music Critic Award Best Singer Songwriter 2019 ...and nominated for Best Video 2019 ‘You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know’ ”
“Hostetler embraces core values in all that he does. His music is a story line for every day life.”
“You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know… New music with a great groove. Very cool tune... ”
“ "This time the singer-songwriter crosses into social commentary supported by a hybrid soulful rock blues groove. The song has the “call to arms” sound that falls back to the mid 60’s and early 70’s, social activism style. ”
“very haunting…stays in your head” Malcom Dome, Total Rock
The song title is emblematic of our need for a river of hope to carry us through these troubling times.This ‘Avant Americana’
single asks us all to pool together, climb aboard, and catch the flow of the river of hope.The music suggests a compelling journey ahead and creates the flow with inventive textures that carry the listener on to river waters. The haunting hypnotic track and uplifting message of the lyric combine to create a mysterious Pacific Northwest ambience. Plenty of vocal work from Hostetler and Cribbs, who are the only musicians on this track as they trade off telling the story of the river.
Artist’s comments:
First off thanks to Robbie Cribbs who created this song and offered it to me to record and release. In the year 2020 the Mother Nature stunned humans. Nature’s fury appeared in the form of Covid 19 unleashing mayhem. Trying to find a way to relieve the anxiety of it all, Robbie pulled a tenor ukulele off the wall and began fiddling around. In hindsight he noted “I almost felt like thousands of voices were traveling through me in a unified statement of hope.” I shared this feeling as I wrote and recorded my parts. I have found the whole process extremely uplifting and hope many other people will discover a bit of solace upon hearing it.
“energetic, creative, mysticism in the vibes...