The release show at Broadview Brewing Company went so well that Hager has released a live version of the concert that captures seven of the songs that he and the band played that night.
“I had planned to release that show as a live album — of course, as long as it went well,” Hager says via phone. Hager and his new band will play a release party to celebrate his new full-length, Rock and Soul, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Fairview Tavern in Fairview Park. “We wanted to record more songs than made the album. I wanted at least seven songs, and I barely made it even though I recorded the whole show. I was ecstatic about the show. I was so pleased with everyone.”
Hager says that after he released some videos of the show, word may have gotten out about his band members. Some of them have now committed to other projects, but Milner and trumpet player Jeff Hager, who guested at the Broadview Brewing Company show, are still with the band as permanent members.
Rock and Soul (Side A) preceded Rock and Soul (Side B), and Rock and Soul pulls songs from those two EPs.
“I also had four more songs and combined them all together,” explains Hager. “Some of them are older songs that I revamped. I rearranged the song order, so it flowed a little better. I put them in where I thought they fit and arranged them stylistically.”
Inspired by blues-based rock acts like Tedeschi Trucks, Black Keys and the Record Company, Hager, who’s dabbled in prog rock on previous releases, has adopted his own blues-rock sound.
Album opener “Miss You,” one of the songs not found on the Rock and Soul EPs, features spirited horns and a riveting blues rock guitar solo that arrives mid-song.
“My horn player Jeff Hager is my cousin,” says Hager. “He played with me in [local blues hero] Travis Haddix’s band. I’m comfortable playing with Jeff. We played the Chicago Blues Festival and a festival in France. I just put up a music video on Instagram of Jeff playing the horns with me at Stonegait Winery in Madison.”
Another album highlight, “I’m Alice in Wonderland,” a song with humming synths and a soaring guitar riff, recalls the Brit-pop of acts such as Oasis and Blur.
“That song is about a self-discovery moment I had when I was seeing colors,” says Hager when asked about the tune. “My feelings were changing every instant. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland. My feelings were going from sad to happy to scared. I was seeing colors. It created self-discovery and I thought about all my insecurities and what drives me. That’s what that song is about. That situation made me more self-aware.”
With synthesizers that recall the ones that Heart and Rush used in the ’70s, “Let Me Be Myself” has a proggy feel while the alt-country-inspired “Cool It Down” goes for something twangier.
Hager currently performs regionally as a solo artist at wineries, breweries, festivals and other venues, with regular visits to Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. He has more than 50 shows booked for 2025.
After the Feb. 1 release, he plays with his duo on Feb. 7 at Valenti’s Ristorante
Broadview Heights and then as a solo act on Feb. 14 at Debonne Vineyards in
Madison.
He’ll play Painesville Party in the Park in July with his band.
“I want to focus more on the original music coming up in the next year or two and not play as many covers,” Hager says. “I also want to expand the band more and focus more on doing blues-inspired indie rock. If I do covers, I’m trying to do tunes that match better.”
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This article appears in Jan 1-15, 2025.
