Acclaimed guitarist Joel Hoekstra—best known for his impressive tenure with Whitesnake, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Night Ranger—recently shared some candid advice for young players looking to break into the music industry.
Speaking with Guitar World, Hoekstra was asked what he would tell his younger self if he could go back in time. Reflecting on his humble beginnings in the Chicago suburbs, the guitarist explained that he never expected to reach the heights he has today:
“We were poor, quite frankly. We had no money. We grew up in a blue-collar area, the suburbs of Chicago, where none of this was supposed to happen for me, like literally none. So, for me to get to the point where, through hard work and, I guess, a bit of luck, you find yourself able to do some great things… And then, in a way, I’m playing with house money, but in a way, I wanna see how far it can all go. So I just keep pushing and hope for the best. But that being said, I know my limitations as a guitar player and I know my fortes, I suppose. I just try to work at music every day and see where it all takes me.”
He went on to emphasize that choosing a career in music requires accepting financial instability. However, he also noted that modern technology has made it easier than ever for dedicated artists to make a name for themselves, regardless of their location:
“I’ve never really had any grand plan beyond being a professional guitar player. As funny as that sounds, for the guy that ended up on stage with Whitesnake throwing shapes with the long hair and everything like that, the most important thing for me was to make a living with my guitar. That’s what I set out to do as a kid. And I committed to poverty for that. I went, like, ‘Okay, I’m probably gonna be poor the rest of my life.’ But you have to have that ability, I think, to get into music. If you’re getting into music to make money, man, you have a hole in your head, man, ’cause you could like get any other job and work much, much easier hours and have a nice, clear path to do so, where music is like the Wild West, I think. It’s, like, anything can happen at any point in time. So just that it’s possible through hard work. And I think that should definitely ring true for any younger players out there now. Especially with the Internet, the world has shrunk. You can get your music out to anybody, and home recording has gotten to the point where you can make a professional record right there where you are. So I don’t care where you are — if you’re located in a more rural area, if you still have the ambition to reach out to name players and try to expand your name, and obviously things being in the digital domain like they are, you never know where that can take you.”
Fans eager to hear more of his fretboard mastery won’t have to wait long. Joel Hoekstra’s 13, his solo project, is set to release its fourth studio album, From The Fade, on February 27 via Frontiers Music Srl.
True to form, Hoekstra has recruited a powerhouse lineup of hard rock and heavy metal veterans to back him up on the new record. The elite roster includes drummer Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Dio), bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder), keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Sons Of Apollo), and rising vocal star Girish Pradhan (Girish And The Chronicles, The Nail).
