Larry Hosford has been making music since the 1960s, and the reason he keeps recording and performing after all these years is quite simple. “It’s easy to get into music, but I looked around one day and discovered that it’s very hard to get out,” Hosford says with a laugh. “So I’ve just kept on doing it.” Hosford has had one prolific career. He played for multiple Santa Cruz-area bands back in the ’60s and ’70s—most notably in the seminal band Snail—before going solo, recorded two albums for Leon Russell’s Shelter Records label in Los Angeles, got four songs to appear on Billboard’s country music charts, and even jammed once with Willie Nelson. But he does have one regret.
“I’m happy about everything except the way I performed when I first started being a solo act,” he says, laughing again. “I was really uncomfortable with it. I’d kind of hide behind everything. It wasn’t easy for me and I didn’t do all that great a job. But then I learned to relax and so things are a lot easier for me now.” Hosford’s most recent release, Momentarily Yours, came out in October and features 16 country Western songs with a heavy emphasis on honky-tonk stylings and wry humor. When listening to Hosford, it’s obvious that he enjoyed making the album. “It’s the country-est record I’ve ever done, just as far as the song content,” he says. “There’s a lot of retro country—stuff I grew up with in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. Just cool little country songs. A lot of them are story songs and a couple of them even feel like novels.” After the career Hosford has had, he could certainly write a novel or two. Here’s to the next chapter.
INFO: Larry Hosford will share a bill with Miss Lonely Hearts, Carolyn Sills Combo and Jay Lingo at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton. $12. 603-2294.
