'Old-school country notes mixed with modern country flare': Claudia Hoyser performs Friday
COSHOCTON − Rising country star Claudia Hoyser has a voice that has been described as "yankee twang."
The 28-year-old from Fairport, New York, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the Coshocton County Court Square in the third free concert of the second annual summer concert series. The first two were Heart tribute act Bad Animals and Dirty Deeds - The Xtreme AC/DC Tribute. First Farm Friday will be held at 5 p.m. with farm animals, machinery, displays and more.
"You're going to get a little be of everything," Hoyser said of what people attending will experience. "You're going to hear old-school country notes mixed with modern country flare and a whole bunch of songs off my debut album. There will also be brand new songs we'll be trying out on the Coshocton audience to see what we should be putting out in the coming months."
This will be Hoyser's first concert in Ohio, but she's not unfamiliar with the state, having gone to college at Kent State University. She said she's looking forward to getting together with some old friends and meeting some fans she's only conversed with online.
"There's nothing like a live show. I love engaging with the audience and feeling everybody's reactions to the music and being able to read the crowd and connect with everybody on a deeper level," she said.
Hoyser's latest single, "She's Smokin'" from her debut full-length album "Red Lights Turning Green" is out now. Earlier this year, her video for "Small Town Motels" spent nine weeks at number one on CMT's 12 Pack Countdown. She's opened for the likes of Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton and Brantley Gilbert among others. She's written more than 200 songs.
"I love when anybody tries to describe my sound, but I still haven't put my finger on exactly what it is and I think that's something that makes it unique. I've been told I have a 'fingerprint sound' in that it's not like anybody else," Hoyser said. "I'm not trying to sound like anyone else. As a country singer from upstate New York, I just kind of have a sound of my own."
She's also an artist who knows the importance of diversification as Hoyser has her own brands of coffee and coffee flavored whiskey and the interview show "Fired Up Live with Claudia Hoyser" which has featured guests such as Pam Tillis, Mark Wills, Jeannie Seely, Deanna Carter and others.
Her career started in 2017 while still in college and a friend studying videography wanted her to perform in a video. This led to her recording a song at GFI Studios for the video. More songs followed from there along with touring. Hoyser said much of her career seems to have happened organically where an opportunity popped up and she grabbed it.
"It's amazing how one thing can turn quickly into the next and they all bridge together so well," Hoyser said on her diverse career so far. "It's amazing that people can be drinking my coffee out there and sending me videos and pictures of them having a morning cup of coffee listening to one of my new singles or having a whiskey with their friends at night and jamming out to the album."
When asked where she sees herself in five years, it's not with an armful of Grammy Awards and ruling the Billboard charts. It's doing what she is now, but hopefully on a grander scale. Hoyser would love to tour internationally.
"I would love to be traveling as much as possible and always performing for new audiences and then going back and saying hello to a bunch of friends we've made along the way," she said.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Claudia Hoyser will perform as part of Coshocton summer concert series
