Duane Hoover Blazes a Timeless Trail on ‘Wayward Path’

Wayward Path

From the first jangle of guitar on “Wayward Path,” Duane Hoover makes it clear that nostalgia alone won’t cut it. The Atlanta-based musician has spent years fine-tuning a sound that draws from the bright flames of the past — the British Invasion, early rock & roll, ’70s punk — without ever getting trapped in it. Hoover is no mere imitator but an interpreter, a builder of musical bridges between decades. His latest album, released February 21, 2025, is a living, breathing statement that the electricity of the Kinks, The Animals, Buddy Holly, and Roy Orbison can be rediscovered and reimagined for today’s ears.

The album opens with a jolt on “Sorrow,” a song famously covered by David Bowie but originating with The Merseybeats. Hoover’s version crackles with energy, packing an explosive amount of life into under two minutes. The drums rattle and roar in a Keith Moon-like frenzy, while Hoover’s guitar slashes through with Pete Townshend-style windmill strums. From the very first track, Hoover sets the tone, and this isn’t museum-piece rock but vivid, visceral, and very much alive. His energetic performance proves his deep affection for these songs while injecting them with his kinetic urgency.

He keeps the adrenaline flowing with “Jennifer Juniper,” a cover of Donovan’s gentle ballad that Hoover flips on its head. Instead of pastoral softness, Hoover delivers it with punked-up bravado, channelling Roger Daltrey’s theatrical ferocity. This back-to-back shock treatment of familiar tunes continues with “Go Away From My World,” a Marianne Faithfull number that Hoover turns into a psychedelic swirl of harmonies and trippy pop textures, reminiscent of the Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows. Each cover is reinvented, charged with fresh emotion and unexpected grit.

When Hoover shifts into his originals, the album’s title track, “Wayward Path”, and “It’s A Different World” stand tall among the legendary names. “Wayward Path” feels like a lost Nick Lowe gem, a sparkling collision of pop craftsmanship and punk spirit. “It’s A Different World” gallops with reckless energy, guitars gleaming and percussion swinging loose like a night at London’s Roxy Club circa 1977. Hoover’s originals nod at history and compete with it, confidently suggesting that his musical ideas are just as worthy of echoing down the halls of memory.

Perhaps most impressively, Hoover knows when to shift gears. On “Dreaming My Dreams,” originally by Waylon Jennings, he steps away from British flash and into heartland gravitas, proving he’s just as comfortable in dusty Americana as in sweaty mod clubs. He pulls the same trick later with a rollicking cow-punk version of Buddy Holly’s “Fool’s Paradise,” ripping through genres with wild abandon but never losing sight of the album’s core identity: a love letter to timeless melodies and crackling energy.

Throughout “Wayward Path,” Hoover reinvents and reimagines songs by Nick Lowe (“Wishing Well”) and The Choir (“It’s Cold Outside”), but he saves some of his most adventurous spirit for his originals. “Come On” is a lush psychedelic pop rush, its chorus swelling like a summer storm, while “Over The Years” mashes together la-la-la sing-alongs and Yardbirds-worthy guitar riffs. Hoover’s command of melody is effortless, yet he never sacrifices rawness for polish — a balance that gives the album its emotional punch.

Closing the album, “All Over Again” serves as Hoover’s thesis statement. A blistering fusion of The Who’s swagger and The Clash’s restless spirit, it distils everything Hoover loves about music into one frantic, joyous explosion. As he thrashed out the guitar parts in the studio, Hoover admits he was “jumping around like a madman,” and that reckless joy radiates from every note. The song is a nod to the past and Hoover’s emphatic declaration that these sounds still have teeth and have something urgent to say.

Despite the litany of recognisable names and sounds that inspire “Wayward Path,” the album never feels derivative. Hoover worships the past, but channels it, bending it to fit his restless creativity. His covers illuminate new emotional corners of old songs, while his originals stand proudly shoulder-to-shoulder with them. The album becomes less a museum tour and more a time-travelling rock and roll party, where the lines between 1965 and 2025 blur into joyous irrelevance.

In the end, “Wayward Path” is a celebration of musical history and a bold argument that great melodies, passionate performances, and a little bit of danger are timeless ingredients. Duane Hoover has crafted an album that feels like rifling through your coolest uncle’s record collection, only to realise he’s slipped in a few of his masterpieces when you weren’t looking. It’s a thrilling ride through the past, present, and future of rock, led by a guide who knows exactly how to light the way.

Graham writes

Follow Duane Hoover on SoundCloud, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.