Jake Hooker

Born in 1977 in Mertzon, Texas, USA, Hooker grew up immersed in the country band his father directed, which specialized in the traditional sounds of East Texas. By age seven he had absorbed enough of that milieu to join the ensemble on bass guitar. At fourteen he assumed leadership of his own group, handling vocals and instruments alike, and within a few additional years he had established himself as a full-time professional musician. He pursued music theory coursework at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, while absorbing the styles of Johnny Bush, Darrell McCall, Ray Price, Leon Rausch, and Faron Young. Beginning in 1998 he settled in Fort Worth, Texas, where he assembled the Outsiders, a band that featured drummer Jeff ‘The Kid’ Croy and quickly built a loyal local following. In the early 2000s the group also included fiddler Anthony Wilson and steel guitarist Dickey Overbey, with Croy remaining on drums.