Courtesy Adam Hood manages to juggle the strains (and gains) of the music business and fatherhood — but he'd like a little more time for the latter.

Adam Hood hasn't given up on having a social life. He just didn't plan on having much of one in 2007, when he played nearly 300 shows across the country, including a date at Austin City Limits Music Festival. That busy touring schedule will also include a free show at Gruene Hall on Sunday, Dec. 30. Hood then hits the road to close out the year on New Year's Eve in Fort Worth. Before his gig at Gruene Hall, Hood — a native of Alabama — talked to 210SA about his incessant touring, rare breaks and balancing music and family.
 

Touring nearly 300 days a year, have you abandoned the notion of a normal social life?

I haven't given up on it yet. I keep on dreaming and hoping, but that's the part of my life that's suffering ..... As long as the trade-off is a good payoff, that's OK with me. The rewards are really nice. At the same time, it's been a long year, and I'm going to try and gear it down for 2008 ..... I have to give myself time to write and time to speed down, to rest my voice and my mind. I took 2007 and used it to pay my dues and really work. I think it's paid off.

How often do you sit home, read a book, watch TV or just chill out?

I usually spend about two days after a (tour) run, and I'll do exactly that. And when I say do nothing, I mean do nothing. I go from bed to the fridge and back to bed where the remote control is. It's decompression time ..... It's two full days of absolutely nothing. I get up and do things, but my brain doesn't work all that well.

In high school, you quit football to focus on music. Didn't that sort of buck the trend as far as the South is concerned?

It made me a black sheep, and the thing is, it's kind of still that way ..... Not to say I don't respect (football) or appreciate it, because I love football. But if it's between me waking up and playing football or sitting around writing songs, I'm going to write a song.

But then you gave up music for a time after high school to get a real job. Why was that?

I gave it up because I was going to have a baby. Well, I wasn't going to, but my wife at the time was (laughs) ..... When my daughter was born, I decided maybe this isn't necessarily the lifestyle to live. I didn't think I could raise and support a child on the income I had, so I put it aside for a little while. In my mind, I just put it down, but it's something that even if I was not making a living, I should have never put it down. I started playing again because I wanted to, and after my daughter was born, we were not making ends meet. I was talking with my mother and father about having a hard time paying for bills and diapers, and my mother said, “Why not go play. I'll buy you a PA if you get back out there and do it.” To this day, I still have the PA she bought me ..... At the time, I didn't think I could be a musician and a father.

Do you still feel that way?

Even now, with the tour schedule, it's the biggest challenge I have. Some days I have a lot of explaining to do, like why I couldn't make dinner or why I couldn't get somewhere at (a certain time) ..... It's a big challenge and a big obstacle in my life. I am a father, and I am a musician. I can't say I'm not either one of them.

Miranda Lambert recently said you were one of her favorite new artists. That has to be a nice confidence boost.

It's pretty cool. The coolest thing about it was that she did it for no reason ..... That's the biggest pat on the back you can get.

CLINT HALE | 210SA