Whitesnake and Trans-Siberian Orchetrsa guitarist Joel Hoekstra went on Side Jams with Bryan Reesman recently to talk about his love for basketball. Many people know that he plays in an annual basketball game between the “Rockers” and the “Cruisers” on the Monsters of Rock Cruise. It actually began with Hoekstra just wanting to play one-on-one with different guests on the cruise, but it soon evolved into something bigger.
“My Bloody Mary Hangover Jam set has become a tradition,” Hoekstra told Side Jams. “One of the mornings I give away free Bloody Marys to everybody that comes, and I give away free merch between every song. I'm like the Santa Claus of the cruise at 10 in the morning. I get everybody buzzed and play some fingerstyle acoustic guitar before we start bringing people up and rock out a bit. That was a tradition, and while I was on the boat I started playing some people one-on-one in basketball, and I noticed that we developed this special bond. They were more thrilled with that than they were necessarily going to any of the shows. So I went in to [see] Larry Morand, the guy who runs the cruise and is a dear friend of mine, and said, ‘Hey, I think we should do a thing where people can sign up to play me one-on-one and make this a thing.’ So he said, ‘Well, that sounds like a good idea.’ As it led into year one, what happened is a lot of the rockers started to hear about this and said ‘I want in.’ Next thing, they were telling me Richie Kotzen wants in and Jeff Scott Soto wants in. I think the first year we did it we had four-on-four, half court, and the rockers came out on top. We won, but it was very informal, just street clothes. Whatever you had, your gym outfit. And then we followed it up the next year. Joe Wright, who runs Wright Rock merch, made uniforms for everybody, and we did the Rockers versus the Cruisers full court. We thought, ‘All right, we're getting serious here now’. Then it was a couple years off due to COVID and then this year we resumed. And the rockers have won all three times I'm proud to say.”
Hoekstra loves playing basketball with fans. “It just reduces everybody to being what we are, human beings,” he said. “There's not this divide between ‘this guy's in a band and this guy's not.’ It’s just people hanging out shooting baskets. That's the way it really should be.”
The guitarist also told Side Jams when he was a kid he wanted to be a pitcher and would practice incessantly with a friend who would act as a catcher, and he would also pitch against his garage.
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pitcher,” said Hoekstra. “I was really, in my Little League, the top pitcher, because that's all I used to do. I used to throw the ball all day. I'd pitch against my garage, and I pitched to my friend who would be the catcher. My team won the World Series a couple of times. I was definitely in love with that when I was a kid. That was what I wanted to do prior to guitar. Then as it worked out, everybody else started to grow before me and I started to be less good at baseball. Right at that time, I discovered rock and guitar started up, so suddenly I had a new love and something I knew I wanted to do with my life.”
When asked if he was wary of basketball injuries affecting his guitar playing, Hoekstra admitted that was why he stopped shooting hoops in games for a long time. He would shoot on his own for fun and post videos on social media to share with fans.
“That's where fans kind of saw this other side of me and got a kick out of it,” said Hoekstra. “Actually, I broke this [right] pinkie on a Whitesnake tour. I didn't know it was broken at the time. I played in a game and I went, ‘Oh man, my finger hurts,’ but it still had all the movement. So I just iced it, and I thought this is a jam or it's like a sprain. I just didn't in any way or shape or form think I broke it, but it never healed properly so I obviously broke it. I kept playing the gigs. On the right hand, sometimes I tap or sometimes I hybrid pick, where I'll use the pick and the fingers, and I could still do everything. What was weird was it was broken, and now obviously it’s all messed up. I can't straighten that. But it was never enough to really alter the gigs in any way, shape, or form. I just kept doing the tour.”
Hoekstra recently announced the upcoming third release from his solo project, Joel Hoekstra's 13, entitled Crash Of Life, on June 16.
Crash Of Life introduces a new talent into the fold as Girish Pradhan (Girish And The Chronicles, The End Machine) takes on lead vocal duties on the album.
The new single from the album, "Torn Into Lies", is out today. Watch a music video for the track below, and pre-order/save Crash Of Life here.
As with the previous two albums, the all-star cast of bassist Tony Franklin (Blue Murder, The Firm), drummer Vinny Appice (Last In Line, ex-Dio, Black Sabbath), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Sons Of Apollo, Black Country Communion) contribute their immense musical talents. And, as he did on the last record, vocalist Jeff Scott Soto also lends a helping hand with background vocals.
Hoekstra once again handled the bulk of the creative process, overseeing production, songwriting, and arranging (music and lyrics) for this stunning hard rock record. Chris Collier returns and does a masterful job mixing and mastering here as well.
New York City based guitarist Joel Hoekstra currently plays for Whitesnake and Trans Siberian Orchestra. He is also a member of Revolution Saints with Deen Castronovo (Journey) and Jeff Pilson (Foreigner, The End Machine, ex-Dokken) and Iconic with Michael Sweet (Stryper), Nathan James (Inglorious), Marco Mendoza (ex-Journey, The Dead Daisies), and Tommy Aldridge (Whitesnake, ex-Ozzy Osbourne).
Additionally, Joel is also well-known for his work with Cher, Night Ranger, the Broadway show Rock of Ages, his fill in work with Foreigner, annual sets on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, recording projects like VHF and his acoustic shows with Brandon Gibbs. He is also a frequent columnist for Guitar World Magazine.
Crash Of Life tracklisting:
"Everybody Knows Everything"
"Crash Of Life"
"Damaged Goods"
"Torn Into Lies"
"Far Too Deep"
"Not Tonight"
"Over You"
"I Would Cry For Love"
"Don't Have Words"
"Find A Way"
"You're Right For Me"
"Through The Night"
"Torn Into Lies" video:
"Far Too Deep" video:
Lineup:
Joel Hoekstra - Guitars
Girish Pradhan - Lead Vocals
Vinny Appice - Drums
Tony Franklin - Bass
Derek Sherinian - Keyboards
Jeff Scott Soto - Backing Vocals
