David Hodges
Encyclopedia
David Hodges is a songwriter
, producer
, composer
, keyboardist
and vocalist from Little Rock, Arkansas
. He is best known for his work with the band Evanescence
, which he left in 2002. He has also been part of the bands Trading Yesterday, The Age of Information, Avox, and David Hodges solo. Currently Hodges is based in Los Angeles, CA where he is focused on being a songwriter and producer.
Billboard 2003 - Evanescence - Soundtrack Single of the Year
Grammy 2004 - Evanescence - Best New Artist
Grammy 2004 - Evanescence - Best Hard Rock Performance
Grammy 2005 (nomination) - Evanescence - Best Pop Performance
Grammy 2006 - Kelly Clarkson - Best Pop Vocal Album
BMI Pop Award 2005 - Evanescence - "Bring Me To Life"
BMI Pop Award 2006 - Evanescence - "My Immortal"
BMI Pop Award 2007 - Kelly Clarkson - "Because of You" - Song of the Year
BMI Country Award 2008 - Reba McEntire - "Because of You"
BMI Pop Award 2010 - David Archuleta - "Crush"
BMI Pop Award 2010 - Daughtry - "What About Now"
Golden Globe Award nomination - Carrie Underwood - "There's a Place For Us"
in late 1999 and co-wrote many of the songs on their Origin
demo CD and their debut album, Fallen
. He decided to leave in December 2002 because he thought that he was leading the band into a more Christian rock
scene than Ben Moody
and Amy Lee
were comfortable with and was no longer in the group when the controversy in April 2003 surrounding the band's Christian labeling emerged. Lee and Moody announced that the band was not associated with the Christian rock scene. In 2004, Hodges took home two Grammy awards with the band for Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist.
and moved to Los Angeles, California
to record their major label debut album. The album was finished during the first half of 2005 and the single "One Day" was released on the soundtrack to the movie Stealth
. On November 15, 2005, Trading Yesterday parted ways with Epic Records and remains an independent band. Drummer and co-founder Colbert left the band in the summer of 2006 to pursue a career as an audio engineer. The band's intended debut album, More Than This, was never officially released due to the split from Epic and subsequently leaked to the Internet in December 2006. It was re-released on September 2011 on Amazon and iTunes.
Everything is Broken was released on September 11, 2007.
to produce a solo album. Hodges will be releasing a series of EPs
instead of a full length album. The first set, titled The Rising EP
was released digitally on August 11, 2009.
While busy working on his own music, David has also been writing and producing songs for various artists. In 2007 he worked with Celine Dion
(“This Time”) and the Backstreet Boys
(“Something That I Already Know”). Hodges has also worked with superstar artist Kelly Clarkson
, whom he dated, along with former Evanescence
bandmate Ben Moody
, on songs from her album Breakaway ("Because of You
" and "Addicted"). The album went on to sell over 11 million records worldwide and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song of the Year honor, a rarely accomplished and prestigious award. The song Because of You went on to be re-cut by Reba McEntire
and went to number 1 on the Billboard top 100 and became her number 2 debut. in 2008, David had a hit as writer producer for American Idol / Jive recording artist David Archuleta
and his song "Crush." The song reached number 2 on the Billboard top 100 and was the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. Hodges also wrote a hit song with Daughtry entitled "What About Now," which sold 4 million records and went to number 1. The album was the fastest selling record of all time. David took home a BMI pop award for the song in 2010. David also co-wrote "Open Up Your Eyes" and "Supernatural" with Daughtry from his hit album "Leave this Town." The record went on to sell over a million copies. Hodges made his first impact in the country world with artist Carrie Underwood
where he co-wrote "What Can I Say" from her record "Play On" which went to number one on the Billboard charts and sold over 1 million albums. David also co-wrote pop smash "Wanted" for Jessie James as well as Mayday Parade
's pop punk anthem "The Memory."
In fall of 2010, Hodges went to Nashville yet again to co-write with Carrie Underwood
, this time for the title song on the latest Chronicles of Narnia film. The song was called "There's a Place for Us." The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best original song in a motion picture.
In spring of 2011, Hodges had success with Christina Perri's album "Love Strong" in which he worked on co-writing and production of many songs on the record. Hodges also appears in the video for "Arms." Hodges also co-wrote "Circadian," "Hard To Believe," and "Rapid Eye Movement" for the new David Cook
record "This Loud Morning
," as well as "This Is Not The Last Time" for the album's deluxe edition. Also in 2011, David has been writing with artists like Carrie Underwood, Jason Derulo, Jason Mraz, Shinedown, Orianthi, Boys Like Girls, Good Charlotte, Tristan Prettyman, and more.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
and vocalist from Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. He is best known for his work with the band Evanescence
Evanescence
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide...
, which he left in 2002. He has also been part of the bands Trading Yesterday, The Age of Information, Avox, and David Hodges solo. Currently Hodges is based in Los Angeles, CA where he is focused on being a songwriter and producer.
Awards
Billboard 2003 - Evanescence - New Group Artist of the YearBillboard 2003 - Evanescence - Soundtrack Single of the Year
Grammy 2004 - Evanescence - Best New Artist
Grammy 2004 - Evanescence - Best Hard Rock Performance
Grammy 2005 (nomination) - Evanescence - Best Pop Performance
Grammy 2006 - Kelly Clarkson - Best Pop Vocal Album
BMI Pop Award 2005 - Evanescence - "Bring Me To Life"
BMI Pop Award 2006 - Evanescence - "My Immortal"
BMI Pop Award 2007 - Kelly Clarkson - "Because of You" - Song of the Year
BMI Country Award 2008 - Reba McEntire - "Because of You"
BMI Pop Award 2010 - David Archuleta - "Crush"
BMI Pop Award 2010 - Daughtry - "What About Now"
Golden Globe Award nomination - Carrie Underwood - "There's a Place For Us"
Evanescence
Hodges was asked to join EvanescenceEvanescence
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide...
in late 1999 and co-wrote many of the songs on their Origin
Origin (demo CD)
-Personnel:* Amy Lee – vocals* Ben Moody – guitar, bass, drums* David Hodges – piano/keyboard, vocalsAdditional musicians* William James Boyd Esquire, III – bass on "Away From Me"* Bruce Fitzhugh & Stephanie Pierce – vocals on "Lies"...
demo CD and their debut album, Fallen
Fallen (Evanescence album)
-Critical response:Fallen has received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic scored the album three and a half stars out of five, and named it an AMG Album Pick, saying, "The album does include flashes of the single's PG-rated nu-metal...
. He decided to leave in December 2002 because he thought that he was leading the band into a more Christian rock
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
scene than Ben Moody
Ben Moody
Benjamin Robert Moody is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He is best known as co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter of Grammy Award-winning rock band Evanescence from 1995 to October 2003...
and Amy Lee
Amy Lee
Amy Lynn Hartzler , best known as Amy Lee, is an American singer-songwriter and classically trained pianist. She is co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Evanescence. She cites influences ranging from classical musicians such as Mozart to modern artists Björk, Tori Amos, Danny Elfman and...
were comfortable with and was no longer in the group when the controversy in April 2003 surrounding the band's Christian labeling emerged. Lee and Moody announced that the band was not associated with the Christian rock scene. In 2004, Hodges took home two Grammy awards with the band for Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist.
Trading Yesterday
In 2003, Hodges and Mark Colbert decided to start a band called Trading Yesterday. The band, which at the time consisted of Hodges (vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboard/piano), Colbert (drums) and Steven McMorran (bass), released a demo CD called The Beauty and the Tragedy on May 15, 2004. Also in 2004, they signed a record deal with Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
and moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to record their major label debut album. The album was finished during the first half of 2005 and the single "One Day" was released on the soundtrack to the movie Stealth
Stealth (film)
Stealth is a 2005 American science fiction action film starring Jessica Biel, Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx, and Sam Shepard. The film was directed by Rob Cohen, director of The Fast and the Furious and xXx....
. On November 15, 2005, Trading Yesterday parted ways with Epic Records and remains an independent band. Drummer and co-founder Colbert left the band in the summer of 2006 to pursue a career as an audio engineer. The band's intended debut album, More Than This, was never officially released due to the split from Epic and subsequently leaked to the Internet in December 2006. It was re-released on September 2011 on Amazon and iTunes.
The Age of Information
In August 2007, Trading Yesterday changed their name to The Age of Information and added band mates Josh Dunahoo and Will Hunt. Along with the change in name came a change in sound, moving from more acoustic to more electronic. The EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Everything is Broken was released on September 11, 2007.
We Are the Fallen
Through 2009, He collaborated with the band We Are the Fallen which consists of former Evanescence members.Solo project
In July 2008, it was announced that Hodges had been signed by Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
to produce a solo album. Hodges will be releasing a series of EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
instead of a full length album. The first set, titled The Rising EP
The Rising EP
The Rising EP is an EP released by David Hodges, formally of Evanescence, Trading Yesterday, and The Age of Information. The EP was released digitally on iTunes and Amazon on August 11, 2009.-Track listing:#The Rising – 2:29#When It All Goes Away – 3:24...
was released digitally on August 11, 2009.
AVOX
In fall of 2010, Hodges released a new project with longtime friend John Campbell, entitled AVOX. The 16 song album features dark electronic film score for TV and Film. Hodges has commented that this is the first of perhaps more releases under the brand as his foray into film.Arrows To Athens
In October 2011, David Hodges released a new album entitled Kings & Thieves, which has 12 songs written collaboratively by David, Steven Miller, and other artists. Kings and Thieves is available on iTunes and Amazon.Other projects and becoming a hit songwriter
In 2000, Hodges released a solo album called Musical Demonstrations Part 1 and that same year recorded songs for The Summit Church's Summit Worship CD. In 2003, he recorded three songs for The Summit Church's second release, The Genesis Project, and in December 2003 a number of his songs were included on a soundtrack for The Summit Church's Christmas program titled The Light.While busy working on his own music, David has also been writing and producing songs for various artists. In 2007 he worked with Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
(“This Time”) and the Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
(“Something That I Already Know”). Hodges has also worked with superstar artist Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
, whom he dated, along with former Evanescence
Evanescence
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide...
bandmate Ben Moody
Ben Moody
Benjamin Robert Moody is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He is best known as co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter of Grammy Award-winning rock band Evanescence from 1995 to October 2003...
, on songs from her album Breakaway ("Because of You
Because of You (Kelly Clarkson song)
"Because of You" is a ballad written by pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson with David Hodges and Ben Moody, and produced by Hodges and Moody, both formerly of Evanescence. It is the fourth single from Clarkson's second album, Breakaway...
" and "Addicted"). The album went on to sell over 11 million records worldwide and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song of the Year honor, a rarely accomplished and prestigious award. The song Because of You went on to be re-cut by Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
and went to number 1 on the Billboard top 100 and became her number 2 debut. in 2008, David had a hit as writer producer for American Idol / Jive recording artist David Archuleta
David Archuleta
David Archuleta, is a former United States Air Force Airman of Okinawan stationary troops and is currently an American male kickboxer.-Biography:...
and his song "Crush." The song reached number 2 on the Billboard top 100 and was the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. Hodges also wrote a hit song with Daughtry entitled "What About Now," which sold 4 million records and went to number 1. The album was the fastest selling record of all time. David took home a BMI pop award for the song in 2010. David also co-wrote "Open Up Your Eyes" and "Supernatural" with Daughtry from his hit album "Leave this Town." The record went on to sell over a million copies. Hodges made his first impact in the country world with artist Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
where he co-wrote "What Can I Say" from her record "Play On" which went to number one on the Billboard charts and sold over 1 million albums. David also co-wrote pop smash "Wanted" for Jessie James as well as Mayday Parade
Mayday Parade
Mayday Parade is an American rock band from Tallahassee, Florida. The band formed in 2005 when members of popular local Tallahassee bands Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment converged in 2006. Their debut EP Tales Told by Dead Friends was released in 2006, and sold over 20,000 copies without any...
's pop punk anthem "The Memory."
In fall of 2010, Hodges went to Nashville yet again to co-write with Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
, this time for the title song on the latest Chronicles of Narnia film. The song was called "There's a Place for Us." The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best original song in a motion picture.
In spring of 2011, Hodges had success with Christina Perri's album "Love Strong" in which he worked on co-writing and production of many songs on the record. Hodges also appears in the video for "Arms." Hodges also co-wrote "Circadian," "Hard To Believe," and "Rapid Eye Movement" for the new David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
record "This Loud Morning
This Loud Morning
-Background:David Cook began to concentrate working on this his second album after his first major tour, the Declaration Tour, concluded in December 2009. While on the tour, he put down some riffs and lyrical ideas, and started song-writing as a band towards the end of the tour...
," as well as "This Is Not The Last Time" for the album's deluxe edition. Also in 2011, David has been writing with artists like Carrie Underwood, Jason Derulo, Jason Mraz, Shinedown, Orianthi, Boys Like Girls, Good Charlotte, Tristan Prettyman, and more.
NBC's The Voice
In summer of 2011, David Hodges song "Stitch by Stitch" was placed with first place winner Javier Colon as his first single. The song went immediately to the number 1 position on the iTunes pop charts.Representatives
David Hodges is published by EMI Music Publishing worldwide and managed by Lucas Keller at The Collective.Special projects
- AVOX - "The Fragile World" (2010)
- Arrows To Athens - King & Thieves (2011)