Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Hortillosa.
Hi Jeff, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started playing music at a young age growing up in Kentucky. I first learned drums, then taught myself guitar. I played in bands in high school and college. I was also very passionate about acting, creative writing, and was a huge nerd for school. It wasn’t until I moved to Madrid for graduate school, that I decided to move to Austin to pursue music professionally.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There have been a lot of ups and downs! At first I didn’t know anybody in Austin, and luckily I joined a band called Whiskey Shivers. We played almost 200 shows in my first year with them, and we also had a viral video hit!
We toured relentlessly for years, doing everything from headlining festivals to playing small dimly lit dive bars. We won awards, were featured on tv, and even a movie deal!
All the while I was pursuing my won solo career.
However, that all came to a hard stop in 2020 with the pandemic and the shut downs. It was during this time that we all admitted how tired and broke we were after being on the road all the time, and also interpersonal issues eroded the foundation of the band. In 2021 we went on a forever hiatus.
I continued to play solo, and also as a hired musician in other projects. It’s never been quite the same as since before 2020, but it’s still super fun! I have a lot of friends in town, and even though Austin has changed, I’m still enjoying the life of a musician.
A hidden blessing that came with 2020 was my shift back into working in the nonprofit world, where I still get to be a professional artist: as a photographer and videographer for an organization that addresses the homelessness we face in Austin.
One enormous struggle I’ve dealt with lately was the passing of my father, Llewelyn Hortillosa in 2024. He supported my love for music ever since I was a young child. He remained my biggest fan, and without him, I feel as though I lost the music itself. It’s taken a lot of counseling and reflecting and pushing through the tears to get back to where I feel like continuing to play music is one of the biggest and best ways I can respect his memory.
I released a song this summer called “It Ain’t How You’re Spun it’s How You Spin It” that is about my struggle with losing my dad and the journey I’ve taken to get back to writing songs again. It took almost two years to finish that song, and once I did, I had a burst of inspiration and finished a handful of ideas.
My wife gave birth to our daughter in July, and the balancing act of life has gotten a little crazier! I knew life was going to have a seismic shift once our baby arrived, so I spent the spring recording an acoustic album called HORTI, under the artist name HORTI (my nickname since high school), which is now available for download on Bandcamp, and is streaming as singles on major platforms.
Oh, and I also still act! You may have seen me recently in a Lone Star Beer commercial.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a guitar virtuoso singer songwriter type!
I blend blues, bluegrass, rock, cumbia, jazz, pop (all styles I play professionally) for a unique sound!
As well I’m known for my witty humor on stage and my non-pretentious ignoring of the fourth-wall between performer and audience.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I hope we all band together and sue the AI companies that are stealing our music.
However, the cats out of the bag and I don’t know what it’s going to mean for the recording industry. I really didn’t predict that we’d all have to become part time short-form content creators either, so maybe I’m not the guy the ask.
I do have faith that humans want to see humans, and that live music won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: hortilicious_jeff
- Facebook: hortilicious.jeff
- Youtube: hortilicious_jeff
- Other: https://horti.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Resolute Media
H. Isabelle Pics
Joi Conti Photography
