Born in Oklahoma City, Bill Hoyland grew up with a transistor radio in one hand and a restless pen in the other. From an early age, he absorbed a kaleidoscope of musical voices—ranging from the twang of Willie Nelson to the soul-deep storytelling of Nelson Williams, from the poetic gravitas of Leonard Cohen to the grave poetry of Leonid Kahane. This eclectic education shaped a songwriter who resists easy classification and welcomes contradiction. Hoyland, who has worked as a staff songwriter here at Weekly World News since 2022, is perhaps best known for his hauntingly anthem “Restore the American Face,” a track that began as a lyrical mishearing of a report on a local talk station—it was “American faith,” as it turns out, but Hoyland’s car radio was mostly busted—and evolved into a rallying cry for a generation of politically engaged youth. The song’s mix of weathered hope and urgent clarity speaks to the very core of what it means to wrestle with national identity in an age of disillusionment.
Now based in Chicago, Hoyland continues to write, perform, and confound expectations. He lives with his two wives and offers no explanation. His new song, “The Ballad of Stevie Clobber,” which debuts below, considers the recent fate of a certain television star and playfully alludes to his earlier mishearing.
There is a ballad about the Thing of the Fantastic 4?