Here’s where I try to clear up basic questions about me, my purpose with this site, and how I operate it. If I haven’t done a good job with that, please click the “Contact Me” link above and let me know. I’ll get back to you fast. – Dillon Havins (aka Little Hoss)

Hoss’s Mission Statement/Purpose/Whatever You Want to Call It

This site is just a non-flashy, non-corporate, simple and honest operation that, God willing, will eventually prove to America that non-flashy, non-corporate, simple and honest operations are the best kind after all. Our main purpose is to introduce the world to non-corporate, simple and honest musicians who, because they are non-corporate, simple and honest, might have a difficult time getting their music heard elsewhere. Related to that purpose, we are also building a community of people who appreciate music made by non-corporate, simple and honest folks and are willing to support it — with their ears, hearts and wallets. This community will never discriminate based on any of the factors that are, unfortunately, of utmost importance in the world of corporate music: willingness to follow trends, ability to drop names, access to fancy studios, obsession over music charts and target demographic groups.

HossTheBoss.com’s Main Features

• The Hoss Show: Find out about independent musicians from around the world. We pick three new songs from three new bands PLUS 15 songs we have already  had on the station! The LIVE version of the show happens at 11:00 a.m. central time on the third Saturday of each month.

• Eclectic stream of Independent music: When all the other stuff’s not happening, HossTheBoss.com’s stream airs songs from our huge (and growing) collection of independent music. We play a little of everything from rap to country to rock to jazz to even a little tejano. While each song plays, the artist name appears at the top of every page, and website links for the bands we play can be found in Hoss’s Band Directory (use the link in the left of this page).

Hoss’s Unique Royalty Policy
(and the trouble it may bring)

Because I found that very little (if any) of the royalty payments we made to BMI, ASCAP, etc in HTB’s early days were actually turned over to the bands,we were playing, I stopped paying those fees in 2007. That means that, from here on out, we must secure specific permission from the copyright holder(s) for each song that we play. That adds a considerable amount to our workload, but it also adds to the charm of our station: I don’t know of any other radio station that can say its staff has a personal relationship with every single band that it plays. Thanks are due in large part to Tony Kinsel who spends many, many hours each week making contact with bands and getting their permission for HTB to play their music. (He’s not the only one who does this, but he can take credit for us getting some of the bigger names like the Little River Band, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Robert Earl Keen.)

This policy has, so far, not generated any significant protest from any lawyers or such (in fact, most musicians seem very, very supportive of it). But, as this site’s audience grows, I expect that at least one or two music industry jerks will start trying to make trouble over it somehow. (The royalty groups are not likely to take kindly to us circumventing them. These are the  jerks who threatened to sue a coffee shop owner in my neighborhood because one or two cover songs got played during some open mic nights at his place — which seats about 30.)  When that happens, well, I don’t have the money (or stomach) for a legal fight. So here’s my plan: The moment some ne’r-do-well starts trying to bully us over our policy, I will keep you, dear audience member, updated best that I can. I will then just rely on my faith that, if you believe in what this site is all about, you’ll come through with whatever support we need to weather an attack.

For details on this policy that I may end up asking you to help me fight for, please click the “Hoss’s (Mildly Entertaining) Policies” link above.

How To Support HTB

Here’s some ideas for the best way to help assure HossTheBoss.com becomes a long-term venture that we can all love:

• Buy stuff through the ad links on the site. We’ve got commission-only deals with all ads you see on the site. So that means we don’t make any money on the ads unless you click on them and then buy something. I don’t want you buying a bunch of stuff you don’t need, but, if you see something you do need advertised on the site, please remember to buy it through our link.
• Listen to HossTheBoss.com loud and often. Tell your friends to do the same.
• Give us links anywhere you can. Here’s some code you can cut-n-paste.
  <a href=”http://www.hosstheboss.com”> HossTheBoss.com Plays Great Independent Music</a> Feel free to modify that however you want.
• Support independent musicians however you can, no matter where you hear them.
  

About Hoss

Aside from being a reformed corporate style DJ, I have also tried really hard to fit into the corporate-run world in other areas: I’ve been a newspaper reporter, a teacher and a retail “customer service” guy. At one point, I was even on course to be a university journalism professor. But I was born without the gift of functioning well amid insanity, and my corporate-style bosses never found much use for someone with such a handicap. If you’re really curious about all the things I did before I started this site, I’ll be glad to send you the list. Or you can just wait for the book that several people have said I need to write. It’ll probably be fairly interesting.

About Little Hoss

My name is Dillon Havins I ha- Darn, I was trying to write a fancy resume and I just couldn’t do it.

Here is my Bio: With a dynamic stage presence, powerful vocals, and the audacity an old-pro, 13-year-old Dillon Havins is turning heads and making a real name for himself in Austin and the Texas Hill Country. He is a natural-born, high energy entertainer and has performed to audiences as large as 3000. Dillon is ALWAYS a true crowd pleaser to audiences of all ages.
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This year, Dillon and his band made it to the Las Vegas round of America’s Got Talent meaning that the band was in the top 100 acts out 20,000+ that initially auditioned. In addition, Dillon won third place in the 2012 Old Settler’s Music Festival Youth Talent competition in Driftwood, TX. At 12, he was the youngest of 10 contestants.
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Dillon loves the Blues but also plays a variety of material including alternative country and rock. He performs original material and some covers. Outside of being an accomplished guitarist, he plays the mandolin and bass.
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Through the Austin Blues Society, Dillon had the good fortune to connect with some of Austin’s great Blues musicians who accompany him in a band called “Dillon Havins & Friends”.

But that doesn’t explain how I came to be the  D.J here. At the end of 2011, Tony Kinsel (one of the D.Js here) picked me to be part of the Hossey Music Award Contest. After that I got to know Hoss pretty well and when he said he didn’t have time to do the show anymore he asked me to take his place. With several months of work and help from Trevor Hopkins ( another friend of the station) Hoss and I managed to get the station running!