Kicking off his tour today, Vangaurd Records recording artist Trevor hall is ready to once again bring his art to music fans across the country. He recently was named one of the 2010 Subway Fresh Buzz Campaign artist and is probably best known for his track, “Other Ways,” from the Shrek the Third soundtrack. This emerging talent took the time to chat with The Hot Zone; check out the interview and tour dates below.

You were chosen by MTV as one of the 20 emerging artists for 2010 in their Subway Fresh Buzz campgain – how has that exposure impacted your career?
Well, I don’t really know because when that happened, I was out of the country and my sister actually emailed me and let me know. When I got back to the country, I found out – so I haven’t been able to really to see how its affected my career because I’ve only been back for a couple days. I think it’s wonderful that I was able to get on there and hopefully it helps let people know more about my music and stuff.

You’re heading out on tour next week in the states – is this the first time you’ll be headlining a tour of your own?
This is going to be the second time but this is going to be an interesting treck because we – in the winter time – we toured with bigger acts like Matisyahu and Michael Franti and so it will be good to see how many fans we won over and to see the results of those earlier tours.

So we noticed some big names that you have spent some time on tour with – Stevie Nicks, Ben Harper, Colbie Callait, Ziggy Marley – how has that influenced your career touring with those larger artists?
It’s been amazing because there has been such a variety – it’s been nice to get all these different flavors and learn from all these experienced people and try to incopropate them in my own career and style

I saw you were signed to a major label right after graduating from high school. Was it hard to take that on so early?
It was fun from the standpoint of being young and it’s exciting, you know? But, when I graduated high school I realized I had a lot of decisions to make and this was going to be my career so I had to get in to shape. That was the eye opener. And also, that label – none of the records ever recorded for them ever came out. So that was another big shocker – especially being young and thinking it was supposed to go one way and it never went that way, you know? And it actually helped me grow quickly.

So do you prefer the recording process or getting out and touring?
They both have different flavors you know? I really like the recording process just because it’s always exciting – the road is exciting too – but when you’re recording, it’s like you’re right there and all these fresh ideas are coming out and you’re watching them come to life and come to shape – it’s just a really fun process. And on the road, you get to test all these songs out to see if people like them or not. I think in the end, music is about live music – playing for people and feeling that energy is amazing – it’s an amazing feeling. It’s nice to have that flavor as well.

So who do you consider to be some of your top music influences?
I would say top musical influences – definitely Bob Marley not only his music – his life, the way he lived his life, I’m very inspired by that. Ben Harper was an early influence – he really helps me try to find my own style and inspired me very much. I’m also a really big Bjork fan – it may not come through the music but she inspires me. Inspiration comes from all over the place.

Musically – what do you think sets you apart from other artists out there?
These days, there’s not too many artists that are singing about maybe anything spiritual – I think that its kind of rare. I mean, I know a few – a handful – good friends of mine like Matisyahu and Michael Fante and I’m sure there are countless others, but they are not as mainstream as those artists. I find that very unfortunate and I feel the spirtualness needs to be heard right now. So, I’m trying to do that – I’m trying to bring about spiritual things and find my own spiritual path. I think thats the main thing that sets me apart from other artists.

Is there anyone you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
Yeah, I would love to collaborate with Michael Frante – he’s just an awesome guy all-around. I would also do stuff different like collaborate with Bjork. Our styles are so different I think it would be a lot of fun. It would be interesting to see what happens.

Looking back in 2009, what would you say is the biggest highlight for you?
I’d have to say the biggest highlight was this past winter run that we had. We had made an album that came out in late summer and we did our own perosnal headlining tour, which was great. When we got done with that, I ended up saying to my team that we really gotta get just one more big ploy before the year’s over with. Just to try to reach more people. We got three huge tours back to back and there’s just so many good memories and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen this tour.

TOUR DATES

1/27 San Francisco, CA Cafe’ Du Nord
1/28 Arcata, CA Humboldt Brews
1/29 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
1/30 Seattle, WA University of Washington

2/2 Alta, WY Trap Bar
2/3 Boise, ID The Reef
2/4 Provo, UT Club Velour
2/5 Steamboat Springs, CO Ghost Ranch Saloon
2/6 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
2/9 Des Moines, IA Vaudeville Mews
2/10 St. Louis, MO Firebird
2/11 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck
2/12 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
2/13 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
2/14 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
2/17 Baltimore, MD 8×10
2/18 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
2/19 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
2/20 Northampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall
2/21 Allston, MA Harper’s Ferry
2/24 Philadelphia, PA Tin Angel
2/25 Vienna, VA Jammiin’ Java
2/26 Columbus, OH The Basement
2/27 Charlotte, NC Double Door
2/28 Atlanta, GA Smith’s Olde Bar

3/3 Austin, TX Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
3/5 Santa Fe Brewing Co Santa Fe, NM
3/6 Compound Bar & Grill Phoenix, AZ
3/7 Club Congress Tucson, AZ
3/13 Santa Monica, CA Dakota Live Music Hall