When you google Paul Hoffman, a lot of Paul Hoffmans come up. There’s Paul Hoffman the English writer, not to be confused with Paul Hoffman the science writer, Paul Hoffman the automobile executive, Paul Hoffman the top chess player, the German physician, or the basketball player. But there is no confusing phoffman.
As co-founder, songwriter and lead singer of the internationally acclaimed, one-of-a-kind, acoustic rock “jamgrass” band Greensky Bluegrass, Paul Hoffman has shared the stage with Jack Johnson, Bruce Hornsby and many others. In his solo show “phoffman” (a play on P. Hoffman) he’ll be performing songs that he wrote for Greensky Bluegrass and much more at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 11 at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland.
The band’s name came from a joke made by a friend: “Wouldn’t it be funny to have a bluegrass band named Greensky Bluegrass?” And for the last 25 years, the band has won devoted fans with that unique spin on anything it sets out to do.
Hoffman has said the original intent behind the band was “to play heavy metal music on acoustic instruments.” That kind of hybrid idea became: “What if we did this? What if it took this turn? What if we recorded this and revamped this?”
The band’s version of bluegrass mixes “the acoustic stomp of a string band with the rule-breaking spirit of rock ’n’ roll.”
“One of my favorite things about musicians I admire are the ones that I watch struggle to either challenge themselves, push themselves, or convey a message with emotion that’s challenging,” Hoffman said. “If you’re willing to make a mistake, if you’re willing to truly find the line of your capacity, you have to be willing to cross it to know where it is. Struggle doesn’t always have to (be) negative. To not struggle would be complicit and boring.”
But that’s also mixed with some: “Let’s just go and have some fun and play some shows.”
Which comes through in his songwriting process as well. “I don’t always do things the same, as I’m sure most writers would say,” he said by email Monday. “But I do good work if I isolate myself and just start cranking things out.”
“I take notes about ideas that come to me in passing or things I hear people say or turn of phrases that I think are interesting. Like ‘beyond the shadow of doubt’ or something like that … So sometimes when I sit down and do the work, I’ll revisit those notes and think on an idea and try to start molding it into a song.”
Other times Hoffman writes as a form of catharsis. “Maybe something I’m going through requires me to utilize my creative outlet to get through and understand how I’m feeling,” he explained. “From there, I’ll sort of edit songs into things that I think serve the band well. Speed them up or change the keys and usually finish writing them at that point. I don’t often complete my ideas in one sitting anymore. I like to return to the piece later and see what my impression is after leaving it for a bit. Like its two jobs. Idea farming and refining.”
“I’m hoping to try out some of my new songs in this run,” he added, and after 25 years with the band, he said, “More than half of my life has been spent performing music and joking around with the same friends. I feel pretty blessed. And therein, lies the key to longevity I believe. We enjoy it. We change and grow together.”
