Sam Hoffman
It’s pretty well-established that nostalgia is a dangerous beast; stare into the past for too long and you stop seeing the future. But that doesn’t mean it’s all Orpheus-like — that there’s nothing to be gained by remembering what you love or have loved.
The work of Nashville singer-songwriter and bandleader Sam Hoffman is a fine case in point, as you’ll hear on his new LP Books on Tape. Hoffman’s music tends toward sounds that are comfortably familiar — think ’60s and ’70s post-Beatles pop as filtered through the lens of, say, The Olivia Tremor Control. He’s also skilled at considering how some things change, and not always for the best.
“Jacquelyn,” a standout track from Books on Tape, looks at a relationship that’s been difficult to maintain through the years. As Hoffman sings, even when people grow apart, their connections remain important: “Jacquelyn, you are my friend through thick and thin / I will never wonder where you've been / Come inside, I'll let you in.”
The song’s bittersweet hook is augmented by Rowen Merrill’s string arrangement, brought to life by Merrill, Austin Hoke and Bobby Chase.
In a note to the Scene, Hoffman mentions that he started writing Books on Tape in 2019, not long after he released his first LP Fairweather. Ideas for how to translate the songs to a recording really began to percolate when he visited his parents in Cincinnati as the pandemic set in. Later in 2020, he and bandmates Asher Horton, Ben Parks and Drew Carroll went to much-loved studio The Bomb Shelter and tracked the core ensemble live to tape. Carroll engineered, and friends Logan Chung, Luke Schneider, Katy Kirby and Alex Dolezal also contributed.
“Though the pandemic definitely slowed down the recording process, it was nice to take our time with it,” says Hoffman. “I will definitely always remember the recording process, as this was my first time working in a real studio.”
We're very pleased to premiere a stream of the album — give it a spin. Hoffman and band are set to play a release party Nov. 17 at Soft Junk, with Kyle Hamlett Cinco and Morgan supporting. No advance tix are available but cover will be $10 via cash or Venmo at the door. Snag a copy of the record via Bandcamp below or find it on your favorite streaming service via Hoffman's Linktree, and follow him on Instagram for updates.
