Rising Stars: Meet Rory Hoffman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rory Hoffman.

Hi Rory, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Grew up on a cattle ranch in North Dakota. We had a family band; my dad, sisters, brother, and sometimes uncle. There were also a lot of casual less professional players in the extended family. So I grew up around lots of music. In the recording studio for the first time when I was 4. I was the drummer and harmonica player for the family band by age 5. Even then I was teaching myself other instruments; guitar, piano, etc. When my younger brother started playing drums I moved to guitar, banjo, accordion, and saxophone. I was a Music performance major for 2 years, but then quit, so I have no degree.

I won a few trophies at the Christian Artist Seminar of the Rockies in the Estes Park Co. That gave me my first connection to Nashville. I recorded my Blind Faith album here in 2001. Then, a friend/business partner and I started a production company and recording Studio in South Dakota for a few years, before I ultimately made the move to Nashville in 2008. Since moving here, I’ve just been building my connections, showing up, doing good, and it makes people keep calling.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Some of the obstacles have to do with the fickle nature of some bits of the industry. Back when I was visiting Nashville, I would meet a lot of people in the industry who would encourage me to move here, telling me to “just give me a call, and I’ll help you, however, I can”. I still have yet to get much, if any work, from some of those old contacts. I basically had to start over and rebuild when I finally did move here. Also, being a completely blind person has presented its own set of challenges. I’m sure I’ve missed some opportunities because I didn’t have the right look, or the people were hesitant or afraid of how much extra adaptation and help they perceived I would need.

But, I’ve been able to overcome a lot of that. The hardest challenge, even now, is transportation for local gigs. The metro service for people with disabilities leaves a lot to be desired. Uber and Lyft have their own sets of issues. Mostly, it’s just depending on others to get me where I need to be in a timely, but still economically viable fashion. I can’t just get in my own car and do what I want when I want. It’s always gotta be scheduled, and I’ve always got to trust that the people who are scheduled actually show up on time.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and whistler. Also songwriter and arranger. I have a unique style of playing guitar that stands out to people. Being a multi-instrumentalist (to me) doesn’t mean I have a lot of instruments and I can sort of get noise out of most of them. I’m known for playing at a very high, professional level on many of them. This makes me a valuable asset in the studio and on stage. I have articles about myself in Just Jazz Guitar, Fretboard Journal, and Guitar Player magazines. But that doesn’t stop Riders in the Sky from using me on Accordion at the Opry occasionally. Ricky Skaggs hired me to play piano with him for a couple of years. I worked with John Cowan as a piano, guitar, banjo, and mandolin player. Kacey Musgraves hired me to play piano, guitar, accordion, baritone sax, and clarinet.

The Nashville Symphony hired me as a professional Whistler.

I also have a large collection of world/ethnic instruments. So occasionally, some forward-thinking artist will hire me to play sitar, kanun, or burdola, or guzheng for a studio track. I have a very diverse skill set. I honestly do think that this helps offset some hesitations with my disability. Hire me, you get a lot of bang for your buck. I have creative ways of thinking about music. I rearrange country songs as bossa nova for example. I find unique approaches to playing instruments. I have invented new harmonica tunings for example that make the chromatic harmonica play and sound in a way that nobody else has thought of. I did the same with a guitar I invented called a Solicaster. You can find a youtube video about it on my page, as well as see clips of my unique approaches to other instruments.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I like Nashville hot Chicken! I like interesting food in general. Nashville has really gotten more interesting when it comes to food choices. And like food, the musical diversity of this city is increasing as well. I’m so glad for places like Rudy’s Jazz Room, and Plaza Mariachi. And of course, the places that still promote the traditions like Robert’s Western World and the Station Inn.

I do not like the fact that our roads and streets aren’t meant for this many people. I don’t like the inefficiencies of the AccessRide transportation system for people with disabilities. I do not like some aspects of what Broadway has become. You used to be able to go out on the street if you needed to rest your ears from the music inside a club. Now the cacophony outside is as loud as inside, because so many of the bars are multi-level, with PA speakers purposely pointed out windows to increase the noise floor on the street. I don’t like hearing from other musicians about the parking issues and trying to get their instruments in and out of the clubs.

I don’t like that you have to go underground now to find country music that still uses steel and fiddles, because the new industrial country music has decided that’s not the direction for country music anymore. I mentioned above that I like diversity, but I’d rather add diversity to the traditions, rather than supplant the traditions with diversity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.roryhoffman.com
• Facebook: fb.com/rorystory
• Youtube: youtube.com/roryhoffmanmusic 

Image Credits
Mickey Dobo, Stacie Huckeba, Brandon Vestal, and Jon Hammond