Chad Hoffman

Chad was raised just outside of Cleveland, Ohio, the “City that Rock Built”. His father, a lifelong lover of music, had been the leader of a successful local band in the 60’s. He saw to it that Chad’s childhood memories were filled with a soundtrack of the great music from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Much of this music would become Chad’s most significant musical inspirations, including Cat Stevens, Pink Floyd and The Eagles.

Though his father’s 1968 Gibson Les Paul was always sitting quietly in the background, Chad never picked it up until high school. Since then, he has never turned back. From college on, Chad was the leader of several Columbus, Ohio based bands including Aunt Dick, Marblehead and Orchard. In 2001, Chad released his first studio recording, the acclaimed Marblehead EP, "Secrets Locked Away."

In 2003, he set down the Les Paul and began focusing on his career as a solo-acoustic musician. He has since further honed his skills as a songwriter, while developing an impressive catalog of classic and modern cover songs, which he performs with a fresh new spin. In late 2006, Chad moved to Rochester Hills, MI, just outside of Motown. Shortly after this transition, he began recording his first solo album, which is expected to be released in September 2011.

As a singer, songwriter and performer, Chad is first and foremost “personality”. The magnetism he generates as a musician is something that simply can’t be taught. Beyond that, he is also an inspired lyricist, a masterful songwriter, a passionate vocalist, an energetic live entertainer, a creative musician and an inventive producer.

As a lyricist and songwriter, he displays a level of creativity that can’t be matched. His method of approaching songwriting allows him to derive and develop a mood that is supported through every facet of the song: the lyrics, music, vocals, orchestration and production. In his introspective song, “I Don’t Need Your Love”, Chad develops a somewhat tongue-in-cheek philosophical hypothesis that love comes second to learning what life is all about. He sings, “I don’t need any money, but I work for it anyway. And I can’t buy you honey, maybe another day. Penniless and poor, I would not mind, if I only knew what to say. It would ease my mind just knowing where to go, but I can’t find the way.”

It is obvious that Chad loves to sing and that he puts his heart into every song. The most important aspect of his vocal styling is the emotion that spills over from each lyric. Another aspect that really sets Chad apart as a singer is his creative and fearless approach to his vocals. He is constantly testing new vocal techniques, which allow him to pull from a huge toolbox that allow him to dynamically “dial in” the right feel for each song. He owns the mid to low range, which he often complements with a bit of rasp or vibrato. He also uses grunge-like growl; strong, operatic bellows; rich whispers; and beautiful falsettos.

As a live musician, he is confident, yet sensitive and fun, yet classy. He has developed several guitar techniques for adding percussive rhythm to his live music. This has allowed Chad to incorporate the feel and energy typically only available through a separate percussionist. Again, his personality is what allows him to truly connect with his audience, be it an engaged girl in a crowd or a loner in the back of the house. Chad connects with people through empathy as well as his ability to link that empathy with his mastery of pop music.

Chad’s musical and production style, while rooted in acoustic rock, spans both genres and generations. He is both a throwback artist, with his many influences from the 60s and 70s, and a contemporary musician, with many modern stylings a la Pearl Jam and Radiohead. Much like his songwriting, Chad lets each of his songs take form organically, instead of trying to make songs that fit a pre-set formula. Chad painstakingly spends hours testing different lyrics, melodies, rhythms, styles, time signatures and keys to make sure that every aspect of his songs works together to develop the theme that is initially founded in the poetry of his lyrics.