Charissa Hoffman Releases Ukulele Single "Kitchenette" Ahead of HORIZON LP

Charissa Hoffman has released a new single, 'Kitchenette,' ahead of her upcoming debut LP, Horizon, which is due out October 16th.

'I have a graveyard of abandoned 'Donna Lee' and 'Blackberry Blossom' arrangements in my voice memos,' laughs Charissa Hoffman of all the ways classic 'show-off' instrumental songs don't work on her preferred instrument: the ukulele. 'A lot of those show-off-y tunes sit in weird places on the uke's fretboard, and I wanted to create something that was designed around the re-entrant tuning and quick right-hand picking techniques that a four-stringed instrument can allow.' The resulting song, 'Kitchenette,' is the crown jewel-at least on the technique side-of Hoffman's upcoming debut LP, Horizon. Hoffman, a sixth-generation musician and Nashville native, has been somewhat of a torchbearer for the small, Portuguese-turned-Hawaiian instrument as of late, being the first ukulele principal to be accepted at Berklee School of Music and the only uke among instrumental contemporaries in Nashville like Sierra Hull and Béla Fleck.

'Kitchenette' is the only full-length instrumental track on Horizon, which is funny, because it has an amusing origin story. Written while Hoffman was working as a live-in nanny, her room right off of the family's kitchen, the song began with a lack of food prep or storage options in her accommodations. 'I'm not a morning person and when I was prescribed a refrigerated medication to take first thing after waking up, I was loathe to interrupt family breakfast by staggering out of my room before I was fully conscious,' Hoffman remembers. A dream came to her in the night; her employers decided to build her a kitchenette in her room. 'And not only that,' she says, 'They'd hired a handsome chef to cook me breakfast each morning.' Hoffman woke up and knew that she had a song in the making. 'Though I was a little too sheepish to include lyrics about my inspiration,' she jokes.

Produced by John Mailander, Horizon features both instrumental prowess-including guest spots from Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Chris Eldridge, and Nina de Vitry-and Hoffman's understated songwriting ability. Hoffman hopes to be as inspiring to a new generation as she was by the singer-songwriters and instrumentalists of her youth. 'I think a lot of folks go through this phase of figuring out who they are, apart from their parents, by listening to music. If someone hears this record and it resonates with them in the same way that those records resonated with me, then it's a success,' she says.

Fans can stream or purchase 'Kitchenette' at this link, check out Hoffman's previously-released single, 'Forward Motion,' here, and pre-order or pre-save Horizon ahead of its October 16th release here. Hoffman will take the stage at Nashville's Analog at Hutton Hotel for a hometown Horizon release show on November 9th with Kristin Andreassen and special guests. Tickets are available here.

For more information, visit charissahoffman.com.

Horizon Tracklist

Forward Motion

If I Could Fly

Who Am I

Kitchenette

Love Is An Ocean

Natchez Trace Bridge

Wind Beneath My Wings

St. Joseph

Parallel Lines

Catch Charissa On Tour

November 9 - Nashville, TN

November 14 - Durham, NC

November 15 - Wilmington, NC

November 17 - Brooklyn, NY

November 18 - Salisbury, MD

November 20 - Troy, NY

November 21 - Providence, RI

About Charissa Hoffman

Songwriter and instrumentalist Charissa Hoffman is looking through the clouds of the past and emerging with a fresh perspective on her thoughtful debut album, Horizon. A sixth-generation musician, Hoffman is eager to show audiences just how versatile the ukulele is. The fascination with the instrument carried her from Nashville, where she grew up, to Boston, where she was the first ukulele principal to be accepted at Berklee School of Music. Produced by John Mailander, Horizon includes special guests such as Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Chris Eldridge, and Nina de Vitry.

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