Charissa Hoffman Releases 'Love Is an Ocean' with Béla Fleck

Nashville musician Charissa Hoffman has released 'Love Is An Ocean,' the latest single from her upcoming debut LP, Horizon, which is due out on October 16th.

'My first instinct when things go wrong is to assume they'll never go right again,' says sixth-generation musician and Nashville native Charissa Hoffman, about an all-too-universal feeling. She's speaking about her latest single, 'Love Is An Ocean,' openly, earnestly—the way she tends to write. 'This is a song about scarcity. Less so the financial or material scarcity we learn about in economics, and more the notion that there isn't room for everyone at the table.' Lauded for her musical skills on a somewhat out-of-left-field primary instrument—she was the first ukulele principal to be accepted at Berklee School of Music—it's with these new songs that Hoffman is showing the world the card up her sleeve. She's a poet, too.

'Sometimes I need to remind myself that the world will keep turning, and I just might be ok,' she says of the process behind writing 'Love Is An Ocean,' the latest single from Hoffman's upcoming debut LP, Horizon—out on October 16th. 'There was a time when / We'd never met / I was all right then / I will be yet,' she sings in the song's opening lines, accompanied by her hypnotizing ⅞ time uke part, crashing repeatedly onto itself until joined by a melodic banjo played by none other than Béla Fleck. 'As someone who's prone to expecting the worst, it really drove the point home to me to have one of my musical heroes play on this song about trusting the process and believing good things will happen,' says Hoffman.

The song's chorus proclaims 'Love is an ocean / There is a tide.' 'To me, this references shifting our focus to the journey rather than the outcomes,' says Hoffman. 'The tide will always carry you back home, to love, to trust. If you stop fighting the current, you might find it brings you just where you need to be.'

Produced by John Mailander, Horizon features both instrumental prowess—including some guest spots from the aforementioned Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Chris Eldridge, and Nina de Vitry—and Hoffman's understated songwriting ability. And at the heart of it all, 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 'Love Is An Ocean' today at this link, check out Hoffman's previously released singles, 'Forward Motion' and 'Kitchenette,' at their respective links, 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 right 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.