Press
• Kristin was reviewed by Musiqtone
• Kristin's newest CD "Real", on Interscope Records is now available from online digital music retailers including Apple's iTunes.
• Kristin appeared in the August 13th issue of Modern Guitars Magazine – check out this link.
• Kristin's self-produced CD has recently exceeded over 3,000 units sold through online retailers CD Baby and Amazon.com and at her live shows.
Village Voice, March 2003
“Hoffmann is a talented young singer with a great voice whose work marries Stevie Nicks with Fiona Apple.”
Benefit album "Don't Mind Me" out on September 7th.
“DON’T MIND ME – Independent Artists For a Better Understanding Of Mental Illness” is a full-length CD of internationally recognized indie singer/songwriters compiled by RismixLive. These generous recording artists from around North America have donated their songs and royalties to the benefit CD, which features original compositions, artist bios and links to artist websites as well as links to mental health resources and organizations all over North America. Proceeds from sale of the CD will benefit The CAREY RISMAN MEMORIAL FUND FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF MENTAL ILLNESS.
Pre-sales of the album have started on the RismixLive site and includes the song "Never" by Kristin Hoffmann.
http://www.rismixlive.com/storedetail.asp?iPro=1&iType=1
Kristin Hoffman's "Divided Heart" is available now on CDBaby.com and at the Apple iTunes Music Store.
Back From The Fall: Kristin Hoffmann lives through music business nightmare - and comes out stronger
By Ray Hogan
Staff Writer, The Advocate, September 1, 2002
At 23, Kristin Hoffmann has already experienced a record industry horror story.
But rather than dwell on what could have been, Hoffmann, who grew up in Stamford,
looks to what can still be and has a new independent CD to prove it.
"Divided Heart," which was released earlier this year, is a wonderful
collection of intelligent and moody pop that places Hoffmann among the ranks
of much more established (and older) singer-songwriters working in the genre.
The only thing more impressive than the songs on "Divided Heart"
is the set of circumstances that led to their creation.
She was signed to Capitol Records while still of college age in 1999 and was
halfway through recording an album when her two links to the label (an A&R
man and the label president) moved to other companies.
"I was left with no one," she says. "At this point I realized
this wasn't going anywhere and we decided to part ways."
Rather than getting soured, she got inspired.
"I couldn't pay any amount of money in the world for that lesson,"
she says. "You put your whole soul into that and then you have to learn
to move on with what you're doing. It doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong.
People change jobs, that's just a fact of life. I was to have the record label
experience. Before that I had been a bit naive The biggest thing I got out
of it was learning how to move on from a traumatic experience. If something
gets in your way, that's not the end."
After parting ways with Capitol, Hoffmann, who now lives in Greenwich Village,
went to Thailand for a month of soul searching. She brought a guitar, so her
days basically consisted of practicing yoga and playing guitar. When she came
back she was rejuvenated and began recording "Divided Heart."
"Divided Heart" is a song cycle - mature far beyond Hoffmann's 23
years - that begins with the disillusionment of love gone wrong, passes through
anger and is resolved with a survivor's triumph and swagger.
"I definitely draw my inspiration from life experience," she says.
"A lot came from my whole experience with the music industry. (I also
write about) just watching humans deal with themselves. Love, goals and fears.
It's very hard for me to make up a story."
Hoffmann was born in Nyack, N.Y., and moved to Stamford with her family when
she was 4, the same age she began playing piano (she began violin a year earlier).
She attended Greenwich Academy for 14 years - the high school years coincided
with studies at the Juilliard School of Music's pre-college program, where
she studied voice and piano.
"I always had an interest in music from as early an age as I can remember,"
she says. "I always wanted to play piano but at age 12 I was like, ‘I
can't take this anymore.' For the first seven years or so it was coming from
me and then I had to be pushed through the teenage years. There were a couple
of years there where I may have dropped piano. It was my dad who made me keep
it up."
She said the discipline of classical studies allowed her to become a pop songwriter.
While running through countless exercises all day, she'd take a break by tinkering
with her own creations. "That was the way I made it through practicing,"
she says.
Hoffmann recorded "Spring Comes," a disc of her own material, while
she was in high school. It helped draw Capitol Records' attention while she
was a freshman at New York University studying classical voice.
Her time at the Greenwich Village campus helped sway her away from classical
and more toward pop. "Being around Bleeker Street really spoke to me,"
she says. "I felt myself being drawn toward going my own route."
She says her strongest pop influences are Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell. If
one had to compare Hoffmann's style to anyone, they are a good starting point.
She has recently discovered electronic music and is particularly fond of the
Cocteau Twins. Add the classical influence of Ravel and Barber and you've
got an idea of her unique approach to creating music.
"All those things have formed some sort of musical soup in my head and
it's coming out," she says.
In addition to playing a few times a month at New York City clubs such as
CB's Gallery, the Village Underground and the Mercury Lounge, Hoffmann has
learned to seize the creative muse when it arrives.
"I do write a lot but I tend to have very creative spurts," she
says. "Suddenly I'll have a three week period of time where I write 10
songs. I've learned that I work best when I'm out in the middle of nowhere
for a few weeks. I love to play in the middle of the night."
"Divided Heart," more information and tour dates are available at
www.kristinhoffmann.com.
?2002 The Advocate, Stamford, CT.
Kristin
Hoffmann, Divided Heart (© 2002 Kristin Hoffmann)
You know, here's another instance of a misleading picture. Hoffman is somewhat
diminutive in stature (and no knock there, she looks young and kind of short),
but when she opens her mouth, hoo boy, it's like an angel singing. A big angel.
Her voice is emotive, and she knows how to wrap it around words, ranging from
raspy to sweet, and though you may be tempted to think of, say, Tori Amos or
others, Hoffmann is captivating enough on her own to push aside thoughts of
comparisons. Her years of classical training show through in the numbers, which
are often ballads or slow-paced tunes with a lot of interesting musical movement.
The real kicker is she's only 23, and I mention that because the music seems
so polished, and the emotions so authentic, that it sounds like she's been through
the wringer for years. I like surprises, and this one cheered me up big. www.kristinhoffmann.com
- Bill Ribas, Nyrock.com, August 1, 2002.
Kristin Hoffmann Sings From The 'Heart'
Songbird Kristin Hoffmann, whose new album, Divided Heart, appeared in stores
last week, performed last Wednesday at the Stephen Talkhouse and will appear
there again next Monday for the Artists Showcase. This Juilliard-trained vocalist
and pianist has branched out from her classical roots to write, compose, and
perform her own songs. Hoffmann wrote or co-wrote all the tracks on her newest
CD, many of them while living in Wainscott last summer. The songs weave piano
and guitar accompaniment with the rich fabric of Hoffmann's vocals to let
the depth of the lyrics shine through. Hoffmann counts Joni Mitchell and Tori
Amos as musical influences, and their soulful, introspective writing style
is reflected in her music. The 23-year-old songstress told last Wednesday's
audience that her favorite song from her new CD was "Temple," a
song she described as her ideal vision of the relationship between two people,
which can exist as a religion in itself. The ten songs from Divided Heart
gave the audience a glimpse of where Hoffmann is in her life -- feeling love,
loss, and sadness in living color. Hoffmann's fervent lyrics and passionate
voice transported the audience to the place in her heart that the words were
coming from……- By Michelle Zimmerman, Southampton Independent,
June 2002.
Kristin Hoffmann "Lay Down Your Light." (from "Divided
Heart")
21 [sic] year old. NYC. This is the melody/song that moves me off her advance
CD. It gives me the same feeling that Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You
Love Me" does. Full length due out, noted producer Ian Cross did a track
on it… Her talent seems effortless, confident and simply innate. You
might hear Fiona Apple, Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones, Natalie Merchant, Tori
Amos in her. - by Gary Savelson, demodiaries.com, April 18, 2002.
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