Paul Hoffman Rocks Out Greensky Bluegrass Songs With Solo Band On Jam Cruise 19

Greensky Bluegrass mandolinist and vocalist Paul Hoffman boarded Jam Cruise 19 on Friday in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos and took the Pool Deck stage shortly after arriving. Hoffman assembled a band featuring members of Fruition and The Lil Smokies to back him on rock-focused arrangements of GSBG cuts and turned in a phenomenal 75-minute performance.

Friday’s phoffman set saw Paul joined by guitarist Jay Cobb Anderson (Fruition), dobroist Andy Dunnigan (The Lil Smokies), bassist Jeff Leonard (Fruition), fiddler Jake Simpson (The Lil Smokies) and drummer Tyler Thompson (Fruition) throughout. The Horn Section (Cool Cool Cool, ex-Turkuaz) consisting of trumpeter Chris Brouwers, tenor saxophonist Greg Sanderson and baritone saxophonist Josh Schwartz accompanied the sextet on the final two songs of the frame.

Cruise director Annabel “Julie McCoy” Lukins introduced the phoffman performance. She revealed Hoffman’s band had spent a few hours together working out the arrangements sans Paul before the GSBG co-founder stepped onto the MSC Divina just in the nick of time for the end of rehearsal. Clearly the musicians were well-versed on the numbers as they pulled off a memorable set.

The Fruition rhythm section laid down a sturdy beat as the base of the “Fixin’ To Ruin” opener. Anderson took a rollicking solo and provided harmony vocals for the fresh take on the Shouted, Written Down & Quoted gem. Hoffman and company stuck with the 2016 Greensky album as the set continued with “Past My Prime,” “Living Over” and “Run Or Die” from the LP. Paul was all smiles throughout and appreciated every little fill and element his friends brought to his music. His happiness was contagious.

After the four songs from Shouted, Written Down & Quoted, the phoffman ensemble looked to the latest Greensky Bluegrass album — 2022’s Stress Dreams — for “Screams” and “Grow Together.” The former was a particularly dark version while the latter was sung by Paul as if it was the last song he would ever sing. Hoffman dedicated “Grow Together” to Jeff Leonard and Tyler Thompson, who each recently became fathers for the first time. “It’s a dad song,” phoff quipped.

The Horn Section emerged to add brass on “What You Need” from 2019’s All For Money and “Leap Year” off 2014’s If Sorrows Swim. Browers, Sanderson and Schwartz had their horn lines down in giving a frenetic burst of energy to each tune. Hoffman played a solo set on Saturday, the final day of Jam Cruise 19. He was joined by Dunnigan and a saxophonist for a few songs.

Watch footage of the horn-driven “What You Need” below:

Setlist

Set: Fixin’ To Ruin, Past My Prime, Living Over, Run Or Die, Screams, Grow Together, What You Need*, Leap Year*

* – w/ The Horn Section