Article Contributed by IVPR
Published on 2026-09-06
“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, due out October 16.
Stream or purchase “Kitchenette” HERE.
Hoffman, a sixth-generation musician and Nashville native, has become something of a torchbearer for the small, Portuguese-turned-Hawaiian instrument. She was the first ukulele principal accepted at Berklee School of Music and stands as the lone ukulele player among Nashville instrumental contemporaries such as Sierra Hull and Béla Fleck.
“Kitchenette” is the only full-length instrumental track on Horizon, which is fitting considering its amusing origin story. Written while Hoffman was working as a live-in nanny with a room directly off the family’s kitchen, the song began with a lack of food preparation and 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 loath to interrupt family breakfast by staggering out of my room before I was fully conscious,” Hoffman remembers.
A dream came to her during the night in which her employers decided to build 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 knowing 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 Hoffman’s instrumental prowess—including guest appearances from Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Chris Eldridge and Nina de Vitry—alongside her understated songwriting ability.
At the heart of it all, Hoffman hopes to be as inspiring to a new generation as the singer-songwriters and instrumentalists of her youth were to her.
“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 also hear Hoffman’s previously released single “Forward Motion” and preorder or pre-save Horizon ahead of its October 16 release.
Hoffman will take the stage at Nashville’s Analog at Hutton Hotel for a hometown Horizon release show on November 9 with Kristin Andreassen and special guests. Tickets are available HERE.
For more information, visit charissahoffman.com.
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.
Her fascination with the instrument carried her from Nashville, where she grew up, to Boston, where she became the first ukulele principal accepted at Berklee School of Music. Produced by John Mailander, Horizon includes special guests Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Chris Eldridge and Nina de Vitry.
HORIZON TRACK LIST
1. Forward Motion
2. If I Could Fly
3. Who Am I
4. Kitchenette
5. Love Is an Ocean
6. Natchez Trace Bridge
7. Wind Beneath My Wings
8. St. Joseph
9. Parallel Lines
CHARISSA HOFFMAN TOUR DATES
November 9 – Nashville, TN – Analog at Hutton Hotel
November 14 – Durham, NC
November 15 – Wilmington, NC
November 17 – Brooklyn, NY
November 18 – Salisbury, MD
November 20 – Troy, NY
November 21 – Providence, RI
