SPOTLIGHT: Ethan Hoffman is Rediscovering His Instincts

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Ethan Hoffman is most comfortable when there is little standing between him and the music. That became especially clear during an evening at Dragonfly Creek Studios, where he recorded his upcoming live EP.

With a guitar in hand and a room designed to capture a performance in the moment, the project became an opportunity to preserve what Hoffman sounds like onstage.

“When people hear me perform live, that is usually where they connect with me the most,” Hoffman says. “There’s something about the energy of singing and playing guitar in the same moment that has its own character.”

Recorded during a focused live session, the EP includes songs Hoffman has lived with for nearly four years. Rather than rushing to release them, he waited until each one felt representative of the artist he is today.

“It is just me, the guitar, the voice, and the song,” he says. “I want people to have an immersive experience of the music.”

That focus on instinct and direct expression has been part of Hoffman’s relationship with music for years.

At 12 years old, Hoffman showed up to a musical theater audition in a Carolina Panthers jersey, soccer shorts, and blue flip-flops. The other boys were in suits and the girls were in dresses, dressed for the occasion. Hoffman had simply seen a flyer for Bring It On: The Musical in a Starbucks window and thought, “I can do that.”

So he did.

Hoffman auditioned for Twig, a lead character who raps in the musical. One of the casting directors had performed the same role on Broadway, and Hoffman landed the part.

From there, music became a much larger part of his life.

Between the ages of 12 and 14, he performed in Bring It On, 13 the Musical, Fame, Peter Pan, and Grease. At the same time, he began writing songs and developing his own musical taste. By 14, he knew music was something he wanted to pursue seriously.

When asked how he would describe himself, Hoffman returns to a word someone used for him when he was younger: “unicorn.”

“I initially didn’t like it, but now I embrace it,” he says. “To me, it means being someone who does not fit neatly into one mold, socially, musically, or otherwise.”

His music reflects that range. Hoffman pulls from R&B, pop, funk, soul, reggae, and hip-hop, citing influences including Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, John Mayer, and Bob Marley.

“The first thing people notice when listening to my music is that I’m free in my expression,” Hoffman says. “I bring a lot of myself into the lyrics, melody, and vocal performance.”

That freedom has become increasingly important as he has developed as an artist. Hoffman describes his growth less as becoming someone new and more as finding his way back to how he experienced music when he was younger.

“When I was younger, I had a very immediate, instinctive relationship with music,” he says. “It was physical, intuitive, and natural.”

Now, he is returning to that approach.

“The more I pay attention to my life, my emotions, and the way I move through the world, the more my music develops,” Hoffman says. “Growth as an artist has come from knowing myself better and giving myself more room to create.”

That perspective carries into his songwriting, too. Hoffman doesn’t follow a fixed formula when he writes. Some songs take an hour. Others take months or even years before he considers them finished. Much of his inspiration comes from his own life and the experiences happening around him.

“We Fell Accidentally” was inspired by an unexpected connection. “India” uses a city as both a love interest and a place of escape. “Carefree” centers on the frustration of a relationship where respect feels absent or uneven.

At 23, Hoffman knows there are still plenty of stories and perspectives ahead of him.

“I know there are many things I am yet to experience,” he says, “and thus many songs I am yet to write.”

For now, the live EP gives Hoffman the opportunity to share some of the songs that have stayed with him over time. He selected songs he hopes might offer listeners comfort, joy, reflection, or inspiration, but they are also the ones that have continued to connect with him each time he performs them.

“The thing that connects them is that they are soulful, raw, and charismatic,” he says. “Each song comes from a real place, and I hope people can take something meaningful from it.”

Watching the project come together at Dragonfly Creek Studios, that focus on immediacy made sense. The live format leaves little room for anything to distract from the center of the project: the performance, the songwriting, his voice, and his guitar.

“I’d like people to take away whatever speaks to them,” Hoffman says. “Everyone brings their own experiences to a song, and that is part of what makes music special.”

For Hoffman, songwriting is a way to share pieces of his own life while still leaving enough space for listeners to find themselves within them. His favorite part of releasing music is hearing what someone else found in a song and how it connected to an experience of their own.

At the end of the day, his goal is fairly simple: make music that reaches people in a meaningful way.

His songs are built around clear writing, strong vocal performances, and the charisma that becomes especially apparent when he is performing live. This EP brings those pieces together without moving too far away from the energy that makes those performances feel distinct.

And while the live EP is his immediate focus, Hoffman is already looking ahead. He is working on his next project, exploring possible tour dates, and continuing to build his team.

For an artist who has spent the past few years finding his way back to his own instincts, the live project captures an important moment. There is minimal production and little standing between Hoffman and the songs. Just his voice, his guitar, his writing, and the character of a live performance.

In a way, it brings Hoffman right back to where he started: trusting the instinct that tells him, simply, I can do that.