Listening In
Paul Hoffman on High School Acid Trips and Skateboarding to the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
“The Road Goes On Forever, and the Party Never Ends,” sang roots-rocker Robert Earl Keen. And for over two decades, it’s been an apt summation of the Greensky Bluegrass life, on and off the stage — until 2021, when the road ended, and the party caught an early Uber. For chief songwriter/mandolinist Paul Hoffman, who turned 40 last month, COVID cancellations forced the self-proclaimed “life of the party” to turn insular, facing a future no musician should have to contemplate: What if this is the end of concert-going as we know it? In their 22nd year, Greensky has been doing it longer and harder than most. In 2000, the band formed in Michigan as a three-piece with Hoffman, guitarist Dave Bruzza and banjo player Michael Arlen Bont, adding bassist Mike Devol and dobroist Anders Beck several ye...
Paul Scheer on Psilocybin-Fueled Weezer Walks, DJ-Sparring With His Wife
One can never accuse Paul Scheer of laziness. Hell, just in this publication window, he has his guest-directed episode of Marvel 616 out, a new live-streamed Christmas episode of his award-winning podcast How Did This Get Made on Dec. 11 and a role in the indie superhero flick Archenemy, out the same day. Starting in improv at comedy breeding ground Upright Citizens Brigade, Scheer got his first break in 2007, creating the brilliantly bizarre, MTV sketch show Human Giant with Aziz Ansari and Rob Huebel. From there, along with a ton of roles on more cult shows like Party Down and The Life & Times of Tim, Paul created Adult Swim’s NTSF: SD: SUV in 2011. Spoofing MacGyver-styled ‘80s machismo and the glut of Law and Order spin-offs, the show gave Scheer his first confident spot in t...
