ABOUT
“With a seasoned, authentic, and articulate voice that evokes shades of Laurel Canyon-era Jackson Browne and other bookish bohemian country-rock legends, you might assume Harry Hochman is the classy veteran songsmith that somehow slipped our notice all these years, and in a sense you’d be right.”
-James Volpe Rotundi (Acoustic Guitar, American Songwriter)
It’s only fitting that Michigan transplant Harry Hochman landed in Los Angeles, where he would have fit perfectly in its formative Laurel Canyon music scene. His songs mine a deep vein of life experiences, finding beauty, insight and humor in his Motor City beginnings, years of global and psychedelic travels, long distance motorcycling and literally dozens of varied but always dead-end jobs. “I did everything from packing pickles to grinding poured metal castings,” he says, “Wasn’t much to choose from in Michigan at the time, and I’m not sure much has changed.” After motorcycling to California, that life experience turned unexpectedly into an unlikely 30-year career as a successful bankruptcy lawyer in Los Angeles, “Law was the antidote to struggling,” he reflects, “but by the end it was a struggle to take the medicine.” Something had to give, and music was his answer. “Law makes people angry, and music makes them happy. I prefer it this way.”
Harry’s music features breezy folk-rock stylings sometimes evocative of another Detroit product, Glen Frey, and seasoned, authentic and ironic lyrics that sometimes bring to mind Jackson Browne, both Laurel Canyon alumni. He cites both as influences, along with Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bob Seger, The Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Jay Ferrar and many others. His quest is to download a life’s lessons learned in songs that are catchy, earthy, relatable and smart. “I’m not trying to hide the ball,” he says. “I just want to get people singing and thinking at the same time.”
“Life is simpler than we make it out to be,” he leaves off. “I know it’s cliche, but music really does help us overcome divisions and complications.” Harry hopes his new direction will help him be an agent of such change. “I want to share my songs, to feel them resonate with other people. That’s the goal.”
“This is a songwriter with something to say and, even better, he knows exactly how he wants to say it.”
-Trace Whittaker, Pop Icon Magazine
“From the Motor City to the City of Angels, Harry Hochman’s journey is as intricate and captivating as the melodies he crafts.”
-Wolf Georgia, Music Farmer 5
“Harry Hochman embodies everything good about an All-American singer/songwriter.” – Coyote Music
“Inside Out has everything that a music devotee enamored with thoughtful songwriting could ever ask for and carries itself with loose, confident bearing.”
-Clay Burton, Independent Music and Artist Insider
Colin Jordan of Medium says “It’s effervescent, full of life yet never blustery, and the wide-eyed connection Hochman clearly has with his song makes you want to hear anything he’s willing to write and/or sing.”
Mary Smith of Planet Singer says “Hochman’s musical style, often reminiscent of Glen Frey’s breezy folk-rock and Jackson Browne’s heartfelt lyricism, exudes authenticity.”