PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 117 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: DAVID HOFFMAN Before discussing the legends in front of the camera, take a moment to meet the visionary behind it. A scrappy filmmaker, David Hoffman is the kind of guy who jumps right into the action, hand-held camera at the ready. “There were maybe about a hundred of us in the country who were doing this kind of work—handholding, just talking to people,” he recalls. As a documentarian for hire, David has done a bit of everything over his long career. His subjects ranged from competitive inline skating and the military to Wall Street trading and 1960s drug culture. “I had my standards—but you could've hired me to do tooth decay, and I would have done a documentary on it,” David chuckles. That said, his background scored him plenty of musicrelated projects. “I was a classical musician. I played oboe,” David says. “But then I played banjo and I had a folk song group in college. We played all the Pete Seeger songs. It was a pretty common, rebellious thing to do.” The filmmaker’s respect for the country genre is evident. “On Long Island, where I grew up, you heard the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night on the radio,” he describes. “And us music kids, we thought it was unbelievable ... I still am mesmerized by the soul of that music.” Though David’s films have garnered Emmys, Golden Globes and an Academy Award, he doesn’t put much stock in such things. “Awards don’t mean anything really, you know?” he says with a shrug. “Some of my best films didn't get noticed at all.” So what does he care about? “I'm interested in what people think, and the way they express themselves,” he says of his deeply human approach to filmmaking, adding, “My talent is a sixth sense for what people are not saying.” But let’s get back to Earl Scruggs, the heart of David’s documentary. Back in 1972, North Carolina native Earl had pioneered the bluegrass genre with Bill Monroe’s band, the Blue Grass Boys. He'd also revolutionized three-finger banjo picking (known as “Scruggs-style” today). Despite these contributions, Earl was chasing a more contemporary sound. After breaking with his more traditional musical partner Lester Flatt, Earl reached out to musicians he respected to set up jam sessions, embarking on a journey that would be highly influential in developing his sound as an artist over the rest of his ABOVE: David Hoffman films a jam session with Earl Scruggs and singer-songwriter Doc Watson. OPPOSITE: David has filmed everyone from actor Anthony Quinn, known for his role in Lawrence of Arabia, to B.B. King during his famous 1972 performance at Sing Sing Prison.
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