Bronson Hoover’s First Album Began With His Mother’s Question. The Release Party Is October 11.

Bronson Hoover has been playing in Montgomery County bands since the late 1980s. He has backed other people’s records, toured the country in other people’s vans, and shared stages with Buddy Guy and Kim Wilson. He had never made an album of his own.

His mother asked him why.

Hoover writes on his website that during one of their last conversations, a few weeks before she died, she asked when he was going to record an album and why he had never gotten around to it. Two years later he was riding in the back of the Chris O’Leary Band’s road van, feeling, in his words, rudderless, with that conversation replaying in his head. He picked up the phone and called his friend Conrad Fisher to ask for help.

That call became my moon & other love songs, Hoover’s debut solo album, released this month. Hoover celebrates the album on Sunday, October 11 at Hank Dietle’s Tavern in Rockville.

The Album Release Party

• When: Sunday, October 11. Doors and food at 1 p.m., music from 2 to 4 p.m.
• Where: Hank Dietle’s Tavern, 11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville.
• Tickets: available through Eventbrite. Seating is limited and the organizers list no refunds.
• Food: a spread provided by Hoover and friends.

Hoover is bringing a deep bench. The lineup listed for the party includes Conrad Fisher, Chris O’Leary, Dan Leonard, Ben Tufts, Pete Strobl, Josh Pittman, Nikki Lerner, Nina Goodman and Barnaby Bristol.

How the Record Got Made

The album started as a plan to record a few old guitar songs by himself. Hoover says it changed on the first day, at Conrad Fisher’s studio in western Pennsylvania, when Fisher heard the title track and asked why he did not bring a band in for it.

From there it grew by accident and by ear. Scott Tournet turned a set of simple notes into a soundscape. Fisher picked up a harmonica during a conversation about the state of the world and ended up on the record. Hoover heard mandolin player Bryan McDowell at an old-time music festival in Baltimore and knew he needed him. Nikki Lerner took the backing vocal parts past what Hoover had imagined for them.

The hardest part was singing. Hoover writes that being the lead singer had always been outside his comfort zone, so he spent a couple of months recording vocal takes at the home of voice teacher Pete Strobl, whose students have included Eddie Van Halen and Wolfgang Van Halen.

One family thread runs through it. Hoover’s brother Harris Amster sings on “Mississippi Moonlight,” connecting the solo record to Burt the Dirt, the band Hoover plays in. Burt the Dirt won the 2026 Wammie for Best Country/Americana Album for Rides Again.

The Song the Album Is Named For

Hoover wrote “My Moon” the afternoon after his first date with Deb, in December 1997. He says they talked about everything that night, and the song came out of him the next day. A year later he changed a few lyrics and used it to propose to her in front of their friends. Hoover and Deb married in 2000.

My soul has been on low tide. Won’t you be my moon.

Bronson Hoover, “My Moon”

About the Venue

Hank Dietle’s is a fitting room for a late first album. The Rockville Pike roadhouse traces to 1916 and took the Dietle name in 1950, and it holds the first beer and wine license Montgomery County issued after Prohibition, number 001.

A fire gutted the tavern on Valentine’s Day 2018, causing roughly $500,000 in damage. Hank Dietle’s stayed closed for more than three years and reopened in July 2021, still carrying license number 001.

Who Bronson Hoover Is

Hoover is a multi-instrumentalist, video producer and former sous chef who has spent most of his life in the Baltimore and Washington region, and who has lived in Montgomery County since he was 12. He plays keyboards with Scott Tournet and the Spark out of Baltimore, with Billy Price, and with Bobby Thompson in Northern Virginia.

He has toured Switzerland with the Shari Puorto Band and crossed the country with the Chris O’Leary Band and the Gabe Stillman Band. Along the way he has shared stages with Buddy Guy, Anson Funderburgh, Kim Wilson and Ron Holloway.

Where to Hear It

• Stream or buy my moon & other love songs through the album link.
• Watch a video from the record on YouTube.
• Read Hoover’s full account of making the album on his website.

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