11 Days Drops August 18
Down on Jane is proof that some stories just take longer to tell.
After more than 20 years, the band returns with 11 Days, a record that began as an 11 day challenge and somehow became a three year journey.
Written, performed, engineered, and produced almost entirely by Rob Hoffman in his home studio, the album reconnects old friends, finishes songs that waited decades to be heard, and reflects on everything that happened in between: careers, families, loss, starting over, and the simple joy of making music again.
Featuring longtime drummer Tom Staszak on Starnak’s Space and the return of original vocalist Jeff Weiss for the first time in more than 25 years on The Cliff, 11 Days isn’t about reliving the past. It’s about discovering that the passion never really left.
Who Is Down on Jane?
Down on Jane started out in the late ’90s and early 2000s, in a bar scene alive with local bands chasing their sound. We were one of them, hauling gear into tiny clubs, scribbling setlists on napkins, and learning as we went. Like a lot of groups, we stumbled, we grew, and eventually life pulled us in different directions. Jobs, families, and responsibilities took center stage. But the itch to create never actually went away, it just got buried under everything else.
Now, in our late 40s, we’re not trying to recreate the past or stage some grand comeback. We’re proof that staying creative after 40 doesn’t mean picking up where you left off. It means figuring out what creativity looks like now, with less time, more perspective, and a lot fewer illusions about how it’s supposed to go. We play for the same reason we did back then: because it’s fun, it’s ours, and it still matters.
That’s where the blog comes in. Back when we started, documenting your band wasn’t easy. Cell phones, cameras, and camcorders were all separate things, and most nights ended with nothing more than a few flyers stuffed in a pocket. What we’re doing now is filling in those gaps: telling the stories we never got to share, writing down the memories before they fade, and figuring out, in real time, what it looks like to stay creative after 40, when life is fuller, and the stakes feel different.
We hope it entertains. We hope it inspires someone to pick up an instrument, start a band, or just start something, whatever that looks like for them. Most of all, we hope it shows that creativity doesn’t come with an expiration date. It just needs a little room to breathe.
From the Blog – Music, Stories, & Reflections
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Back on the Road
A few months ago I was sitting in a parking deck at the Palms…
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11 Days: The Dare That Took Three Years
When I took some time off over Christmas in 2023, I had a simple…
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Trailer Trash, Beaver Stadium, and My Alma Mater
I left the house first thing, alone. It was raining, the kind of low,…
Listen to the Music
Got Questions About Down on Jane?
Down on Jane is a rock band formed in the late 1990s on Pittsburgh’s South Side by Rob Hoffman and Scott Spear. The band released several albums, including Aestus, the Empty Bottle EP, and a self-titled album. Today, the members get together a few times a year to jam and continue writing new music. Their first album in 20 years, 11 Days, releases August 18, 2026.
Down on Jane formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, specifically rooted in the Southside neighborhood, where the band got its name. The members were always practicing and playing “down on Jane Street.”
Not at all. Down on Jane is proof that creativity doesn’t have an expiration date. For Rob, that creativity happens to come out as music, but the site is really about what it takes to stay creative once life gets full: kids, jobs, responsibilities. Rob writes about picking music back up in midlife, the creative process, the gear, and playing for the love of it rather than chasing a record deal or fame.
Down on Jane plays alternative and indie rock influenced by Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket, Oasis, Pink Floyd, Built to Spill, and Pete Yorn. The sound blends classic rock sensibility with introspective songwriting and guitar-driven arrangements born out of the 1990s and early 2000’s. Today, the music lands somewhere between indie rock, folk, and psychedelic.
Rob reviews guitars, amps, and gear from a working musician’s perspective: acoustics, electrics, home studio equipment, and everything in between. The Guitars and Gear blog covers the instruments and tools behind staying creative in your 40s.
Down on Jane’s music is available to stream on Spotify. Visit the Music page on this site for a direct link to the full catalog.