A little help from his friends: three decades after forming the Mumps with Lance Loud, Kristian Hoffman releases a CD of duets with the likes of Rufus Wainwright and Paul Reubens. (music).

It's 9 o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles the day after the release party for Kristian Hoffman's latest CD, a series of duets titled &, and the musician is just beginning to allow himself to revel in the previous night's success. "I was in my `poor me' mode. I thought, No one's gonna come," he says, affecting a whine. "And of course, [the show] was packed!"

For anyone familiar with Hoffman's reputation, the show's success is no surprise. As & collaborator and friend Rufus Wainwright says, "Everyone knows Kristian. He's generous, honest, [and] one of the hardest-working musicians in L.A." Another & partner, Ann Magnuson, dubs Hoffman "Oscar Wilde--witty" before quipping, "He's played Barry Manilow to my Bette Midler." Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens, yet another & collaborator, calls Hoffman "a great writer and musician."

Even with endorsements like these, Hoffman isn't too quick to believe the hype. "It's a holdover from the struggle," he says: "You labor on your art project and you're hoping someone will pay attention, and when they finally do, it's hard to believe it. But the stars seem to be aligning, and things are pretty good right now." The CD's songs, all penned by Hoffman (with the exception of "I Can't Remember My Dreams," which he co-wrote with Lydia Lunch) showcase his boundary-less range as a writer, from the Nick Lowe--style pop of "Anybody but You" to the somber, stripped-down musings on the Matthew Shepard ode "Scarecrow" to the campy New Wave cabaret of "Series of You's."

A quick overview of Hoffman's life suggests that the stars have always aligned for him. He jokingly calls himself "the Zelig of rock and roll," and he has, like the fictional Woody Allen character, found himself on the scene when some of the most pivotal moments in glare, punk, and New Wave music history were unfolding. In the early '70s he hung out with the likes of Lou Reed and Alice Cooper at Max's Kansas City. He rubbed elbows with David Bowie and Bryan Ferry at Club 82. At CBGB he befriended Deborah Harry and other underground sensations such as Talking Heads before they became superstars. And in the '80s he hung out with New York icons-in-the-making like artists Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring.

Currently, Hoffman plays in the touring band of Dave Davies, of Kinks fame. But it's when he talks about his first band, the Mumps, in which he played with Lance Loud, that Hoffman seems the most proud. Hoffman's exploits as a Santa Barbara, Calif., teenager were documented in the PBS reality series An American Family, which starred his high school pal Loud. The friends' great escape to New York and their attempts to form a band were immortalized in the television series. The Mumps went on to become underground legends in the clubs of New York.

Looking back on his wild ride, Hoffman wonders about the importance he places on those memories. "Am I cheapening my perspective of now by waxing nostalgic about this era?" he asks. "But I have to think that, realistically, it was pretty incredible."

Hoffman's life right now is "pretty incredible" too. He shares his Los Angeles home with his partner, playwright Justin Tanner (Pot Mom, Happytime Xmas), and early reviews of & are positive.

"Everything, to me, always happens by mistake," he says, deflecting praise for his seeming good fortune. "Except for the fact that I keep persevering. If you stop working, it's never going to happen."

Gdula is a freelance writer who has also written for The Washington Post.