From all those names that popped up on the American music scene in the mid-Eighties (and delivered), Rich Hopkins is probably the one that has, to put it mildly, retained a cult status. Think of any other name that began sometime in the mid -Eighties - Yo La Tengo, gained a name, Chuck Prophet did too, even Rich’s Tucson Arizona colleague Howe Gelb made a name.
Nothing seemed to help Rich, particularly in America. Being on of the founding members of The Sidewinders, The Sand Rubies, or having Mike Davis the MC5 bass player in his still current Luminarios band didn’t do the trick. As was the case with quite a number of American musicians, Hopkins got a much greater recognition in Europe and elsewhere than in the US. Currently, he probably has more members in his German fan club than people who heard his music in the US.
This adversity though did not deter Hopkins from one thing - coming up with good music. You can probably lose a count on how many albums Hopkins appears (how about the Americana supergroup Underbelly?), but one thing you can always be certain of - if Hopkins is on the album, you can expect great sounds.
Part of it has to do with Rich’s deep understanding of the music he’s playing, the other with the passion with which he approaches it. All of that is well exemplified on his news outing “My Way or The Highway”.
The title more or less exemplifies the music - Rich Hopkins is sticking what he knows, and he knows it good. You get a great take on uptempo Americana rock, composed, played and sung pitch-perfect, without sticking to any cliches connected with the genre. Knowing your subject matter, like Hopkins does lets you come up with even something new; for example “Meant For Mo’” can easily fall into something that can be called rap Americana.
Otherwise, this is an album that is a joy to listen to and it is hard to pick the highlights. Personally, “Lost Highway” and “Chan Kah” were mostly on repeat. One thing is for sure, the level of musical quality of “My Way or The Highway” is way up. Whether it will help Hopkins reach a wider audience is another question. He always has the option to brush up his German, though.
