WHO IS RICH HOPKINS?

It's not just a rhetorical question - the "who is Rich Hopkins?" one -- although friends of the Tucson guitarist and songwriter know that he's prone to at least as much introspection, navel-gazing and a general soul-seeking as your average cloistered monk. But then, the desert tends to do that to people. (I should know; I lived there.)

At any rate, to answer the above query in my typical roundabout way, I should first point out that in this world there are not three but four certainties: birth, death, taxes, and a new Rich Hopkins albums every year. A raw accounting of stats isn't necessarily "sexy," but let's briefly examine 'em: Four records from his first band the Sidewinders (including a promo-only mini-album) and six from Sand Rubies (aka the Sidewinders after a name change), plus a 12-CD box set comprising Sidewinders/Sand Rubies demos, radio sessions and live bootlegs; four collaborations, two featuring Hopkins and ex-Naked Prey guitar slinger Dave Seger (as Underbelly, and, later, The Woodcocks), one with Hopkins and South American virtuoso Concepcion Romero and, more recently, one pairing up Hopkins with Old Pueblo legend Billy Sedlmayr; an early acoustic solo album Hopkins did in Paraguay called, logically enough, Paraguay; and no less than nine - eleven, if you count a pair of official live 'legs -- releases by Rich Hopkins & Luminarios. If you don't add in the promo EP, the bootlegs and the box, that makes at least 23 official full-lengths. Eyes glazing over yet?

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"It is testimony to rock's proselytizing powers that I should move to Tucson solely upon one song's urging. One evening in 1991 while spinning some tunes, sharing a cheap bottle of red wind and commiserating over our dead-end retail career tracks, my wife and I heard the following lyrics issue forth with the mind clearing resonance of Joshua's horn: 'Get out of that shopping mall! C'mon down here!' The song was the Sidewinders' 'Get Out Of That Town,' and we did just that shortly afterwards."

While I've never been loath to let the truth get in the way of a good story, that particular anecdote is absolutely true. Rich, both through his band's music and across endless letters and phone conversations touting the culture, the geography and mysteries of the Arizona desert, was instrumental in my decision to move to Tucson in '92. I never regretted a second of my ten-year tenure there.

While in Tucson, in fact, I was witness to the demise (and numerous rebirths) of the Sand Rubies as well as the rise of the Luminarios, frequently sitting around with him and listening to him agonize over this or that nagging detail regarding a sudden lineup crisis, or a forthcoming record, or simply the usual personal and professional vicissitudes any working musician has to weather in order to mount and maintain a career. So I've always felt a special bond to Rich and his music beyond the usual own-the-records/see-the-shows connection that any fan feels towards a favorite artist.

Another story I love to tell --also 100% true, and also one I've spun in print in the past --is how, one day in the spring of 1988, I went to my P.O. box to pick up my mail, and among the packages was one bearing a Tucson return address. For some reason I decided to open it up in the car, and inside the parcel was not only the Sidewinders' debut LP Cuacha! (on clear vinyl, no less) but also a cassette copy of the album. I wasn't familiar with the band, but this was too intriguing to pass up, so I popped the tape in and listened to it while driving home from the post office. I was hooked instantly -- the tunes, a romantic blend of powerpop, folkrock and Tom Petty/Neil Young classicism, were utterly unique yet they spoke in familiar tones to me as well, like old, cherished friends I hadn't heard from in ages.

Rich's songwriting and his guitar playing, certainly, had a lot to do with that. And while over the years he's grown immeasurably as an artist/creator on both counts (along the way, once his Luminarios arc commenced, he even decided it was time to tackle singing chores, too), perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay him is that his vision has remained consistent - so unwavering, in an aesthetic-stylistic sense, that I can spot a Hopkins composition within the first few bars of the song playing. Whether picking out a yearning Spanish melody on his acoustic guitar, strumming up a jangly 12-string fire or careening full-tilt into a Crazy Horse-esque electric maelstrom, Rich's sound is unerringly his. In this era of musical chameleons seeking to forecast and channel the next big trend - and as a consequence, issuing throwaway recording after throwaway recording - to have an artist like Rich around is a precious thing indeed.

For me, then, I suppose his appeal amounts to one of those maddening summaries of intangibles, a serendipitous confluence of sonic intensity (wide-open-spaces rawk meets lush melodicism) and pure, unfettered soulfulness. All I know is that his music has always touched me in just the right places, and it continues to do so.

Who, then, is Rich Hopkins? Well, as a family man he's ridiculously devoted to his beautiful wife and super-cool daughter. As an indie label owner (San Jacinto Records), he's a tireless champion of other musicians he feels deserve a shot at getting noticed. As a longtime resident of Tucson, he's a generous supporter of various charitable causes and organizations -- and he knows where the best turkey tacos in town are, too.

And as a rock 'n' roller to the core, well in my own impressionistic, way, I hope I've in some way given you a glimpse of that side of his personality. Because from my vantage point, once again 2000 miles removed from Tucson but frequently homesick for the desert, Rich is also my friend. Believe it.

Fred Mills (Associate Editor, Magnet Magazine)
Asheville, NC, May 2003

No other artist is connected with the name Blue Rose as guitarist/singer/songwriter Rich Hopkins from Tucson, Arizona. Since the first Blue Rose album El Paso (1996) the releases by RICH HOPKINS & LUMINARIOS became more and more successful and reached the peak with his latest album My Lucky Stars in 2001.

With the cult band The Sand Rubies he had released a new album (The Return of the Living Dead) in 1999, followed by the most successful tour Rich Hopkins ever did in Europe.

It took him two years to record a new album. Now RICH HOPKINS returns with THE LUMINARIOS and a brand new studio album called "Ka-Ju-Tah". It's a great follow-up to classics like "El Paso", "Glorious Sounds Of", "Devolver" and "My Lucky Stars". Sixty minutes, eleven new songs plus the Byrds classic "So You Want To Be A Rock'n'Roll Star" as a hidden track featuring Rich Hopkins at his best! The opening track, "Red, White And And Blue is a typical Rich Hopkins song with all the sounds which became his trademark including his unique guitar playing. As you can also hear on "San Felipe Blues". But also the ballads are fantastic, just listen to Ka-Ju-Tah and you know what we are talking about. The icing on the cake (beside the live-tested, 7 minute rocker "Rock'n'Roll Star") is a collaboration with Steve Wynn on the song "Credits Roll" with Steve on vocals.

In the studio he had a little help from his friends like Ernie Mendoza on drums, Ken Andree (guitar, bass, vocals), Dave Seger (guitar), Stu Kupers (bass), Craig Schumacher (keyboards) and more guests (Winston Watson, Ernie Gardner, Jim Howell or John Venet, not to forget Rich's daughter Bailey).


What's the meaning of Ka-Ju-Tah?

Rich tells the story:

"A few years ago I had a dream about me being with what appeared to me as a native American shaman who said in this dream, "I am going to teach you one word - Ka-Ju-Tah. I woke up from that dream, wrote the word down and immediately told Lu and Bailey and any other friends of family what I had dreamed. I took this dream as a sign... So I thought that Ka-Ju-Tah was some sort of word that I had to discover its meaning. In the meantime I started using it as a greeting to some friends and family.

One year later, I was down in Bahia Kino, Mexico on a small vacation camping with friends and family on Seri indian land and had a chance to speak with some Seri fishermen who were checking their crab traps. I asked an elder man who was Seri but spoke Spanish if he had ever heard of the word "Ka-Ju-Tah". He said that in the Seri language they have a very similar word called "Ju-Sta" which is a greeting like "How's it going?" Well, i was blown away because in my mind my Ka-Ju-Tah and Ju-Sta were darn near identical... I was on to something. I mean, I felt that I was on some sort of quest for the meaning of this dream and word."