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A Musical Life: Jade Hopkins

Jenny Hopkins

Jade Hopkins is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Derby, Kansas.

“I’ve been a songwriter for a long time but I got really into Jerry Reed. Most people know him as an actor but he was also a country singer. What most people don’t know is that he’s one of the greatest thumb-picking guitar players ever. This guy can play could play things that were completely unbelievable. When I heard it, I couldn’t understand how he did. So I sent away for these tapes to learn how to play like him and the songs that I play of Jerry Reed’s, it took me about 10 years to learn.

“I have been writing songs since I was very young. My dad is a songwriter. He was always sitting at the piano. I remember, I probably wrote my first song walking back from Boy Scouts to my house when we lived, for a short time, in Whitewater, Kansas. Probably around 10 years old.

“A guitar that’s not played is not loved.”

Jedd Beaudoin is host/producer of the nationally syndicated program Strange Currency. He created and host the podcast Into Music, which examines musical mentorship and creative approaches to the composition, recording and performance of songs. As a music journalist, his work has appeared in PopMatters, Vox, No Depression and Keyboard Magazine.