J.C. Hopkins

Starting as a militant folkie, mutating into a roots rocker, followed by a stint as a noisemonger, J.C. Hopkins may have found a home with the intricate song structures more associated with Brian Wilson than Woody Guthrie. His strength is his iconoclasm, partially inspired by Charles Ives, though equally colored by the traditionalism of the Beatles. Singer-songwriter Peter Case first noticed Hopkins in his folk incarnation, so when he formed his Americana combo Flophouse, Case stepped into produce (1990, Heyday). But shortly after, Hopkins abandoned roots rock in favor of a ...