Thicker than water

Donna Hopkins was only 14, growing up in Arab (pronounced AIR-rab), Ala., when she began sneaking out of the house to play guitar in bars in nearby Huntsville and Muscle Shoals. It wasn’t long before Hopkins left home for good, relocating to Birmingham and later to Nashville. She then spent eight years on the road, for much of that time traveling in the Dakotas, Montana and in Las Vegas, before settling in Atlanta 13 years ago.

If age 14 seems a bit young to make a commitment to a career and a lifestyle, consider that Hopkins, whose blues band performs most every Friday at Players Live in Marietta, has music in her blood, dating back three generations.

“My great grandfather, my grandfather and my mother were all musicians,” Hopkins recalls. “My grandfather, Tip Barbee, played bluegrass and blues kind of stuff. I remember going to hear him play on Saturdays nights.”

Hopkins also remembers her mother playing guitar and organ, back in the late ’60s and early ’70s, clad in mini skirt and go-go boots.

Hopkins, 38, hasn’t forgotten her musical roots. She’s planning a solo album now (“the one I’ve been waiting for,” she says), and her grandfather, who still lives in Alabama, will play on one cut. Hopkins also is keeping up the family tradition, reporting with no small measure of pride that her 5-year-old daughter, India, is a budding singer and actress who just won a scholarship to an acting school.

Hopkins has continued her own tradition of gigs and travel. In addition to the stint at Players Live, her band performs two Tuesdays a month at Fuzzy’s in Atlanta (it will become a weekly gig in September, she says). She also appears frequently around town in a “Women of Rock” show, an acoustic songwriter-in-the-round performance that features Caroline Aiken and Diane Durrette.

She recently returned from a month-long tour of Europe, where she played blues festivals and clubs in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and France.

“I just totally fell in love with Europe,” Hopkins says. “I want to go back. It’s amazing how well they treat you. We wish for that over here.”

Scandinavian countries, ironically, have a profound appreciation for blues. “Norway and Denmark were the most incredible places for the blues,” she says. “They’ve really studied the stuff.”

That’s fine with Hopkins, who aims for a raw, old-school approach to blues, armed only with a vintage Gibson Les Paul Custom, a guitar chord and an old tube amp (that’s vacuum tube, by the way, versus the more contemporary solid-state amplifiers).

“I love the tone of those old tube amps,” Hopkins says, with obvious enthusiasm, “and the way they smell. Have you ever smelled the back of a tube amp? I love ‘em.”

Other hints of her obsession: Hopkins’ guitar is named “Willie Mae,” she says, in honor of late R&B vocalist Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. Thornton hailed from Montgomery, Ala., and is perhaps best known as the author of “Hound Dog,” which Elvis Presley later adapted for his own purposes.

Players Live launched in May, and Hopkins’ band is scheduled to play there every Friday through November (except Sept. 7, when Sean Costello performs). Both Friday and Saturday nights are devoted to blues. Look for upcoming shows by E.G. Kight, Cathy Carlisle and others, and guest appearances by the likes of Tinsley Ellis, who played with Hopkins last weekend. On Thursday nights, the venue hosts a jam, ranging from jazz to funk to fusion to blues, Hopkins says, and Sunday nights feature acoustic music.

While keeping up her gig schedule, Hopkins says she’s very excited about her upcoming CD, which will include some of her original material.

“I’m definitely going to be recording all of fall and winter, spending some time,” she says. “It’s going to be fun.”

The Donna Hopkins Band performs at Players Live, on the deck of Players Billiards, 2000 Powers Ferry Road in Marietta, Fri., Aug. 17, at 10 p.m. For more details, call 770-859-9353. For more information on Hopkins, visit www.donnahopkins.com.

This column is a weekly feature covering music outside the Perimeter. E-mail or mail “outside” music news to Bryan Powell, 830 Josh Lane, Lawrenceville, Ga., 30045.??