#418: SPOTLIGHT: Eric Hopkins

#418: Eric Hopkins

February 25, 2025

A Backbeat of Community 

Question for Eric: 

Is there a specific song, song lyric, or music genre that is particularly meaningful and moving for you? What is it and in what way(s) has it had an impact? 

Eric's Response: 

Grateful Dead music instantly popped out of my head when I read this prompt. 

I was reminded of my first drive across the United States in 1974, headed for an adventure in learning to experiment with molten glass in the newly founded Pilchuck Glass School north of Seattle. 

Driving across America's spacious skies, purple mountain majesties, and amber waves of grain, my soundtrack was Grateful Dead's Europe '72 double cassette and a bootleg Bob Dylan tape. The music resonated with the rhythm of the road as I headed West.

The glass shop operated 24/7 and was a hotbed of experimentation. Moving to the music was a big part of working with the molten material.

Likewise - Grateful Dead's music was wide open to experimenting and improvising with a diverse variety of musical genres - from bluegrass, country western, folk, rock and roll, jazz and classical music.  (They even had some studio musicians who had played with Elvis Presley and Lawrence Welk - now that's American spirit!)

The importance of music and motion is a major part of my creative process - and Grateful Dead music just plain makes me feel alive, good, and connected with something bigger than myself.

- Eric Hopkins,  1.21.25