Kevin Jones

JN 311

June 9, 2015

Major Story #1: Community Profile

Local musicians rarely have a spokesperson that provides opportunities for success, but Ellis Hopkins gladly takes on the role.

Hopkins, a 52-year-old Baton Rouge, La. native first began playing music at the age of 13. Hopkins then went on to make a living playing music for seven years until the music scene changed. That ultimately led him to Birmingham, where he eventually found work at WorkPlay music hall. Since Hopkins began work at WorkPlay he has created WorkPlays Rock School for children and WorkPlays Singer Songwriter Night for all ages. Both events began in 2011 and serve as platforms for local musicians to network with each other and promote their music.

I realized [playing music] was more fun to beat on my books with pencils instead of reading them, Hopkins said. I try to encourage people to play music to expand their mind and have more fun. You have to have fun in life, its not all serious.

Hopkins came up with the idea for WorkPlays Rock School after hearing about his nephew participating in a similar program in Texas. Hopkins loved the idea of children being exposed to music while young, so he set out to create his own.

Its about just getting kids together and let them see that they can put something together and it be something, Hopkins said. Nobody can take that from you and they created it. Thats the real dream. I tell my parents if you want your kid to be 20 percent smarter than they are, get them involved in music, it will expand their thinking. It wont narrow it.

Another contribution from Hopkins is the creation of WorkPlays Singer Songwriter Night. After recently completing its fifth season, the event allows local musicians of all ages to play on a main stage in front of an audience and other competing musicians.

The contestants are judged on their performances by fellow musicians and audience members, similar to American Idol. The finalists then compete in front of judges, who have backgrounds in the music industry, and the winner is picked from there.

Recent contestant William Smith states, Ellis being a musician himself knows the struggle of how hard getting your name out there is, everything he is doing is great for us local artists.

Previous winners have gained massive amounts of exposure with one winner going on to place fourth in American Idol. Hopkins long term goal is to continue promoting these events to spread the joys of playing music.

My vision is to just get people to be proud of what they can do," Hopkins said. Birmingham is a growing city so theres always a chance that all these musicians will get together and create that next big band. I would love to see that.

Profile Contact Information

Ellis Hopkins: ellishop1@gmail.com

Interview date: June 5th 2015