With her 4th album, “Love Come Down,” released in September 2018, Boston performing songwriter Thea Hopkins has achieved an elegance of sound that lives up to her poetic prowess. A talent the Washington Post called “a standout writer,” she has created, in just six tunes, a seamless song journey that begins with a gentle invocation (“Love Come Down”), ends with a lullaby (“Until Then”) and gracefully travels to a few dark American landscapes in between. From love ballad to social history, every song is personal.
The Paris Move raved "“Our amazement is total. Thea Hopkins’ CD “Love Come Down” should come with a warning: To be opened with care – risk of love at first sight!"
-- Patrick Dallongeville https://www.paris-move.com/reviews/thea-hopkins-love-come-down/
The scope of the EP can be seen by the choice of musicians. Jazz trumpeter Tom Halter (Either Orchestra) explores haunting new directions on four songs. “Mississippi River, Mississippi Town” features the electric ebow of Dave Minehan (The Neighborhoods, The Replacements.) He also co-produced the song. On “The Ghost of Emmett Till,” Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary) adds his quietly dramatic guitar and harmony vocals. The pianist Tim Ray (formerly with Lyle Lovett) is prominent, and plaintive, on “Almost Upon a Time.” “Tamson Weeks” is sparked by violinist Mimi Rabson of the Really Esoteric String Quartet. It tells the story of Hopkins" great-great aunt, a medicine woman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Indian tribe of Martha's Vineyard.
Thea has been described by a former Bob Dylan tour manager as, "k.d. lang meets Leonard Cohen."
She first gained wider musical recognition when Peter, Paul & Mary recorded her song 'Jesus Is On The Wire' in 2004 and again in 2010, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. It is considered one of their later signature songs.
A member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe, Thea is honored to be a 2016 recipient of a fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. Her ancestry also includes Nottoway (Iroquois), African-American, Irish and Portuguese.
Recent festival appearances include the Greenbelt Festival (Kettering UK), the Moseley Folk Festival (Birmingham, UK) the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival (Okemah,OK), the Outside The Box Festival (Boston, MA), International Festival of Arts & Ideas (CT), the Saltaire Festival (UK) and From A Distance - Festival of Americana Music (UK).
Artists Thea has opened for in the US and in the UK, include John Lodge of the Moody Blues, Noel Paul Stookey, Amy Helm, David Bromberg & Larry Campbell, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, John Hammond, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Maura O'Connell and Richie Furay.
Venues that have welcomed Thea and her music include the City Winery (NY), Museum of Fine Arts(MA), the Bluebird Cafe(TN), Club Passim (MA), Smith Center For The Performing Arts (NV), Narrows Center For The Arts (MA), Johnny D's (MA), the Bitter End (NY), Museum of Fine Arts (MA), Band on the Wall (UK), the Atkinson (UK) and the Museum of American Folk Art (NY).