Claude Hopper. What's in a name? An uncouth rustic? A wearer of shit kicking boots? A player and singer of songs? A roots rockin' sonic adventure? Reader of White Trash Cookbook recipes? All that and more? Yes indeedy do.
Santa Barbara, California-based Claude Hopper is singer/songwriter and guitarist David Cowan's musical persona. Claude Hopper plays an eclectic mix of original songs that has been described as alternafolk-truckrockin'-countrifried-bluesy music.
Beginning at the infamous Ollie Festie 2000, Claude Hopper has played numerous shows and has recorded two CDs, Four in the Morning (2001) and The Finite Nature of Things (2004). Claude Hopper performs as an acoustic solo artist and also rocks out with the Claude Hopper Band, featuring John McInnes on the bass guitar, Andy Webb on lead guitar, Michael Rivers on the drum kit, and Chris Ulep on the keyboards. The Claude Hopper Band - Come see us live and we will rock you out.
Claude Hopper and Friends shows feature guest appearances by some of the crew who played on the records and other friends, including Alastair Greene, Pat Nevins, Colin John, Jim Mason, Roger Len Smith, Bryan "Smitty" Smith, Victor Bisetti, Earl, Gary Sangenitto, Chris Cairns, Laz, Brent Hill, Nicola Gordon, Cliff Starbuck, Jay Shobe, Mari Martin, Bill Lanphar, Dan "The Man" Fremont, Jeff Bisch and more.
An Ohio native, David has participated in Jim Messina's (Buffalo Springfield, Loggins and Messina, Poco) "Songwriters Performance Workshops." David was also a member of the "On The Couch" series at the Mint in Los Angeles as a singer/songwriter and back-line guitarist.
The following is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the MONTECITO JOURNAL:
ON THE BEAT By Steven LibowitzLIFE, DEATH AND CREDIT CARD DEBT
"While many could regard his style as intimate or meditative, there's a comedic side to David Cowan's music with such ditties as 'Montecito White Trash Barbecue,' a look back at his days of sharing the hedgerow district with Oprah Winfrey."The new CD, "The Finite Nature of Things," is the perfect soundtrack for a lazy weekend backyard gathering for a guy whose tastes run more to "Mammy's Mashed Pee-taters" than champagne and caviar. Need more proof? The CD, like its predecessor four years ago (no one's writing blank checks to finance these babies, folks)is released under Cowan's rather inglorious band name, Clodhopper (Claude Hopper), which the dictionary defines as both a "strong, heavy work shoe" and a "clumsy, awkward fellow." The name was chosen for both references, Cowan admits, as well as a nod to American painter Edward Hopper.
With its even, mid-paced tempos and warm sonorous sensibility "The Finite Nature of Things," could serve as the soundtrack to the painter's dark scenes of the American life. But where the previous album, "Four in the Morning," tried to be all things to all alt-country-rockers, the new disc has a more cohesive feel. Indeed, only "White Trash" and "Stout Dinner" about his preferred pre-show meal of a couple of Guinness pints are the only off-the-cuff songs on the collection, which is far more densely populated with autobiographical themes and introspective ruminations. If his debut was observations and commentary on the world around him, " Nature" seems to have sprung up from the inside out.
And by the way... Palminteri is Primetime!
Go Pat ... Ol' Claude Hopper is looking forward to Jerry Day!
