Pamela Hopkins is a singer/songwriter based in Little Rock, Arkansas. She released her first album in 1995 and has been climbing the charts ever since. She has a new single out titled “Little Things” featuring Matt Dame and has started working with Michael over at MTS Management Group. It is nice to see some tour dates on her schedule this spring. I’ve missed live music!
Being from Indiana, this is my kind of music. Pamela is a polished songwriter, has an unforgettable voice and is comfortable on stage. Haven’t shared an interview in a while; it feels nice to be back at it. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Pamela Hopkins.
“What famous really means to me, is making people smile when I sing…” – Pamela Hopkins
Start by giving me an overview of Pamela Hopkins. Who are you, where are you from and what do you do?
I’m a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. I am also a mom, a wife, a sister, daughter, and great friend and supporter of those I love and cherish. I’m originally from Little Rock, but have lived in the small town of Vilonia for the past 15 years. By day I am a sales rep for Balfour Graduation Products; My husband and I own our territory and travel across the state of Arkansas daily/weekly helping students and schools with their graduation needs. I am also a full time dueling piano player and I work in Little Rock at one of the best dueling piano bars I’ve ever had the pleasure to play for, Willy D’s Rock & Roll Piano Bar. I’ve been doing the dueling piano gig for almost eight years now.
I got back in the studio in the spring of 2020, in Franklin, Tennessee, to record my next four singles with Off The Row Studio as one of their “Break Out Artists.” I was super excited to let my fans hear my new co-written songs, as well as the fresh country sound with writer Jim Femino.
In 2021, I had six fresh new songs to release throughout the year. I co-wrote each song with various Nashville writers and was excited to release my first co-written duet featuring Matt Dame, on February 5, 2021 titled “Little Things.”
I love your voice!!! I bet you are fun to see live. What can fans expect from a live performance?
I try to have a fun and interactive-type show. I am usually full of energy and fans can expect for me to pour my heart out in every song that I play and sing
COVID-19 put a damper on things last year, but there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. How did the pandemic impact you and do you have plans for a tour this spring/summer?
The pandemic is still affecting my income as a dueling piano player because we aren’t open five days a week like we were prior to COVID-19. We are only open two nights a week. But, we are making the most of the nights we are open and packing in as much fun as we can so that hopefully, soon, people will be ready to come out during the weekdays as well. I’ve already booked a few gigs going into the summer and fall. Hopefully, as more festivals and such are being scheduled we will have the chance to play and travel a bit as well.
What is your songwriting process like? Do you sit down with a yellow pad or do lyrics just come to you?
I like to write about personal experiences or about things I observe. I generally keep notes in my phone or voice memos to refer back to when I meet up with my co-writing friends. When we sit down for a session, it’s usually through Zoom or Facebook. We chit chat for a few minutes and then talk about what each of us has for an idea. Since I am the one out of the three of us who is in the studio the most, we generally write for me. My buddy Dave (when we are writing together) has his guitar out and as we go over ideas, and some inspiration songs that just give us a direction or sound and tempo, he will start to strum. We share a Google Doc so that we can all type and make changes and move stuff around if need be as we develop our song. We play around and massage lyrics to make them singable and before you know it, we have a completed song! I’ve been pretty proud of the fact that we have completed every song we have started within just a couple-three hours. I have 12 songs or so that I can choose from when I start my next project. Currently I have five more originally co-written songs that I am releasing over the next year. Most of those I co-wrote with Dave and Melissa Leigh (those two are my standard co-writing partners).
Your song “Little Things” features Mr. Matt Dame. How did you guys meet and what was it like working with him on this release?
Well, I had an idea of doing a duet and was searching for the male voice I had in my head singing the counterpart, as well as finding a writer to help me complete it. Long story short, I heard Matt’s song “Whiskey And Memories”, and I knew that I had to have him on the song (if he would agree). I reached out to him through Facebook (it had been recommended by a couple of our mutual friends that we should work together on a song), pitched him my idea and he agreed to help me with the song. He brought in the 3rd co-writer, Trafton Harvey, and through about an hour and a half Zoom meeting, we wrote “Little Things”. When I went to the Nashville area to record it, Matt met me at Off The Row Studio and we met for the first time face to face that night, took some cover pictures for the song and got in the vocal booths and did our thing. He was great to write with and even better to be in the studio with… He is a very professional and is just really good at what he does.
You are giving fans a free download for joining your mailing list. How many subscribers do you have and what single are you giving out?
I change the free download from time to time. Right now I think it is “Little Rock Famous”. Building a subscriber-fan-base list is slow-going. I think I have around 200 that have subscribed to my free email list. I’m trying to collect direct links to my fans so that I do not need social media to push out information. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc… Can be wiped out in the blink of an eye. So I’m wanting to build my own database so I don’t need those apps for anything. I have a lot of followers on Instagram (about 14k) and on Facebook (about 2k), but my fans and friends don’t see many of my posts due to the algorithm or because I get “shadow banned”. So then the only way my fans will see my upcoming events or other exciting info, is for me (or any artist/business) to pay to “boost” the post. It seems to be about the money for those platforms. I’m not mad, it’s how they make money to keep their business model and financials in the black. But, it IS annoying for those of us who just want YOU to see what we have coming up.
Tell me about your relationship with MTS Management.
So far, I have been nothing but happy! I have watched my fan numbers increase quite a bit and Michael has been wonderful to work with – he keeps me busy for sure!
I love your single “Little Rock Famous”. The video, too. Tell me more about that video, where you filmed it and who produced it for you.
I use my longtime friend, Sharpe Dunaway (and his wife Angela), with Sharpe Videography. We have been friends for about 25 years. He and his wife have produced every one of my official music videos. “Little Rock Famous” was filmed in Nashville, TN first… We drove to Nashville and recorded for a few hours at the river and at the Grand Ole Opry. Then on a separate day, recorded in downtown Little Rock. Sharpe always has wacky ideas. I try to go with some of his ideas because they’re usually funny or different and I’m pretty easy when it comes to throwing in some weird stuff from time to time. Keeps things interesting for sure!
Who are some of your biggest influences? I grew up in the Midwest, so I can appreciate good country music!
My influences are all over the place because I grew up just loving all types of music. I’d say my earliest influences are Sam Cooke and Dolly Parton, (early 80s) Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Janis Joplin. I really loved hair bands back in the day so I have to throw in some Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe. Moving into the 90s is probably where most of my country influences came from. I loved Reba and Martina McBride as well as Trisha Yearwood and Tanya Tucker. The person who influences my attitude in my writing the most is Gretchen Wilson… I can throw Miranda and Carrie in there too though. I learned how to sing harmonies listening to Boyz II Men. I just really love music! All of it!
You spent some time at Off The Row Studio last year. Tell me about that experience and what songs came from your time in TN.
I’ve gone to Off The Row Studio a couple of times. I first recorded back in May of 2020. I recorded my first four songs that I released last year, starting with “Crankin’ Up the Crazy” and released the last one “Somebody Here is Walkin'” in December. I recorded “Little Rock Famous” and “The Me You Could’ve Had” during that session as well. I was so happy with my experience that I booked my second session where I recorded six more songs. They have fabulous studio musicians that are just amazing and very creative. Most of my songs would just start as a guitar or piano and me singing as a work tape. They take that, chart it out, and when I step into the booth, they sound like they’ve been playing my songs all their lives and they sound amazing right out of the gate. I stay in awe at the talent Off The Row hires. P.T. Houston is my producer and has an ear for vocal patterns and is great at coaching a vocalist to take the melody line to different level. The second session I had at Off The Row yielded my last song release, “Little Things”, my upcoming song, “Givin’ a Damn (Don’t Go With My Outfit)”, as well as my next few songs I’m releasing throughout this year: “Back When”, “Straight Shooter”, “One More Last Kiss”, and “One Too Many”. I recorded a bonus song, that I may or may not release as a single called, “Me Being Me”. If I choose not to release it as a single, it’ll definitely be on my album.
You are a multi-instrumentalist. What instruments do you play?
I play cello, piano, drum-set, bass, harmonica and I’m currently learning to play acoustic guitar.
What is the PamFan Club all about? That’s just fun to say!
I had a couple of friends tell me they were “Pam Fans” so I thought that was a cute name for my Fan Club. (Laughs) I have different levels of the PamFan Club and each level comes with different benefits. Everyone can join the free one… You get an email with access to my songs before they go public as well as updates and a free download of one of my songs. If you go to the paid subscription levels, you get discounts on my merch, you can get a personalized happy birthday greeting/song sent to a friend, family member or yourself, and you can even hear some of the songs I’ve written that will probably NEVER be released – some are stupid, some are funny and some are silly and weird. You can get close and personal with me if you join the “Pam-a-lam-a-ding-dong” level. Each level tells you what you’re getting, you just have to go to that section of my website. As more of my music gets out there and hopefully as I get more popular and get to touring, I’ll be able to offer meet and greets and things like that to paid PamFan Club members. But, I can tell you that my beginning level PamFans will be way better off starting with me, verses jumping in later on. I know who is supporting me up front and those lovely people will NOT go unnoticed and will not be forgotten.
You have released a lot of original songs, but what about covers? Curious what some of your favorite cover songs are to perform!
The only official cover I have released that you can download on streaming platforms such as iTunes and Spotify is the song “Zombie” by The Cranberries. That particular song is one of my most requested songs when I am doing the dueling piano gig besides “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes.
I have filmed several cover songs that you can find on my YouTube channel. I have done “I Told You So” (Randy Travis cover), “Tin Man” (Miranda Lambert cover), “Stay” (Sugarland cover), “Fancy” (Reba McEntire cover). There are also some recordings of me doing “Proud Mary”, “Me And Bobby McGee”, “Girl Crush”, and several others… Check them out.
I have more that I plan on posting here in the coming weeks… So keep checking back. If you have something you’d like me to cover, I’m happy to entertain the idea – I’m always looking for songs to sing!
Do you ever make a mistake while on stage? If so, how do you bounce back and finish strong?
I make mistakes on stage all the time… My face normally shows it. I generally make a joke about it or I just keep on going. I’m not perfect and I sure don’t pretend to be. I have even fallen off the stage at Willy D’s and my partner made the joke, “Hey y’all look, it’s turned into a Hoe Down!” Nothing I can do except laugh at him and myself. It was a tad embarrassing but I owned it!
You are an active member of the International Singer-Songwriters Association. What sort of benefits do you see from that membership and how are you using the ISSA to hone your craft?
I just joined International Singer-Songwriters Association a few months ago, so I am still learning the benefits of being a member. I’m nominated for several awards right now though, so I hope to attend the event in Atlanta this August and connect with some other like-minded people so I have other songwriters to collaborate with. When I get some free time this summer, I plan to delve more into learning how to get more involved with the association.
What’s next for Pamela Hopkins Music?
My next step is to release my new song, “Givin’ a Damn (Don’t Go With My Outfit)” on May 7. I am super excited about this song and my merch that I designed. It’s pretty amazing if I do say so myself. Please check it out and get you some by going to my website.
Thank you for doing this. We could talk all day! In all of the interviews I do, I always give the artist the last word. Go!
I would love for your audience to check out my music and join my PamFan Club by going to my website so they get the first insights to what is happening with me and my career. Please follow me on all my social media platforms (all links below and on my website) and send me a message… I love to chat with people and learn about them.
If you’re ever in Little Rock, please come on out to Willy D’s or one of my other gigs in that area. Also, keep an eye on my schedule I post on my website – I may be near you some time soon… Come on out and see me!
Thank you SO much for taking the time out of your schedule to talk to me and help get my music and message out there. I really appreciate that from the bottom of my heart!
Connect with Pamela Hopkins:
Website: https://www.pamelahopkinsmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/singerpamelahopkins
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pamelahopkinsmusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/phopkinsmusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/pamelahopkinsmusic
