Kenny Hotopp
Often, the best singer songwriters tend to have experienced peripatetic lives--wandering by circumstance or choice. This rambling and sometimes chaotic lifestyle can foster a desire to observe, to listen, and to attempt to comprehend experiences through other people's perspective--and paradoxically , often can create an equally strong desire to establish roots--and to be of a place--not just from a place.
​
Kenny Hotopp is a damn near perfect example of this premise.
Hotopp was raised in a small farming town in Illinois, with an early passion for music evident as he immersed himself in his parents’ early rock & roll and country records, and fell in love with the roots of the country & rock & roll legends.
An outstanding athlete from an early age, Kenny's love of music was often competing for attention thanks to an basketball career that took him from high school through college in Los Angeles and then propelled him into a multi-year career playing in the European Basketball league.
Having spent much of his youth traveling for sports, and redefining himself in various locations around the world--Hotopp gained a perspective that transcended his Illinois youth--but also compelled him to return to a place that he was inescapably of--not just from.
​
Ultimately settling down outside Milwaukee, WI., Kenny's mid-western upbringing resonates with emotion through his own unique world traveled perspective on fatherhood, marriage, family, meeting the love of his life and searching for an inner balance that many who wander often struggle to find.
​
Photos: Chad Hensiak
Releases
Through every stylistic shift, there is a connective thread; a storyteller's voice rooted in lived experience, authenticity, and heart.
​
Singer-songwriter Kenny Hotopp's third release with Philville Records, Early Times (EP), is a blend of Blues, Americana and R&B. The five-track collection explores themes of cherished memories, love, and resilience, reflecting Hotopp’s authentic storytelling and personal experiences.
​
Produced by Matthew R. Sayles & Philville Records (Eau Claire, WI), Early Times draws on Americana and folk influences, appealing to fans of Jason Isbell, Ray LaMontagne, and Gregory Alan Isakov. Each track offers a distinct perspective and sound, from the uplifting Will Go On to the reflective Forever This Time, and the nostalgic and heavily bluegrass influenced title track Early Times. The EP concludes with Lost Track of Time, a beautifully romantic Stax/Motown records influenced R&B tribute to living in the moment (featuring the indomitable Irie Ulrich on backing vocals) .
​
Other tracks feature members of Kenny Hotopp's band (the Night Owls) as well as members of the Driftless Revelers (Ben Nelson & Jerod Kaszynski), with Kenny reinterpreting one of Ben Nelson's songs, Will Go On, with Kenny's own unique sound and a bridge section -- and featuring Ben on saxophone and telecaster. It's clear to fans of his music, this EP is a synthesis of Kenny's earlier work, musical growth, and a sonic waypost for things to come.
The first full length album from Kenny Hotopp! Whippoorwills Cry, is Kenny's second release with Philville Records, and is both a natural extension of his first EP and a leap forward in his songwriting and musicianship. Fans of Kenny's first EP, Truth Be Told, will love the richness and growth of this newest effort that delves into loss, love, and deeper thematic concepts.
Recorded in October of 2023 at Sueño Royale' Studios in Eau Claire, WI., this album features Kenny's rich baritone vocals and acoustic guitar playing, as well as further collaboration with Matthew R. Sayles who again produced, engineered, mastered, and played nearly all the backing instruments on the album, with exception of up-right bass, keyboards & saxophone being performed by Sayles's studio collaborator Jerod Kaszynski.
Available on 140 Gram Vinyl (Click on Images To Order)
.png)
​
Kenny's debut release on Philville Records, Truth Be Told, is a perfect encapsulation of his early approach to songwriting, highlighting stories and characters that feel like they were overheard between drinks and jukebox spins in a Midwestern roadhouse.
The tracks deftly bounce from genres and influences that touch on bluegrass, to R&B, blues, and hints of psychedelic country--but retain a through-line consistency that links them all together as a collection of short stories or vignettes.
​
This is the first collaboration between Matthew R. Sayles and Hotopp. Sayles produced, engineered, mastered, and played nearly all the backing instruments on the album, with exception of up-right bass & saxophone being performed by Sayles's studio collaborator Jerod Kaszynski, and the debut of Gloria Howerton singing backing vocals on "Little White Lies."
​