Doctor Howard Hopkins was a popular performer on mid- western radio in the 1930s and 1940s. Born January 26, 1900, in Harlan County, Kentucky, Hopkins began playing banjo during his boyhood on an instrument his father crafted for him.

The Hopkins family moved to Rockcastle County, where Doc’s neighbors included his future radio colleagues John Lair, Karl Davis, and Harty Taylor. In 1930 Lair invited his schoolmates to Chicago, and Hopkins named the new band the Cumberland Ridge Runners.

Hopkins also played solo, first recording in 1931 for Paramount and later for the American Record Corporation and Decca. The bulk of his recorded work, however, resided in numerous radio transcriptions for the music publisher M. M. Cole.

(See also his Berea Celebration of Traditional Music Audio / Video Performances.)