Rediscovering Himself

Even the man himself has admitted to making some uneven albums. In the end the result is a very divided opinion on Rod Stewart's talents. But much the same as that occurred with the Rolling Stones a few years later on their Dirty Work could easily apply to this. The influx of electronic/synthesizers into music,especially with rock almost guarantee's a lot of negativity from writers,critics and cultural analysts even today. Worse part is,most of them aren't willing to examine the flaws in their own flaws the way Rod himself apparently has…

The American lutenist, Hopkinson Smith, began as a teenager he began to study the classical guitar and in his early 20's, he became acquainted with the lute which he started to learn by himself. He majored in musicology at Harvard and graduated with honors in 1972. In 1973, Hopkinson Smith came to Europe to devote himself to the lute in earnest. He worked in Catalonia with Emilio Pujol, a profound pedagogue in the 19th century tradition who instilled in him a sense for higher artistic values, and in Switzerland with Eugen Dombois whose sense of happy organic unity between performer, instrument and historic period has had a lasting effect on him. From the mid 1970's, he was involved in various ensemble projects including the founding of the ensemble Hespèrion XX and a ten-year collaboration with Jordi Savall. This collaboration led to important experiences in chamber music which were a creative complement to his work as a soloist.