John Driskell Hopkins and Debby Boone with Ricky Skaggs Images by Scott Sexton / 2911 Media

John Driskell Hopkins, founding member of the GRAMMY-winning Zac Brown Band and three-time GRAMMY winner Debby Boone graced the Grand Ole Opry stage Friday night for their new single “SNOW”, once recorded by her mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney. Backed by Balsam Range, Hopkins and Boone created a magical moment bringing to life once again this holiday classic using a Yacht Rock sound and the catchy lyrics “What is Christmas with no snow, no white Christmas with no snow” leaving everyone ready for a white holiday season. Boone also surprised the audience with a beautiful performance of “You Light Up My Life” that brightened the room and brought the audience to their feet.

“It is truly an honor to have performed with both Debby Boone and Balsam Range on one of the world’s most iconic stages,” shares Hopkins. We are so excited about our single “SNOW,” and it has been a wonderful Christmas season already. I hope it is for you as well!”

Rolling Stone Country premiered the “SNOW” music video, and Time Life released the song across all streaming platforms. Read and view the Rolling Stone premiere here or on Yahoo! Entertainment and stream/download “SNOW” here.

“Standing in the circle of the Grand Ole Opry stage is incredibly meaningful for me connecting me to my grandfather Red Foley, and my mother-in-law Rosemary Clooney who stood there together many years ago,” shares Debby Boone. “Now to sing at the Opry with Hop doing a duet of a song from ‘White Christmas’ adds another rich layer to this experience. I am so honored to have had this opportunity.”

This season, though there is so much to celebrate, there is also much to cherish every day since Hopkins was diagnosed with ALS on December 21, 2021. Hopkins announced his diagnosis and the launch of Hop On A Cure Foundation on May 30th, 2022. Hop On A Cure is committed to supporting research to prevent, reverse, and cure ALS while raising awareness, building a compassionate community, and unleashing the healing power of hope. ALS, which, only a few years ago, was thought of as an uncommon disease that affected 1 in 20,000 people, now is expected to affect 1 in 300 men, women, and children during their lifetime. There is an expected increase of 40% in ALS cases over the next decade.

The Academy of Country Music officially opened its new headquarters in Nashville today with a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting after nearly 60 years on the West Coast, moving into the Wedgewood Houston neighborhood of Nashville. The ceremony featured reigning ACM New Male and Female Artists of the Year Parker McCollum and Lainey Wilson; Nashville Mayor John Cooper; Deana Ivey of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp; AJ Capital Partners CEO and Founder Ben Weprin; and ACM officials including Academy Board of Director Officers and members.

“I have to pinch myself right now, because this literally feels like a dream,” Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside said at the ribbon cutting. “It’s been three years in the making, and I just can’t believe, looking out on everybody’s faces, that we’re here. Welcome to the new Academy of Country Music headquarters!”

“I am thrilled to welcome the Academy of Country Music to their new home in Nashville. What better place for the Academy to put down their roots than the capital of Country Music itself,” said Nashville Mayor John Cooper. “I’m grateful to ACM CEO Damon Whiteside and the ACM Board of Directors for their commitment to Nashville and for bringing yet another outstanding cultural institution to our great city.”

The Academy’s new headquarters is located in the new Nashville Warehouse Co. Building, giving the celebrated Country Music organization a Music City home after almost six decades in California. The office features abundant workstations and meeting rooms decorated with custom art installations showcasing the storied brand’s unparalleled and rich heritage in the front row of Country Music history and featuring major milestones and iconic moments from the 1960s to now, including the very first Board of Directors meeting in 1965 to the first official ACM Awards show at the Hollywood Palladium in 1966. The headquarters were designed with the celebrated organization’s established brand of being an innovative, progressive renegade in mind, as well as to offer an open-door environment to Academy members, Board of Director leaders, and other industry professionals from all around the globe, creating an instant hub for the Country community as the vibrant city continues to grow.

Festival Screening Marks the World Premiere of the
First Authorized Work Exploring the Life of the Country Outlaw Icon

Blackbird Presents and Sight Unseen announce the world premiere of Willie Nelson and Family, the first authorized work exploring the life and career of the Country outlaw icon, debuting at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023.

With a career spanning seven decades, Nelson is widely recognized as one of the greatest singer/songwriter/guitar players in the history of popular music. An outlaw cowboy who transcended his humble beginnings in small-town Abbott, Texas, he remains beloved, continuing to speak for people from all walks of life with his music, philanthropy, marijuana advocacy and activism on behalf of the American farmer.

Award-winning filmmakers Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman fuse their own unique styles to construct an intimate and cinematic memoir of the Red Headed Stranger, traversing the highs, lows and in-betweens of Nelson’s personal life and professional career. Alongside close friends and family who have accompanied him on a remarkable journey, Nelson tells his story in his own voice.

Developed by longtime Nelson manager Mark Rothbaum and Blackbird Presents Founder & Chief Creative Officer Keith Wortman, Nelson and his family and friends provided exclusive participation and access to his archives. Executive Producers are Keith Wortman, Mark Rothbaum, Annie Nelson, Julia Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman, Leonid Lebedev, Sean Stuart and Mark Ankner.

 Something From Nothing Due out March 3rd; Hear first single “Half a Mile” Dec. 20

Chris Williams and Kid Reverie’s new album began with an inquisitive search for a simple sound. Having heard Steve Varney’s (Kid Reverie) open-back banjo accompanying fellow songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov on a YouTube video, Williams began tracking down something similar for his own personal collection. “That banjo sounded so amazing on one condenser mike, and I wanted to find one like it,” says Williams. After a long search, he landed on Varney’s website. Williams noticed that he offered lessons and decided to sign up for one or two. “I was so taken with his work and his instrument that I’d pay to talk to him,” Williams chuckles. Kid Reverie recalls, “Chris always came to our lessons with a solid idea. I routinely found myself saying something like, ‘This is great, now let’s make it a song.’”

The pair have just announced the upcoming album Something from Nothing—due out March 3rd, 2023. Born from their initial collaboration, the pair eventually c0-wrote the twelve songs that became Something from Nothing. C0-produced by Williams and Varney and mastered by Varney, the two played every instrument on the album—with the exception of Michael McKee who joins in on drums for five songs and Ayda Varney who plays cat toy sounds on a tune. “This process was very cathartic. It took a trying time for both of us and allowed us to open ourselves to a writing partnership that neither of us expected. I am grateful for this amazing musical experience and hope everyone enjoys these songs as much as we loved creating them!” Kid Reverie affirms that he’s “rarely had such deep collaboration with another songwriter. For so long it felt like we were just doing lessons. I think it took both of us quite a while to realize we were co-writing songs and making an album.”

Today, Chris Williams and Kid Reverie shared the first listen from Something from Nothing, the ebbing and flowing “Half a Mile.” Written a few tunes into Williams’ and Varney’s time writing songs together, “Half a Mile” was a marked point of exploration for the pair, entering a mix of time signatures and tempo changes. “Every writing session we had, I was blown away by Steve’s in-depth knowledge of theory, song structure and catalog of hundreds of songs and examples within each at his fingertips,” remembers Williams. “Very useful when reaching for ideas and inspiration.”

Joined on drums by the aforementioned McKee, Williams and Varney lay down a luscious bed of stringed instruments and on which the song’s story is told. “‘Half a Mile’ is about growing in different ways; about questioning generational teachings we all morph into by process of hand-me-down traditions,” says Williams, adding, “Finding we can have it multiple ways without abandoning anything entirely.” With a stack of beautiful background vocals and string arrangements, the song’s second chorus crashes into a loping ¾ time before stripping it all away and returning to the original feel for the final verse. “It’s hard to remember exactly who did what throughout each song, as we both wore so many hats,” Williams remembers. “As usual, our songwriting process was super gratifying.”

L-R Jeannie Seely Charlie Monk and Brenda Lee Photo Credit: Denise Mattox / Moments By Moser Photography 2019

Renowned leader in the Nashville music community, Charlie Monk, passed away on December 19 in his home in Nashville, TN. He was affectionately named and known by many in the industry as the Mayor of Music Row. He created a lasting impact in radio, song writing, record producing and television in a career spanning more than 60 years. Monk’s career began at WGEA in his hometown of Geneva, Alabama while he was in high school. He then attended Troy University where he worked a full-time shift on WTBF radio. In 1968, Monk moved to Nashville and propelled his career even further. His free-form music and talk show for WMTS radio was the first daily broadcast from Music Row. He joined the staff of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1970 and was a co-founder of the Country Radio Seminar, the long-running media gathering. There, he hosted the “New Faces Show” for 40 years as it launched legends including Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church and Vince Gill. As a publisher, Monk notably fostered the careers of country music stars Randy Travis and Kenny Chesney. In 1977, he became Nashville chief of CBS Songs, which quickly became one of Music City’s top three publishers. He founded his own company, Monk Family Music Group, in 1983, taking a leave of absence in 1988 to spearhead the return of legendary publisher Acuff-Rose to its former glory. During Monk’s tenure, Acuff-Rose was the first publisher to win “Most Performed Song of the Year” from both ASCAP and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) in the same year. Monk came back to radio in 2004 to host the morning show on SiriusXM’s Willie’s Roadhouse. Most recently, Monk hosted a show on SiriusXM’s Prime Country and Willie’s Roadhouse.

Monk has served the music community in a variety of ways, including being an alumnus and former board member of Leadership Music, a member of the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, and the Gospel Music Association, where he formerly served as vice president. He also served as vice president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Nashville Songwriters Association International and as local president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG/AFTRA). He has been inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. In 2017, Monk was honored by his hometown of Geneva with a street named Charlie Monk Lane. In 2021, he received the Country Music Association’s Joe Talbot Award, recognizing outstanding leadership and contributions to the preservation and advancement of Country Music’s values and traditions.

Friends and colleagues in the Nashville music community shared their thoughts on Charlie Monk’s passing:

“My heart is literally in pieces. I simply cannot picture my future without Charlie Monk in it. His support of my career since it’s inception up through my current place at Willie’s Roadhouse has always amazed me, and our mutual love of humor was a personal bond between us. I will miss that, I will miss his voice, I will miss his jabs at me, I will miss his laughter, I will just miss him. Period. He has left us in tears, but there’s a lot more laughter in Heaven tonight.”–Jeannie Seely

“Charlie had a few minutes for everyone, and never too busy for some kind words, and usually funny. He made you feel like a friend. Charlie always had that quick wit and a smile, and he was so very accomplished. A unique individual who will be miss The Mayor. Rest in peace.”–Exile

“Charlie was always so supportive of Country Music artists. I always looked forward to and enjoyed my time spent with him. He was a champion and will be missed by all who knew him.”–John Berry

“Charlie was an icon, a visionary and a person who kept reinventing himself and every time he did it expanded his career and the music business in Nashville and beyond. We sure could use more folks like him right now thank you Charlie.”–Kent Blazy

” It’s a very sad day in country music and Charlie will be sorely missed.”–Heidi Newfield 

“This is sad sad news!! Charlie Monk was a character! Since I moved to Nashville in 1982 he had always been at EVERYTHING!! It will be so strange without him. He was proud of me, then he rooted for Hillary and for our Scott family project with Lang and Rylee Jean as well. There’s a huge hole left in the heart of Music Row that only Charlie will ever fill. You’ll never be forgotten Charlie. My deepest condolences to his family.”–Linda Davis