John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Debut at the Grand Ole Opry March 8th

Performing Music from Their Independently Released Album DAYLIGHT

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Performances:

Fri 3/8 Nashville, TN  WSM 9am

Fri 3/8 Nashville, TN The Grand Ole Opry 7pm
Sat 3/9 Knoxville, TN WDVX 1:30pm

Sat 3/9 Knoxville, TN The Shed

Thu 3/14 Athens, GA The Melting Point

www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com

Kind Words About Daylight:

“Hopkins’ vocals complement the use of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and Dobro played by BR to produce a Southern sound that is truly alive… The deep tone of Hopkins’ vocals have the ability to convey edge and grit in songs [with] original lyrics are consistently honest, at times tongue-in-cheek, and at other times thoughtful…”
–Valerie Bertolami, Performer Magazine

“Pure musical joy, with songs ranging across every musical style from bluegrass and gospel to jazz and blues to country… often blinds with dazzling light.”
–Henry Carrigan, Country Standard Time

“Front and center here is Hopkins’ deep, rich and sensual baritone. His singing is warm and melodious in tone, inviting one to pay closer attention… Daylight is deserving of brighter shade.”
–Bill Clifford, Jambands.com

“I Will Lay Me Down” listed as a recommended track in indie releases
—CMT’s Craig Shelburne

“They make music that’s both country and grass, while being pure expressions of neither.  There are banjo rolls and mando scratches throughout… Purists may scoff (as purists are wont to do), but the results are enough to satisfy the lover of hyphens in me.” –Scott Foley, KRFC’s Routes and Branches

“Love a rich, deep country voice? Then John Driskell Hopkins is your man.”
–Mary Armstrong, Philadelphia City Paper

“A voice huskier than Charlie Daniels after a hard night.”
—Jim Farber, New York Daily News, #5 in Top 10 picks in music release week

“…what a great sound for John! I’m excited for people to hear him in this raw and broken-down format, his unique voice front and center!”
–Oliver Wood (of the Wood Brothers)

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the thick of it, swattin’ it out with a bonafide Bluegrass band with power vocals coming from a fellow with a pedigree like John Driskell Hopkins possesses. I don’t see anything but clear sailing for this song [Runaway Train].”
–Jerry Douglas

“John Hopkins’ new album, Daylight, has rich vocals and excellent pickers that are wrapped around well-crafted songs. What’s not to love?”
–Jim Lauderdale

“The unusual Sunday Jan. 27 WDVX Blue Plate Special [John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range] was the most highly attended yet in 2013, and one of the biggest turnouts in memory.  Even before the show went live on the air, the standing-room-only audience’s excitement was electric.”
–Sarah Waldrip, Blank News 

“A colorful collaboration… with meaty vocal performances that fluctuate from smooth croon to bluesy spittin’ growl, Hopkins takes us on a lively journey backed by a fine, fine group of ace musicians.”
–Janet Goodman, Music News Nashville

Listen HERE  “In Search of a Song with Jason Wilber”
John Driskell Hopkins’ interview with Executive Producer Rich Reardin

 

For more about John Driskell Hopkins and Daylight, visit www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com.

Read Full Post »

Happy Valentine’s Day From John Driskell Hopkins! Free Download of “Be My Girl”

Happy Valentine’s Day! John Driskell Hopkins is offering a free download of  “Be My Girl” off his new album DAYLIGHT for this special occasion ❤

“I sang ‘Be My Girl’ to my wife at our wedding and gave it to our guests on disc at the reception. She means everything to me. It’s her song in every way,” says John.

BE MY GIRL

In the arms of gentle beauty
In the throes of auburn hair
I could babble on for hours
And sleep right through your stare On that corner off of Tharpe Street Where I used to run and hide

I had visions in our passion That compel me to decide

To love you forever
To call you my own
To make you my lover
To make you my home To build our own family To take on the world You’d make me so happy If you would be my girl

There’s a path in Cinque Terra Lovers carve their hearts in stone Where I gazed out over heaven And thought of you alone

When the sun fell through the water I stood and wrung my hands
Crying “Lord show me compassion And let me be the man”

I’m crazy about you, baby

I keep dreaming of our future I keep whispering your name I know my precious treasures You hold all of them

I’ve been counting every heartbeat I’ve been burning in my skin
Every second is a lifetime
So, baby take my hand

Written by John Driskell Hopkins

**********************************************************

John Driskell Hopkins has walked the musical path for the last 20 years. As a bass player, guitar player, singer and songwriter for several bands of the rock variety, Hopkins rooted himself in the Atlanta, GA music scene in 1995, producing records and touring with his band Brighter Shade and later becoming a founding member of the Zac Brown Band to this day. Now he has teamed up with North Carolina-based band and Mountain Home Recording artists, Balsam Range, to record and independently produce a new album, Daylight, which released nationally on January 22nd.

Get the album and find out more at http://johndriskellhopkins.com

Read Full Post »

Music News Nashville Inteviews with John Driskell Hopkins About His New Album ‘Daylight’

Great video of John Driskell Hopkins from Zac Brown Band performing his song “I Will Lay me Down” which is on his new and independently released album “Daylight”.

Thanks to Dan Harr,  Cristina deVallescar, and Music News Nashville!

Music News Nashville also did a two part interview. Part 1
http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/a-conversation-with-john-driskell-hopkins-and-acoustic-performance-part-1

Music News Nashville Interview with John  Driskell Hopkins. Part 2
http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/a-conversation-with-john-driskell-hopkins-and-acoustic-performance-part-2

John Driskell Hopkins has walked the musical path for the last 20 years. As a bass player, guitar player, singer and songwriter for several bands of the rock variety, Hopkins rooted himself in the Atlanta, GA music scene in 1995, producing records and touring with his band Brighter Shade and later becoming a founding member of the Zac Brown Band to this day. Now he has teamed up with North Carolina-based band and Mountain Home Recording artists, Balsam Range, to record and independently produce a new album, Daylight, which released nationally on January 22nd.

John is thrilled to have included several special guests on the album, including Zac Brown on “I Will Lay Me Down,” a sweet and sacred song; Levi Lowrey on “How Could I?” a song co-written by the two, and the heavenly Joey Feek of Joey + Rory on the autobiographical “Bye Baby Goodbye.” And of the musicians featured on Daylight, John could not have done better: the unmatched Jerry Douglas opens the record with dobro on “Runaway Train,” and Tony Trischka brings his banjo mastery to the title-track, “Daylight,” a longtime song in Hopkins’ repertoire about breaking through life’s troubles into brighter times.

Of performing with with BR, John says “Being on stage with Balsam Range is like body-surfing in warm butter-cream icing with hillbilly cherubs. Smooth…” Balsam Range is Buddy Melton (fiddle, vocals), Darren Nicholson (Mandolin, vocals), Marc Pruett (Banjo, Vocals), Caleb Smith (guitar, vocals), and Tim Surrett (bass, dobro, vocals).

For more about John Driskell Hopkins and Daylight, visit www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com.

 

 

Read Full Post »

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Debut at The Grand Ole Opry 3/8 And Perform Select Dates in The South

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Debut at The Grand Ole Opry 3/8 And Perform Select Dates in The South

John Driskell Hopkins and Balsam Range Performances:

Fri 2/1 Asheville, NC Isis Music Hall
Thu 2/14 Nashville, TN The Basement
Fri 3/8  Nashville, TN The Grand Ole Opry
Sat 3/9 Knoxville, TN The Shed
Thu, 3/14 Athens GA The Melting Point
More dates tba at www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com

******************************************

John Driskell Hopkins and Balsam Range are excited to perform at The Grand Ole Opry on Friday, March 8th! “I’m doubly honored to be able to play my own songs in one of the greatest music venues in the world,” says Hopkins. They will be performing music from Daylight, which was was independently released on Jan 22nd and will also be performing at select shows throughout the year.

Hopkins, widely known as a founding member and bass player for the Zac Brown Band, has been performing music for 20+ years. After hearing Balsam Range on Sirius XM one day, Hopkins, a lover of roots music of all varieties, called them up to see about accompanying him on his original tunes in a new album and a new musical bond was formed with outstanding results in Daylight.

Of performing with with BR, John says “Being on stage with Balsam Range is like body-surfing in warm butter-cream icing with hillbilly cherubs. Smooth…” Balsam Range is Buddy Melton (fiddle, vocals), Darren Nicholson (Mandolin, vocals), Marc Pruett (Banjo, Vocals), Caleb Smith (guitar, vocals), and Tim Surrett (bass, dobro, vocals).

What Folks Are Saying About Daylight:

“A twang-tastic new record… The chemistry between Hopkins and the band is smoking and they shine on the 13-track platter.”
–-Jeffrey Sisk, The Daily News

CMT’s Craig Shelburne listed “I Will Lay Me Down” as a recommended track in indie releases

“…what a great sound for John! I’m excited for people to hear him in this raw and broken-down format, his unique voice front and center!”
–-Oliver Wood (of the Wood Brothers)

“a voice huskier than Charlie Daniels after a hard night.”
—Jim Farber, New York Daily News, #5 in Top 10 picks in music for the week of Jan. 20, 2013

“John Hopkins is a serious student of all kinds of music, and I think it comes through well in the songs he writes. He really runs the gambit from soft, Gospel-sounding acoustic, to hard, driving rock-swing things. John is a ‘power singer,’ and man he can deliver.”
–Balsam Range’s Marc Pruett

“John Hopkins’ new album, Daylight, has rich vocals and excellent pickers that are wrapped around well-crafted songs. What’s not to love?”
–Jim Lauderdale

“An excellent group of songs that fits somewhere in the acoustic country/indie/roots area… If you drew line graphs plotting the changes each song brings to a CD – tempo, subject, mood … – some CDs would flatline and the majority would show moderate spikes up and down. Daylight’s graph would look like the EKG of a person on speed, and every song is a good one.”
–Larry Stephens, Lonesome Road Review

“What pushes this album past other examples of country singers adopting bluegrass trappings is the diverse capabilities of Balsam Range. They’ve never been a traditional bluegrass band, and the arrangements here are more like acoustic country arrangements than Appalachian bluegrass. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this sounds like one of the classic MTV Unplugged albums, which subverted the rock canon by killing all the electricity and forcing the performers to look inward for their power.”
–Devon Leger, Hearth Music, No Depression

“Daylight has some material in common with ZBB, but is even more rootsy, thanks to Balsam Ridge’s involvement on every track. Resonator guitar heads are going wild over ‘Runaway Train,’ with Jerry Douglas sitting in. Banjo innovator Tony Trischka guests on the title cut.”
–Philadelphia City Paper

Read Full Post »

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Release ‘Daylight’ TODAY Jan 22nd

John Driskell Hopkins teams up with Balsam Range,
to Independently Release Daylight on January 22, 2013

Available on iTunes and at www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com

“...what a great sound for John! I’m excited for people to hear him in this raw and broken-down format, his unique voice front and center!”
—Oliver Wood (of the Wood Brothers)

“John Hopkins’ new album, Daylight, has rich vocals and excellent pickers that are wrapped around well-crafted songs. What’s not to love?” —Jim Lauderdale

“A voice huskier than Charlie Daniels after a hard night.”
—Jim Farber, New York Daily News, #5 in Top 10 picks in music for this week

…………………………………………………….

John Driskell Hopkins has walked the musical path for the last 20 years. As a bass player, guitar player, singer and songwriter for several bands of the rock variety, Hopkins rooted himself in the Atlanta, GA music scene in 1995, producing records and touring with his band Brighter Shade and later becoming a founding member of the Zac Brown Band to this day. Now he has teamed up with North Carolina-based band and Mountain Home Recording artists, Balsam Range, to record and independently produce a new album, Daylight, set for national release on January 22nd.

John is thrilled to have included several special guests on the album, including Zac Brown on “I Will Lay Me Down,” a sweet and sacred song; Levi Lowrey on “How Could I?” a song co-written by the two, and the heavenly Joey Feek of Joey + Rory on the autobiographical “Bye Baby Goodbye.” And of the musicians featured on Daylight, John could not have done better: the unmatched Jerry Douglas opens the record with dobro on “Runaway Train,” and Tony Trischka brings his banjo mastery to the title-track, “Daylight,” a longtime song in Hopkins’ repertoire about breaking through life’s troubles into brighter times.

Of performing with with BR, John says “Being on stage with Balsam Range is like body-surfing in warm butter-cream icing with hillbilly cherubs. Smooth…” Balsam Range is Buddy Melton (fiddle, vocals), Darren Nicholson (Mandolin, vocals), Marc Pruett (Banjo, Vocals), Caleb Smith (guitar, vocals), and Tim Surrett (bass, dobro, vocals).

Balsam Range’s Marc Pruett says, “John Hopkins is a serious student of all kinds of music, and I think it comes through well in the songs he writes. He really runs the gambit from soft, Gospel-sounding acoustic, to hard, driving rock-swing things. John is a ‘power singer,’ and man he can deliver.”

If you’re a Zac Brown Band fan, you’ll hear a couple familiar songs, though most tracks are newly penned with BR’s talent and magic in mind, and a couple songs are some of John’s oldest tunes, written with his band of many years, Brighter Shade, and beautifully reworked for this special new project.

“… in a song like ‘I Will Lay Me Down,’ Hopkins’ raw vocals turn to sweet honey with the picking beneath and the soft, high harmony of Zac Brown lifting him up. But no track rocks harder than ‘Runaway Train,’ as Jerry Douglas blazes on the dobro and Hopkins howls over the top like an old-time tent revival.” –Devon Leger, Hearth Music, No Depression First Spin

For more about John Driskell Hopkins and Daylight, visit www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com.

Read Full Post »

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Asheville Album Release Show at Isis Music Hall on Fri, Feb 1st

John Driskell Hopkins has walked the musical path for the last 20 years. As a bass player, guitar player, singer and songwriter for several bands of the rock variety, Hopkins rooted himself in the Atlanta, GA music scene in 1995, producing records and touring with his band Brighter Shade and later becoming a founding member of the Zac Brown Band to this day. Now he has teamed up with North Carolina bluegrass band, Balsam Range, to record and independently produce a new album, Daylight, which is set for national release on January 22nd. They will be performing an Asheville album release show on Friday, February 1st at the NEW Isis Restaurant and Music Hall.

A lifelong fan of bluegrass and gospel music, John became an instant fan of Balsam Range, an award-winning and unstoppable 5-piece hailing from Haywood County, North Carolina. As John’s plans for a solo record took shape, he realized that BR’s authentic style and approach could bring his songs new life, and a vision for his record became clear.

Of performing with with BR, John says “Being on stage with Balsam Range is like body-surfing in warm butter-cream icing with hillbilly cherubs. Smooth…..” Balsam Range is Buddy Melton (fiddle, vocals), Darren Nicholson (Mandolin, vocals), Marc Pruett (Banjo, Vocals), Caleb Smith (guitar, vocals), and Tim Surrett (bass, dobro, vocals).

Over the course of a year, the collective made use of their sparse days off the road and arranged to pow-wow and track basics at John’s home studio in Atlanta, GA or at Crossroads Studio in Arden, NC, eventually bringing the songs to form. John utilized the Zac Brown Band’s amazing new Southern Ground Studios in Nashville, TN for the final engineering and mixing, and in the middle of September 2012, the album was completed.

John is thrilled to have included several special guests on the album, including Zac Brown on “I Will Lay Me Down,” a sweet and sacred song; Levi Lowrey on “How Could I?” a song co-written by the two, and the heavenly Joey Feek of Joey + Rory on the autobiographical “Bye Baby Goodbye.” And of the musicians featured on Daylight, John could not have done better: the unmatched Jerry Douglas opens the record with dobro on “Runaway Train,” and Tony Trischka brings his banjo mastery to the title-track, “Daylight,” a longtime song in Hopkins’ repertoire about breaking through life’s troubles into brighter times.

If you’re a Zac Brown Band fan, you’ll hear a couple familiar songs, though most tracks are newly penned with BR’s talent and magic in mind, and a couple songs are some of John’s oldest tunes, written with his band of many years, Brighter Shade, and beautifully reworked for this special new project.

Show Details at a Glance:
John Driskell Hopkins and Balsam Range
Album Release Show for Daylight
Isis Restaurant & Music Hall
Friday, Feb 1, 2013
8pm doors, 9pm show; $12 ADV, $15 DOS; All Ages
828-575-2737
743 Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC 28806
www.isisasheville.com

For more about John Driskell Hopkins and Daylight, visit www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com.

Read Full Post »

Happy Holidays 2012 from John Driskell Hopkins! DAYLIGHT due out January 22, 2013

Happy Holidays 2012 from John Driskell Hopkins! DAYLIGHT due out January 22, 2013

John Driskell Hopkins has walked the musical path for the last 20 years. As a bass player, guitar player, singer and songwriter for several bands of the rock variety, Hopkins rooted himself in the Atlanta, GA music scene in 1995, producing records and touring with his band Brighter Shade and later becoming a founding member of the Zac Brown Band to this day. Now he has teamed up with North Carolina bluegrass band, Balsam Range, to record a new album, Daylight, which debuted at the Southern Ground Music and Food Festival in Charleston, SC in October 2012. Daylight was independently produced and is set for national release on January 22, 2013 and features an array of special guests including Zac Brown, Levi Lowrey, Joey Feek of Joey + Rory, Tony Trischka, and Jerry Douglas.
.
For more about Daylight, visit http://www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com.

Read Full Post »

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Release DAYLIGHT on Jan 22, 2013

John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range Release DAYLIGHT Jan 22, 2013

Founding Member of the Zac Brown Band, John Driskell Hopkins, teams up with Mountain Home Recording Artists, Balsam Range,
to Independently Release Daylight on January 22, 2013

John Driskell Hopkins has walked the musical path for the last 20 years. As a bass player, guitar player, singer and songwriter for several bands of the rock variety, Hopkins rooted himself in the Atlanta, GA music scene in 1995, producing records and touring with his band Brighter Shade and later becoming a founding member of the Zac Brown Band to this day. Now he has teamed up with North Carolina bluegrass band, Balsam Range, to record a new album, Daylight, which debuted at the Southern Ground Music and Food Festival in Charleston, SC in October 2012. Daylight was independently produced and is set for national release on January 22, 2013 and features an array of special guests.

A lifelong fan of bluegrass and gospel music, John became an instant fan of Balsam Range, an award-winning and unstoppable 5-piece hailing from Haywood County, North Carolina. As John’s plans for a solo record took shape, he realized that BR’s authentic style and approach could bring his songs new life, and a vision for his record became clear.

Over the course of a year, the collective made use of their sparse days off the road and arranged to pow-wow and track basics at John’s home studio in Atlanta, GA or at Crossroads Studio in Arden, NC, eventually bringing the songs to form. John utilized the Zac Brown Band’s amazing new Southern Ground Studios in Nashville, TN for the final engineering and mixing, and in the middle of September 2012, the album was completed.

John is thrilled to have included several special guests on the album, including Zac Brown on “I Will Lay Me Down,” a sweet and sacred song; Levi Lowrey on “How Could I?” a song co-written by the two, and the heavenly Joey Feek of Joey + Rory on the autobiographical “Bye Baby Goodbye.” And of the musicians featured on Daylight, John could not have done better: the unmatched Jerry Douglas opens the record with dobro on “Runaway Train,” and Tony Trischka brings his banjo mastery to the title-track, “Daylight,” a longtime song in Hopkins’ repertoire about breaking through life’s troubles into brighter times.

Of singing on stage with BR, John says “Being on stage with Balsam Range is like body-surfing in warm butter-cream icing with hillbilly cherubs. Smooth…..” Balsam Range is Buddy Melton (fiddle, vocals), Darren Nicholson (Mandolin, vocals), Marc Pruett (Banjo, Vocals), Caleb Smith (guitar, vocals), and Tim Surrett (bass, dobro, vocals).

If you’re a Zac Brown Band fan, you’ll hear a couple familiar songs, though most tracks are newly penned with BR’s talent and magic in mind, and a couple songs are some of John’s oldest tunes, written with his band of many years, Brighter Shade, and beautifully reworked for this special new project.

Hopkins met Zac Brown in 1998 at an open mic hosted by Hopkins. Over the next several years, they remained friends and with Hopkins lending a production hand, they released the first Zac Brown record, “Home Grown,” in 2004.

Hopkins became a founding member of the Zac Brown Band in 2005 and has enjoyed engineering and songwriting credits on hit songs such as “Toes,” “It’s Not OK,” and “Sic Em On A Chicken,” from the multi-platinum selling record “The Foundation,” as well as “Nothing,” “I Play The Road,” and “Settle Me Down,” from the platinum selling record, “You Get What You Give.”

As the ZBB continues to garner critical and public success through Grammy, CMA, and ACM Awards, Hopkins continues to share the spotlight on stage with his band of fellow songwriters and friends and is excited to share his collaboration with Balsam Range with the world.

For more about John Driskell Hopkins and Daylight, visit www.JohnDriskellHopkins.com.

Read Full Post »