Newcomer artist ERNEST has launched the weekly podcast Just Being ERNEST, where he will offer his opinion on current events and will host business owners, fellow artists and songwriters, while offering a platform for earnest conversations.

“I’ve always wanted to have a talk show, but I never knew exactly what that would look like,” shares ERNEST. “This podcast is a little bit of everything. I’m excited to give my take on current events, talk life and music with some of my friends in the music business, and introduce y’all to people I admire and am inspired by in different fields – local business owners, athletes, doctors, visual artists, and more. This podcast is a platform for people to have a good time expressing themselves and hopefully share a side of them they may not otherwise get to showcase. It’s truly a podcast for people who are ‘just being ERNEST’.”

The singer-songwriter released his debut project, Locals Only, in 2019 via Big Loud Records. He has co-written hits for Morgan Wallen (“More Than My Hometown”), and Diplo (“Heartless”) as well as Chris Lane (“Big, Big Plans” and “Hold You Tonight” ft. Gryffin), as well as two tracks for Sam Hunt’s album SOUTHSIDE including “Let It Down” and “Breaking Up Was Easy in the ’90s.”

The National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), in partnership with Metro Nashville Public Works, has adopted a street in downtown Nashville to deepen its connection with its home in Music City.

NMAAM will be responsible for four blocks of historic Jefferson Street in Nashville. Through the Adopt-A-Street program, the museum will host street cleanups throughout the year once social distancing mandates have been lifted.

Similar to NMAAM, Jefferson Street is rooted in the preservation of black music and history. It stretches from the historically black Tennessee State University to Fisk University, where the Fisk Jubilee Singers were founded.

Metro Nashville Public Works’ Adopt-A-Street program is a way for organizations and businesses to help keep Nashville beautiful and show pride in the surrounding community. This effort is in conjunction with the Tennessee Department of Transportation and its Nobody Trashes Tennessee campaign.

“Jefferson Street is the musical heartbeat of this city,” said H. Beecher Hicks, III, president and CEO of NMAAM. “Becoming stewards of such an important part of African American culture in Music City is humbling and is a responsibility we do not take lightly. Nashville is growing every day, and we want to show that we are here, not only to educate and entertain, but to support the community we live in.”

NMAAM is currently under construction at Nashville’s Fifth + Broadway development and expects to open in September 2020.

Trace Adkins, Dustin Lynch and Blake Shelton will perform on the Grand Ole Opry’s 4,923^rd consecutive Saturday night broadcast on Saturday, May 9. Gwen Stefani will also make her Grand Ole Opry debut that night, joining Shelton for their duet performance of his current single “Nobody But You.”

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Opry will stage a remote broadcast performance as part of a regularly scheduled show. Adkins and Lynch will perform on stage at the Opry House, after which Shelton and Stefani will play for fans around the world via a remote broadcast from Shelton’s farm in Oklahoma, where the two artists are safely sheltered at home. Adkins, Lynch, and Shelton all share an Opry bond: Adkins invited Shelton to become an official Opry member in 2010, and extended the same invitation to Lynch in 2018.

The show will be broadcast live on Circle, and Gray TV stations, DISH Studio Channel 102, Sling TV and other TV affiliates in addition to a companion live stream on Circle All Access Facebook and YouTube channels. Those tuning into the Livestream on the Circle All Access YouTube and Facebook channels this week can watch a special Mother’s Day episode of Circle Sessions with Sara Evans at 6:30 p.m. CT immediately prior to the live Opry and catch the premiere of Circle Sessions: At Home featuring Wynonna, Evans and more at 8 p.m. CT after the Opry.

Cumulus and Westwood One are helping those in need today by leading the Radio Cares: Feeding America Emergency Radiothon. The companies are asking for all radio stations to get involved and help raise money for Feeding America and its 200-member network of local food banks across the U.S. with donations at RadioCares.org. The event will be heard on stations across the U.S. today (April 30) until 11:59 p.m. ET and contributions will accepted through Sunday.

Over 10,000 stations are currently participating either directly, via syndication, or by network affiliation, and stations wanting to get involved can still go to radiocares.org. Cumulus is airing the radiothon across its 424 stations, and Westwood One is promoting the event across all of its 24/7 formats and on its shows as well.

Feeding America established the COVID-19 Response Fund in mid-March, and since then have distributed $112.4 million and over 94 million pounds of food to food banks across the U.S., helping provide nearly 79 million meals to people facing hunger. The organization announced earlier this month that an estimated $1.4 billion in additional resources will be needed over the next six months to sustain operations and continue to provide food for people struggling with hunger.

Photo: grammy.com

The Recording Academy has added its first Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, naming Valeisha Butterfield Jones to the role, effective May 11. Butterfield Jones will report to Academy Chair and Interim President/CEO Harvey Mason Jr.

“We are thrilled to welcome Valeisha Butterfield Jones into the Recording Academy family,” said Harvey Mason Jr. “Valeisha has been a force in driving systemic change and enhancing equal opportunities for underrepresented groups across entertainment, technology and politics. I’m excited to work with her to continue evolving the Recording Academy as an organization that represents our music community and a place where all voices are welcomed, supported and nurtured. We are so fortunate to have Valeisha’s leadership in this crucial area.”

Butterfield Jones’ appointment follows recommendations set forth by the Recording Academy Diversity & Inclusion Task Force in December 2019 with a request for the Academy to hire a Diversity & Inclusion Officer at the executive level responsible for enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion efforts by May 1, 2020. The move also follows the very public departure of former Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan.

“It’s imperative that the music industry continue to make strides toward a more equitable and inclusive industry, and I am pleased to see the Recording Academy take this important step toward change within its own walls today by appointing Valeisha Butterfield Jones as its first-ever Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer,” said Tina Tchen, chair of the Recording Academy Diversity & Inclusion Task Force and president and CEO of TIME’S UP. “Creating this executive-level position was a principal recommendation of our Task Force because it is one significant way the Academy can demonstrate that issues of diversity are mission-critical and will be prioritized in the future.”

“The Recording Academy has an opportunity and responsibility to ensure that diversity and inclusion is embedded in its core values. I’m deeply honored to join the Academy as we enter a new chapter of transformational growth, leadership and change,” said Butterfield Jones. “During this unprecedented time in world history, together we will double-down on our focus to drive systemic change and equitable outcomes for underrepresented communities and creators.”

Butterfield Jones previously served as global head of inclusion for Google, Inc. Prior to her work at Google, she served as the national youth vote director for the Obama for America campaign, deputy director of public affairs for international trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Obama Administration, executive director at Rush Communications (Def Jam Enterprises, Baby Phat, Phat Farm, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network) and as the national director of diversity and inclusion for the Alzheimer’s Association. Her two decades-long career began at Home Box Office (HBO Sports). As a philanthropist, Butterfield Jones co-founded the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) in 2007, a nonprofit, global coalition of women and men committed to the balanced, positive portrayal of women in the entertainment industry. She also serves on the National Board of Directors of ColorComm, MC Lyte’s Hip Hop Sisters Network and iVote.