In case you missed it...
Most country music fans first became aware of ERNEST when he released his hit song "Flower Shops" with Morgan Wallen last year. That song, and his songwriting in general, were big reasons he was inducted as a member of the 2023 Grand Ole Opry’s Opry NextStage class. Now that he's got a key to that famous venue (figuratively and perhaps literally), he's started releasing what he calls "Circle Sessions" - videos where he plays from the hallowed wooden circle on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Last week he released his first Circle Session song, John Mayer's "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room." Over the weekend, he released the second. Titled "This Fire," the song was first released on his album "FLOWER SHOPS (THE ALBUM): Two Dozen Roses," released earlier this year. More intimate than the studio version, the video shows ERNEST playing for an empty Grand Ole Opry theater. Check out the performance below.
Willie Nelson has been accorded just about every honor a legendary musician can receive - GRAMMYs, ACM's, CMA's - but this is a new one. Scientist JoVonn Hill and his team have been researching the Edwards Plateau region of central Texas - near where Willie Nelson was born and raised. The scientists have discovered seven previously undiscovered species of flightless grasshopper - and have named one of those species after the country icon. "Melanoplus nelsoni and Melanoplus walkeri immortalize the enduring contributions of these legendary musicians and their connection to Texas," said Dr. Hill, having named the two species of grasshopper after Willie and late country legend Jerry Jeff Walker. Though Hill works out of Mississippi State University, he says, "After these last few summers [of field studies], just like Mr. Nelson, we, too, have a little Texas in our souls."