lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: good morning, believers

2021-02-16: john driskell hopkins brings eloquence, emotion with new album 'lonesome high', the atlanta journal constituion:

one of the most mellifluous songs on "lonesome high" is the opening track, "good morning, believers." along with its flecks of banjo, jittery high hat and a boom of a chorus, it also features emily saliers of the indigo girls sharing vocals with hopkins.

the pair started writing the song about two years ago, and for hopkins, it was a particularly meaningful alliance.

"the indigo girls are one of my all-time favorite bands and one of my biggest influences harmonically and lyrically and the way they approach music," hopkins said. "i've always aspired to be as good as they, and emily was gracious enough to write and record with me."

a mutual admiration society exists between hopkins and saliers, who said she loved the optimism of the song - as well as working with hopkins.

"i think we're just kindred spirits in many ways," she said. "the song is a lot about perspective and being positive, and it's a spiritual coming together in terms of believing in the good that can happen in coming together...i hadn't realized john was an engineer before, so he has the chops and that really helps with an ear for writing a song as well. he's a really good guy and someone i would do anything with."

hopkins taps "...believers" as his favorite on the album and said there is an orchestral arrangement of the song with "a bigger sound" for a deluxe version of "lonesome high."

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2021-02-18: john driskell hopkins releases long-awaited new album, fox 5 atlanta:

album opener, "good morning believers," featuring emily saliers of the grammy-winning duo indigo girls, brings hopkins's story up to speed. he points to this song, recorded with one of his heroes, as "most representative of how i want my music to sound and exist." pausing for a moment, he laughs, adding, "now, that shit is arena folk."

"lonesome high" will be released friday, and features collaborations with zac brown band groupmate coy bowles and emily saliers of the grammy-winning duo indigo girls.

"[saliers] is a hero of mine and i see coy, in a regular world, every week and spend lots of time with him. all my collaborators are either people that are really close to me or people that i really admire that i want to get closer to. you become a better artist when you're able to collaborate with other artists," says the musician.

it's been a long road toward release for "lonesome high," which the artist says was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.

"we ended up finishing it in the spring-summer of last year and were going to put it out in the fall, and the pandemic just never went away," hopkins said. "and so, now, we're embracing the fact that we're going to just put the music out there without being able to immediately tour in support of it, and i think that's the best way forward."

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2021-02-19: zac brown band's john driskell hopkins reflects on lonely times on 'lonesome high', american songwriter:

"i've written this album about a lot of lonesome moments, thinking about things i need to do to feel better," the artist explains. "going forward, i'd like to focus more on joy. i'd like to write about the things that make me happy at that moment. not all of these songs are dark, but i'd like to smile when i pick up the guitar. i'm kind of a frowner, and i think i'm tired of it."