Country Music People April 2020 | Page 5

MAN, I FEEL LIKE A MENTOR! Tom Jones revealed that country superstar Shania Twain would be joining him as a celebrity coach/mentor on the ninth season of TV singing competition The Voice. “The knockouts are coming!” he wrote on Twitter, adding “So I need a guest mentor that impresses me much,” in reference to her worldwide smash That Don’t Impress Me Much. B ritish singer Yola (Yola Carter) who has established herself as an Americana favourite in recent years is set to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Baz Luhrman’s upcoming Elvis biopic alongside Tom Hanks as Presley’s manager Col. Tom Parker. Dubbed “the original soul sister” and “the Godmother of rock and roll”, Tharpe is considered hugely influential on the early rock’n’rollers with her use of distortion on electric guitar and her style of playing. The Warner Bros production will also feature Maggie Gyllenhaal as Presley’s mother and Rufus Sewell as his father and is scheduled to go into production this spring. SISTER ACT LIKE A TENNESSEE TORNADO D uring the night of Tuesday March 3 a series of powerful tornados tore through Tennessee causing damage to property and claiming the lives of more than two dozen people. One of the tornados hit downtown Nashville and caused devastating damage to East Nashville’s Five Points area as it swept across Music City. Many buildings were destroyed and many others had their roofs ripped off as the tornado touched down. One of the notable casualties was the popular East Nashville music venue Basement East which all but destroyed. However, its iconic “I believe in Nashville” mural survived. The cosmopolitan East Nashville area is popular with musicians who enjoy its bohemian culture and many eateries and many were out to help in the clean-up following the twister’s path of destruction. Typically, many local musicians had been donating their efforts to help raise money for Tornado Relief prior to Tennesse banning public gatherings and bars and clubs closing their doors due to the coronavirus outbreak. APRIL 2020 - cmp 5