By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Kane Brown became the genre’s second big name to announce plans for a fall tour last week. Brown will be appearing at 35 stops for what he calls the “Blessed & Free” tour. It begins Oct. 1 in Sacramento. Along the way, Brown will have shows at each of North America’s 29 NBA arenas (a 30-team league, the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers share a home court). Dates include the Staples Center in Los Angeles, American Airlines Center in Dallas and FedEx Forum in Memphis. The tour includes two inaugural headlining dates for Brown…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The state of Georgia continues to suffer in the wake of their most recent voter suppression legislation. Monday Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith announced they are moving production on their big-budget, runaway slave thriller “Emancipation” out of Georgia in protest over the controversial new voting restrictions. This is the latest backlash as Gov. Brian Kemp and the state legislature passed laws many critics maintain amount to voter suppression, aimed at reducing the turnout of people of color. They came after former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election,…
NASHVILLE, TN — After top-seeded Stanford narrowly squeezed by South Carolina 66-65 in the Final Four, few thought it would be possible for the title game to be anywhere near as exciting whether their rival was Arizona or longtime champion UConn. But those expectations were more than met by Sunday’s thrilling 54-53 title win over Arizona. The Baylor/Gonzaga men’s final will have to really be a classic to equal the drama of this one that saw once again Stanford survive a final-second attempt and get their first NCAA Women’s Tournament victory since 1992. Stanford also became the first team in…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, The Vanderbilt Commodores are technically defending national college baseball champions because the pandemic wiped out last season’s College World Series. While the season is far from over, the Commodores thus far have looked even more formidable than usual. They begin the week ranked number one in the nation, have posted a 23-3 record and completed a weekend sweep over number 25 LSU Saturday. They have won nine straight games, and in two of last weekend’s three games scored double digit runs. The first thing that frightens most teams that face the Commodores is the strength of…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Whether this will be a harbinger for the Oscars no one can say, but history was clearly made Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. For the first time in its 27-year history, every one of the four main film acting awards was won by a person of color. Three Black actors and one Asian swept the film categories. Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman took home both lead actor awards for their performances in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Daniel Kaluuya was awarded for his supporting role in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” while “Minari’s”…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — One of the greatest jazz drummers and scat singers, not just in Nashville history but across the board, will be remembered this weekend by friends and colleagues. The Nashville Jazz Workshop is celebrating the life and times of Duffy Jackson with an online memorial tribute Saturday night. Jackson became a huge contributor to the NJW faculty as well as the Music City music community from the time he arrived here from Florida in the late 2000s until his premature passing March 3 at age 67. The NJW has gathered clips from his host of…
No matter which teams eventually win the NCAA men’s and women’s Tournaments, the biggest stories this year for different reasons focus on a pair of coaches. One is in their first year of college coaching, the other now an established mainstay within their conference. But if either or both can lead their teams to NCAA titles (at press time both were in the Elite Eight), then something rare will happen in college basketball: both champions will be lead by Black coaches. Juwan Howard has already had a great season in his inaugural year at Michigan, irregardless of how the Wolverines…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee State University Tigers still have major goals they want to accomplish during this spring season, among them regaining the York Trophy, and having a winning year after a tough start. They’re hoping that the good things they saw during Sunday’s 26-24 victory over UT Martin at Hale Stadium continue during this Sunday’s road game against Tennessee Tech. They got several excellent individual offensive and defensive efforts, and averted a last second collapse by stopping a two-point conversion attempt in the final minute that would have forced overtime. Offensively, they again got a…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Lifetime previously enjoyed both strong ratings and critical acclaim for its film on the Clark Sisters, so they’re hoping the same thing happens this weekend with the debut of “Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia.” This is a long-awaited production covering the life of the woman many consider the finest individual vocalist in gospel music history. She also was extremely active in the Civil Rights Movement, both with personal appearances and through monetary contributions. There’s quite a prolific cast involved. SAG Award and Grammy Award-winning actress Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black”) has the title…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Lawrence Otis Graham made writing about the Black upper class a passion and the subject of 14 books. He combined that career with being a corporate lawyer at Weil, Gotshal & Manges as well as a real estate attorney at Cuddy & Feder. Graham passed away in February at 59, but one of his best-selling works is now slated to become a television series. Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class (HarperCollins) was a New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Essence Magazine bestseller, as well as a selection of the Book…