An award-winning singing star from Shirebrook is urging his fellow teenagers to pick up a guitar or grab a microphone to boost their mental health during the ongoing pandemic as he launches his latest single, with proceeds going to Centrepoint; the housing charity whose patron is HRH The Duke of Cambridge.
Sixteen-year-old River Hopkins says his music is more important than ever, as he faces the uncertainty surrounding his GCSEs later this year and having to cope with the isolation of life under lockdown.
River is somewhat of a musical sensation, having recently been announced as the joint winner of the under-18s category of the 2020 UK Songwriting Contest after a song he wrote about Mansfield went viral on YouTube.
Award-winning singing star River Hopkins, from Shirebrook, is urging his fellow teenagers to pick up a guitar or grab a microphone to boost their mental health ahead of the release of his new record.
Since then, his video has been watched over 4,000 times, a song he wrote about the pandemic was screened on BBC Breakfast News and he was even invited to switch on the town’s Christmas lights by Mansfield District Council.
Now, to top it all off, he is set to release a new song tomorrow, in which he asks an array of TV weather presenters to help cheer everybody up.
Along with the majority of students at Shirebrook Academy, River is currently studying at home and says, with life difficult at the moment, music is an excellent way to help deal with life’s challenges.
He said: “Music is a great way to distract yourself and take your mind off things. It’s especially important at the moment with everything that’s going on.
“I’m finding GCSEs quite stressful, but I think music helps with everything – you can be feeling down or you can be happy, it’s a great outlet regardless of how you’re feeling.
“So I would definitely encourage other people to take up musical lessons, whether that be the guitar, drums or singing.”
River’s new song ‘Lie to me’, which will be released Friday February 5, features Nigerian musician Donsmarter, alongside his own mum, Katie, who had to step in when the studio closed mid-way through recording due to lockdown.
The original track is an uplifting, humorous tale of Britain’s unpredictable – and often, disappointing, weather – and sees River asking the likes of ITV Central weatherman Des Coleman, Sky’s Jo Wheeler and local BBC weather presenter Keeley Donovan to lie to us about the forecast in a bid to shed some hope and light on these strange and gloomy times.
He said the idea for the song came about when a Facebook user challenged him to write a happy song after viewing his ‘Welcome to Mansfield’ track online, and so he took them up on it.
As well as putting a smile on his own face, River hopes the song will help homeless people going through a tough time, with the proceeds from the upcoming release going to Centrepoint, which provides young people with a safe place to live while offering support with education or finding a job.
He said he was inspired to make the gesture after a homeless man named Leo gave him his last 50p while busking and, when River protested, Leo said it made him feel good to give the money to such a musical talent.
River has been playing the guitar since the age of seven and his dad, David, says that the whole of the family are proud of him and have high hopes for his new record.
He said: “He’s got his head screwed on and is very motivated, so we have every faith in him that he will do well no matter what he does.
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“River’s friends message him regularly asking him for help with music and so he’s a bit of an inspiration, while trying to record the song when nothing’s open or running normally has been quite the ordeal.
“Just being able to get it finished is amazing and we’re so proud of him. I think his music does so well because of how different it is, it makes him stand out.”
Meanwhile, River says ‘Lie to me’ is set to be his favourite song yet and is excited for the future ahead of him.
He said: “I’m definitely keen to pursue a career in music; however, it’s such a competitive business and is a lot harder at the moment with no shows and concerts going ahead.
“So my back up is to work hard for my GCSEs, go to college and train as a firefighter and play music alongside all of that.”
The song ‘Lie to Me’ will be available to purchase on iTunes on February 5, with all proceeds being donated to Centrepoint.
