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A Chat with John Driskell Hopkins: Zac Brown Band Founding Member's Courageous Battle with ALS
Episode 35 • 17th November 2024 • Curious Goldfish • Jason English
00:00:00 00:31:52

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In this heartfelt interview, Jason English sits down with John Driskell Hopkins, a founding member of the Zac Brown Band, to discuss his journey with ALS, his career in music, and the creation of the 'Hop for a Cure Foundation'. The conversation covers Hopkins' early music career, memorable moments with the Zac Brown Band, the impact of his ALS diagnosis, and his outlook on life and the future. Broadcasting live from Rock 'n Taco in Roswell, Georgia, the episode captures the resilience and positivity of an iconic musician facing a terminal illness.

00:00 Introduction and Personal Reflections

01:48 Understanding ALS: A Devastating Disease

02:19 John Driskell Hopkins: A Mission to Cure ALS

02:53 Interview with John Driskell Hopkins

03:38 Early Music Career and Meeting Zac Brown

11:44 The Grind and Breakthrough Moments

14:11 Songwriting and Personal Insights

20:14 Living with ALS: Emotions and Coping

23:54 Hop on a Cure: Fighting ALS

27:59 Closing Thoughts and Gratitude

Transcripts

Speaker:

John Driskell Hopkins: And I

hate to be morbid, but I think

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a lot of people kind of want to

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know what their, their, um,

retirement is going to be.

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while I'm not interested in retiring,

Um, some of us get forced into it,

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and um, I'm trying to respect the ALS

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while giving it the middle

finger behind my back

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If I were to, um, Ted Lasso say positive,

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I would,

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um, word that in, um, in a

way that I'm curious what the

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next ten years will bring.

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Um,

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and I fully intend to be here for them.

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But, but

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I

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But.

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I don't know where I'll be

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MacBook Pro Microphone-1: A L S also

known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a

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terminal, progressive, and rare neuro

degenerative disease that affects the

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nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

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It's a devastating disease.

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ALS causes the nerve cells

that control voluntary muscles.

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to stop working in die.

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This leads to muscle weakness,

twitching, and atrophy.

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Eventually resulting in paralysis

and loss of the ability to breathe.

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MacBook Pro Microphone-2:

There is no cure for ALS.

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But John Driscoll Hopkins is

on a mission to change that.

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John, or his friends affectionately

call him "hop," is a founding

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member of Zac brown band.

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He was diagnosed with ALS in late 2021.

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Soon after he and his wife, Jen created

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hop for a cure foundation," To raise

money and awareness for the disease.

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And in just a short time, it's

already raised millions of

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dollars for research on a cure.

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As Holly often, says, ALS is an uncurable.

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It's just underfunded.

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MacBook Pro Microphone-3: Thanks

to Atlanta musical icon Francisco.

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Vadal.

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I was invited to interview hop before

a singer song writer night at a local

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restaurant and bar down the street

from where I live in Roswell, Georgia.

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Rockin taco is a popular local destination

for people on the weekends to watch

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sports and listen to live cover bands.

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But on this night, in the middle of

the week, the usual sights and sounds

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gave way to an incredibly personal

night of conversation and music.

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It was my first interview in front of

a live audience and talking to such a

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successful and iconic musician like hop.

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Was intimidating.

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But like he does with so many people who

he's met through the years, his genuine

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kindness and authenticity ease my anxiety.

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And provided inspirational and

comforted words to the audience who had

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attended to hear their musical hero.

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MacBook Pro Microphone-4: Hop shared

incredible stories about his early days of

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music in Atlanta, how he met Zach brown.

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And the moment they realize they can

be more than just a regional act.

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More importantly, he shared an

update on his health and how the

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ALS is progressing in his body.

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How hop on a cure is

doing and its mission.

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And what he's most curious about as

a 50 something musician who's already

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exceeded the initial life expectancy

from his first diagnosis three years ago.

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I talk about intimidating.

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Live from rock and taco

in Roswell, Georgia.

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Here's John Driscoll Hopkins.

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Of Zac brown band.

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Let's dive in.

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Jason English (Host): Hey

everybody, good evening.

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My name's Jason English.

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I live here in Roswell, I do a passion

project, called Curious Goldfish.

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I've talked to a lot of artists this year.

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Some have ten listeners a month on

Spotify, some have a few hundred thousand.

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but I haven't yet talked to anybody that's

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won multiple

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Grammys.

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Has 9 million listeners on Spotify.

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Uh, 16 number one singles on the radio.

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And, uh, a lot

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of singles.

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And, uh, I can't wait

for that guy to get here.

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Ha ha ha.

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you're part

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of it, John.

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You're part of it Um, and

like 11 billion streams.

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So it's a, it's a pleasure for me

to talk to, uh, to John Driskell

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Hopkins for a few minutes.

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So I appreciate your attention

and, we'll, get going.

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Appreciate your time,

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Hop.

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Absolutely,

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Thanks for doing this.

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Yeah.

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Thank you, thank We're looking forward to

some good music, uh, continuing some good

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music later on with, uh, with your band.

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just a few questions.

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sounds like you've had a really busy

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summer, right?

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You guys were too.

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We're playing with Kenny Chesney and

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you have a, have a, new album EP out,

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right?

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Yeah,

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um,

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John Driskell Hopkins: we got

finished with the Chesney tour

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in late August.

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We finished up in Boston And, um,

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we've been home since then.

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And, uh, working in our

own personal studios.

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And driving kids to cheerleading and and

Gymnastics And uh, theater and, all the

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things that that, uh,

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dads to do all the

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time

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so, you know.

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Jason English (Host):

doing doing the Lord's work

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there.

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Uh, that's awesome.

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how, how are you doing

after the busy summer?

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Good.

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Yeah, cause I know that, I think you

just talked to Rolling Stone and, uh, You

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know, I think you indicated to them that,

the, uh, which we'll get, get into about

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the ALS stuff, but it sounds like things

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are progressing slower than usual,

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which is which is great.

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How you doing

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today?

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John Driskell Hopkins: So thank you.

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Slow as hell.

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thank you.

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Um,

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I am grateful that, uh, they

are slower than average.

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And, um,

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my symptoms have, uh, continued

to worsen, but it mostly manifests

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itself in my balance and my speed.

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So,

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I can still pull off a lot of the

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things that I used to.

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but, um, if you do, like,

Time lapse on your phone,

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it really cooler.

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Jason English (Host): Alright,

we'll have to give that a try.

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Alright, cool.

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Well, I just want to come back to that

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topic, uh, your foundation and all the

important things that you're doing.

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And I know there's a a lot of fans here,

I want to I want to ask you about music

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and some of the parts of your career.

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Like many artists, a lot of people

will start out doing covers, right?

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That's how you grind,

you do covers, et cetera.

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I'm not sure too many people started their

career with a cover of Oscar the Grouch?

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like you did.

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Is that, that's, can you

confirm that your first

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cover was Oscar

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the grouch?

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John Driskell Hopkins: Um,

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yes,

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it was.

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And, um, I I sang Let a

frown be your umbrella.

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Um, it was at the beach with my

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family, I, I was either

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three or four years old.

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And, um, I also

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sang, it was a commercial.

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Give a hoot.

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Don't.

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pollute.

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Oh, There we go.

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Perfect.

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Yeah.

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Woodsy the owl.

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That's Yeah.

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I'm a big woodsy

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the Owl fan.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Always have been.

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Jason English (Host): I

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I, I didn't anticipate

the Oscar, the Grouch

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cover, uh, as part of the

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career, but obviously that sort of

propelled you love of music, right.

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Growing up.

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I mean, you have start somewhere, right?

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That's right?

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Sesame Street,

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that's good.

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I began in a trash

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can.

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yeah, it's perfect.

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Uh, right.

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Yeah, exactly.

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Um, but that obviously propelled you.

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You had a love of music that

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developed.

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Uh, I know you ended up as a theater

major right at Florida state.

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And then, uh,

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all right.

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All right.

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A lot of Seminole fans here in Georgia.

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That's good.

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but you made your way back to Atlanta

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and I guess talk to us about

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a little bit

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about

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the early years of, of, of your music.

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And then I

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think you, you met Zac.

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Uh, a CJ's

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Here in Buckhead?

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Yeah.

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can tell us about

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that?

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John Driskell Hopkins: Yeah,

so, um, I moved here in

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95.

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I

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FSU in 93.

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And, um, spent another

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year and a half down there before

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moving to

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Atlanta.

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And, um,

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We

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started playing cover songs, um, not

Oscar the Grouch covers, but we did we did

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start making a living, Fairly quickly, um,

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and that due in large part to my

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friend Francisco (Vidal), who, Um,

played a lot of bars, um, and does.

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Fran's already had three gigs this And,

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He is the hardest working

man in show business.

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And,

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um, we, uh, started

the rounds in Buckhead.

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And, uh, several years

into that, I did meet Zac

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in the late 90s, and I was

running an open mic at CJ's.

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A lot of you will remember

CJ's, um, rest in peace.

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And, um, the, uh, the open mic yielded

some pretty interesting, um, studio

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clients for me.

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in

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Zac Brown and Sonya Lee and Michael

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Tolcher.

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So, um, it was a cool

thing to do on a Tuesday.

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And I met lots of cool people.

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um, I didn't join band until

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2005,

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but we

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worked in the studio a

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lot between the time we met and

the time he needed me to sit in.

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Jason English (Host): Is

it true that he was only 20

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years old when you, when

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John Driskell Hopkins: you met him?

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Jason English (Host): He was underage,

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right?

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Performing at CJ's?

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Yeah,

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John Driskell Hopkins: he, he did not get

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the, um,

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X on his hand so that he could,

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he could drink.

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Um, But, uh, he, he made a good

showing, um, seven years older.

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So, um, we played a lot of the

same gigs in our twenties and 30,

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and then in his mid to late

twenties, we were underway.

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Yeah.

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Um.

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So it was, it's been an exciting

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Jason English (Host): ride.

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Well, a lot of people, they

just, you know, a of people

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don't really understand the grind

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that

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goes into being a

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musician that's up and coming, right?

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You guys played

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an insane number of shows through the

years, famously at Dixie Tavern and

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everywhere, probably in the southeast.

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guess at

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what moment, do you remember the

moment that you realized things were

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going to be different for you all,

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like in a good way?

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you know, was it, you were

you at a certain place?

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Did you finish a

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certain gig or,

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you know, what was the indication?

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It was like, okay,

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this is to be different from now on.

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John Driskell Hopkins: Um, we

really do point to this moment

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where we were at center stage

opening for, uh, Angie Aparo.

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And we played Devil Went Down to Georgia.

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Um,

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Which I mean, in some parts of

the world, it may as well be

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our song at this point, But, um, you

know, we, were big Charlie Daniels fans

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and, um, we, uh, cover it very fast.

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And the crowd

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was so enamored with

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it.

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That they cheered

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and we, we were recording

and I think we timed

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it.

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The applause went for

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like 45 seconds and we're just like

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and

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You know, that's when we kind

of looked at each other and

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said, I think we have something here.

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Um, and it was a cover.

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Um, But the intensity and the the

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way that the band was shaping

up, um, was undeniably strong.

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And, um, all of us were

excited about what that

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Jason English (Host):

meant for the future.

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That's awesome.

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And by the way, I think, uh,

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Fran had Aparo here

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month as part of the singer

songwriter, uh, program that

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he's doing here at Rockin Taco.

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Allegedly.

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John Driskell Hopkins: Allegedly,

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yeah, yeah.

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Angie is hard to spot.

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he's like a he's like a yeti.

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Yeah, he's a legend.

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Yeah,

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Jason English (Host): no, that's

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So, one thing I don't

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think, you get a lot of attention,

You, have gotten a lot of

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attention

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through years by your

stage presence and your

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instrumentation.

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So i don't think you get

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enough credit for your songwriting.

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Me either.

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One song I want to ask You, about is Toes.

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300 million streams.

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You, you have co writing

credit on, on that

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with, uh, Shawn and, and,

a few other folks, I guess.

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How did, how did that

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song come about, and were you

all just collaborating one

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day, or is that kind of

over a period of time?

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How'd that come

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John Driskell Hopkins: It was,

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Jason English (Host): um, Can

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John Driskell Hopkins: you hear me?

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All Alright.

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Um, Zac came in to record the

ideas that he had for Toes

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and he brought Shawn with him.

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and um, So, basically,

uh, most of the song

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had been written, but we

needed to work on the chorus.

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Um, it was, uh, not

quite catchy enough yet.

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It had a lot of good potential,

and, um, Shawn and I contributed

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some lyrics to the ending.

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Um, but That was one,

that was actually the day

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that Zac said

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I need to fire my bass player, so

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um,

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that was the day, so it was a good day.

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Um, I guess I got 10 percent

a number one hit and joined

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a band that would three years

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later be

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on the radio, so.

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So, That was a

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good

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day.

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That was a

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IMG_7857-1: good

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Jason English (Host): Very good day.

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Very good day.

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so uh, this, this, thing I'm

doing, it's inspired by Ted Lasso.

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I don't know if anybody watched Ted Lasso.

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cool.

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All right, so Ted Lasso is

all about positivity and

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curiosity.

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I guess I want to ask

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you, uh, Hop, you know, given everything

you've experienced, uh, with your

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family, your career, your music, I

what are you most curious about today?

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Curious?

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John Driskell Hopkins: know.

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Jason English (Host): I don't know, man.

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This is supposed to

supposed to be a layup.

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It's supposed

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to be a

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supposed

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John Driskell Hopkins: a Them.

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Can you reword that

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Yeah, sure.

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Jason English (Host): Alright,

given everything that you've

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experienced, and all that you've

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learned through the years,

today at age, what are you, 53?

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54?

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What are you most

curious about in terms of

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life?

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like what do you want to still

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learn about?

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John Driskell Hopkins: I'd like to

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know when I'm gonna die.

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Um, and I do mean that tongue in cheek,

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Cause the um, the doctor said it

was gonna be three to five years.

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And in December that'll

be three years, so.

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And I hate to be morbid, but I think

a lot of people kind of want to

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know what their, their, um,

retirement is going to be.

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while I'm not interested in retiring,

Um, some of us get forced into it,

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and um, I'm trying to respect the ALS

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while giving it the middle

finger behind my back

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If I were to, um, Ted Lasso say positive,

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I would,

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um, word that in, um, in a

way that I'm curious what the

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next ten years will bring.

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Um,

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and I fully intend to be here for them.

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But, but

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I

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But.

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I don't know where I'll be,

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so.

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most curious about where I'll be,

um, you know, my kids have like

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six years left of high school,

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and then, um, my wife and I will

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look for a lake house somewhere, um,

but we have to sell the house we have

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to be able to do that.

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so there's a good bit of healthy, food.

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positive curiosity

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in where we will be in six years.

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that's,

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that's fun to

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daydream about mountain properties

on the lake and that kind of

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thing.

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But, um,

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that is, uh, My dream for many of us

and we can only hope that that works

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out

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so.

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Jason English (Host): good.

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answer.

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That was, that was awesome.

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Alright, very good.

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I'm

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IMG_7857-1: gonna sell

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John Driskell Hopkins: the studio to you.

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you're, you're still busy.

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Top dollar.

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Yeah.

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Davin's gonna be, uh, really

fuckin rich by then, so.

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Maybe he'll let you, uh, record there.

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Jason English (Host):

Davin McCoy, everybody.

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Davin McCoy.

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Alright, um.

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John Driskell Hopkins:

You mind if I smoke?

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Jason English (Host): Help yourself.

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So yeah, so you're almost

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John Driskell Hopkins: it's saline.

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Sorry.

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Jason English (Host): So you

mentioned that the diagnosis

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has been almost three years ago,

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John Driskell Hopkins: right?

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Jason English (Host): And I think

at the time you've talked about, you

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experienced pretty much every emotion upon

hearing that news, except for anxiety.

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I think you've said that in

other interviews, I guess.

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Can you, can you tell us a little

bit about those emotions and like,

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what are your emotions today?

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Now that you're three years

in, you know, and, and

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John Driskell Hopkins: saying that

I I think everyone experiences

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fear and anger and, and frustration

and this, that and the other.

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And I was very well acquainted

with all of those, you know,

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after, you know, 30 years in music.

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But, um,

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I hear people talk about anxiety and

I'm like, Oh yeah, I have anxiety.

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I'm anxious all the time.

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And never really

understood what that meant.

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Um, so, without being overly

dramatic, Uh, it was a period of a

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couple of months where I didn't um,

I had no idea what was coming next.

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I had convinced myself that

I was already getting worse.

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Um, it's just a really scary

time because it's so unknown.

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And, um, A lot of diagnosis are like that.

458

:

Diagnoses are like that.

459

:

When someone, uh, gets cancer, they hope

they're able to knock it out quickly.

460

:

And if they're not, then

it gets really sketchy.

461

:

And I can only imagine.

462

:

That what I was feeling was akin

to other terminal diagnoses.

463

:

And while I didn't feel like I was dying,

I just felt unstable and, and slower.

464

:

It's the oddest thing, cause I'm,

you know, I'm not Speedy Gonzalez,

465

:

but I'm generally pretty quick, and

I'm generally, um, pretty strong,

466

:

and, and ready to load out speakers,

and, you know, I mean, historically,

467

:

I've, uh, Proven myself to be a pretty

brisk worker and it bothers the hell

468

:

out of me not to be able to keep up.

469

:

Yeah.

470

:

You know, so, um, nowadays

I think I'm more, um,

471

:

I guess I'm used to it, but I also

found a little medication and, uh,

472

:

well, butrine that it's a very small

dose, but it's, I guess it helps.

473

:

I went off of it for a while and I

didn't get anxious, but I did get angry.

474

:

And so modern medicine has its

way of, um, treating the symptom.

475

:

And, um, that's a symptom

that I welcomed treatment.

476

:

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

477

:

Well, you've, you've taken this,

this, this, this news and this

478

:

condition and you and your wife

have started a hop on a cure, right?

479

:

Your, your foundation for,

uh, to cure ALS, right?

480

:

Not just to treat it.

481

:

I think, uh, the, 3 million raised.

482

:

Is that, does that sound right?

483

:

John Driskell Hopkins: The

projection is that by the end of

484

:

the year, we plan to have given

away 3 million in research grants.

485

:

Awesome.

486

:

Yeah.

487

:

Jason English (Host): I guess

what's what are ways that those of

488

:

us that are here in the audience

and that might listen to this?

489

:

How can we support?

490

:

Not just your foundation, but you

know, the, the general, uh, you know,

491

:

the general topic because it doesn't

get that much attention, right?

492

:

It doesn't get compared to

other, you know, to other things.

493

:

John Driskell Hopkins: I think it's

important to note that the predictions

494

:

are that ALS will have an increase in

percent by the year:

495

:

Um, No one knows why, but that is an

astronomical increase, and it's based on

496

:

the current rate that, um, we are seeing.

497

:

ALS cases pop up.

498

:

We don't know if it's head trauma.

499

:

We don't know if it's

environmental toxicity.

500

:

We don't know if it's polluted microbiome.

501

:

Um, it could be a combination of any

one of those or any The that just motor

502

:

neuron failure is a result of different

things that are happening in our world.

503

:

So I'm trying to focus on Non

processed food from me and, thank

504

:

you, and from my children and, you

know, the other day I told Hope that

505

:

we were not buying Nutella anymore.

506

:

And she stormed off and cried.

507

:

I'm like, I'm gonna get a hazelnut cocoa

spread that doesn't have petroleum in it.

508

:

What the fuck?

509

:

You want me to butter your banana

or drive you to the goddamn store?

510

:

Cause it's got petroleum in it.

511

:

Sorry to

512

:

curse on your nice podcast.

513

:

Jason English (Host): It's fine.

514

:

It's fine.

515

:

John Driskell Hopkins: But what I'm

learning is that we are poisoning

516

:

ourselves and And it's on a much

bigger level than I ever understood.

517

:

You know, little details, uh, go by the

wayside and you think, ah, you know,

518

:

everything's bad for you now, but no, not

everything, everything, just everything

519

:

in the middle of the supermarket,

you have to shop the perimeter.

520

:

And pick up the things

that are actually organic.

521

:

Yeah.

522

:

And I know it's expensive, but I'm fat

anyway, so I can stand to eat less of it.

523

:

Jason English (Host): It all evens out.

524

:

That's good.

525

:

All right.

526

:

just in closing, you know, we

mentioned your wife, Jen, and I,

527

:

talked about your songwriting.

528

:

Yeah.

529

:

All right.

530

:

Some of, some of the folks in the audience

who are listening may not know that

531

:

you've released a number of solo albums.

532

:

I want to, I want to read some

lyrics from, a song from the Daylight

533

:

album, about 10, 12 years ago.

534

:

And I think this is a reference to

Jen, so correct me if I'm wrong,

535

:

but it's from I Will Lay Me Down.

536

:

It goes like this.

537

:

Whenever she's with me, I'm at home.

538

:

Wherever we are standing,

wherever we may roam.

539

:

We built a family.

540

:

We will never be alone, holding

on to love until we pass on.

541

:

Those are good words.

542

:

I guess, in terms of your relationship

with her and especially the last few

543

:

years, I guess, what's that support meant

to you and, the kids and everything?

544

:

John Driskell Hopkins: She truly

is the backbone of our family.

545

:

And, um, I couldn't do all

the things that, that I get

546

:

to do without her support.

547

:

I think a lot of people, um, who

travel for a living feel that

548

:

frustration and that, um, Seeming

absent in their, uh, family's life

549

:

and, um, she holds it together.

550

:

I'm really grateful that we have,

you know, all these devices that

551

:

are melting our brains into cancer.

552

:

Because, um, it allows me to see them.

553

:

Um, that was a little bit of

a twisted, like, wasn't it

554

:

You know, I love these devices that have

a on ai on 'em that is coming to kill us.

555

:

Jason English (Host): Yeah, the ai.

556

:

Yeah, that's right.

557

:

John Driskell Hopkins: Um, I do think

that technology has made it possible for

558

:

us to stay connected and, um, I can't

imagine touring and, you know, days

559

:

before cell phones, where it was just

like, I'll call you from the hotel or the

560

:

truck stop or the, the wherever I can.

561

:

So, um, that that's better.

562

:

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

563

:

John Driskell Hopkins: But, um, It's

still very tough and, and she holds it

564

:

together all the time and she's every day.

565

:

She's doing something for

someone else and not for herself.

566

:

And she is glued to that laptop

to make sure that hot point of

567

:

cure is, uh, staying on task.

568

:

And I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

569

:

Jason English (Host): Awesome.

570

:

Yeah.

571

:

Perfect.

572

:

Well, John, we really

appreciate your time.

573

:

Thank you for your music.

574

:

Thank you for who you are.

575

:

Thank you for what you're doing.

576

:

And, uh, we can't wait to

hear your music tonight.

577

:

So really appreciate it.

578

:

Yep.

579

:

Thank you, sir.

580

:

Yeah, I appreciate it.

581

:

All right.

582

:

Thanks everybody for listening.

583

:

And, uh,

Chapters

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