Shirebrook singing star River calls on teens to get more musical

River Hopkins, 16, 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 after being named joint winner of the under-18s category of the 2020 UK Songwriting Contest when a song he wrote about Mansfield went viral on YouTube.

Since then, his video has been watched more than 4,000 times, a song he wrote about the pandemic was screened on BBC Breakfast News and he was invited to switch on the Mansfield’s Christmas lights.

Now he has released a new song called Lie to me, in which he asks an array of TV weather presenters to lie about the gloomy forecast and instead make it happy to help cheer everybody up.

Along with the majority of students at Shirebrook Academy, River is currently studying at home and he says music is an excellent way to help deal with life’s current challenges.

He said: “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.

“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.”

Lie to me, which is available on iTunes from Friday, February 5, features Nigerian musician Donsmarter and River’s mum, Katie, who had to step in when the studio closed due to lockdown.

All proceeds will go to the homeless charity Centrepoint, a gesture inspired after a homeless man named Leo gave him his last 50p while busking, telling River it made him feel good to give the money to such a talent.