On Screen

September 12 - 18, 2020 —3 The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN September 12 - 18, 2020 — 3 2 x 3.5" ad a) greene cnty farmers b) swango's 2 x 4" ad williams electric 2 x 1.5" ad ymca 2 x 1.5" ad doughty stevens 2 x 1.5" ad midway const. By Jay Bobbin Keith Urban didn't envision his debut as host of the Academy of Country Music Awards going quite this way. Calling himself the event's "lon- gest single reigning entertainer of the year," he notes that's due to the coronavirus-pandemic-caused delay of the 55th edition of the ceremony to Wednesday, Sept. 16. That's when CBS and CBS All Access will present it from several legendary Nashville locations — the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium and the Bluebird Cafe — as the show originates for the first time from the country-music capital. (It had been slated for April in Las Vegas, where Urban had started a concert residency.) "I'm glad we're able to have it go ahead at all," reasons the ever- friendly Urban, nominated this time for male artist of the year. "We have to make it work in this new rhythm that we're all figuring out now, doing things remotely without (on-site) audiences. The word that always comes to my mind is 'innovation,' and that's really what we're all in the midst of, doing what we do in this new context." During the ACM Awards, Urban likely will make use of technology, as he notably did by "tripling himself " while performing "Higher Love" on last April's multiple-network "One World: Together at Home" special. (Entering his home studio toward the song's end, wife Nicole Kidman somehow knew which of the three was the "real" Urban to walk over to.) Admitting that he felt he was in "artistic paralysis" in the pandemic's early weeks, Urban says he pulled himself out of it step by step, doing such things as a Tennessee drive- in-theater concert for health-care workers. "Once I pointed myself toward the things I can do and not what I can't do, that really was the pivotal thing for me," he reflects. "I started to get back on the horse, as it were; then, a whole surge of creativ- ity came." As the international touring itiner- ary he'd planned for 2020 shifted to 2021, Urban completed his new album "The Speed of Now Part 1," which drops Friday, Sept. 18. Among its selections are the already released singles "God Whispered Your Name," "We Were," "Superman" and "Polaroid." With the ACM Awards making their Nashville debut, Urban says, "It's much like the first time the CMA Awards went out of Nashville to New York in 2005, when I won both male vocalist of the year and entertainer of the year. I feel very for - tunate that I've been able to be a part of a couple of really extraordinary moments in country-music history ... but it's amazing that the ACMs have never been in Nashville before. It's crazy that it took a pandemic to make it happen." Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop Finally, Keith Urban hosts the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards Cover Story Cover Story By George Dickie In the late 20th century, there was no greater accolade for a stand-up comic than the approval of Johnny Carson. If you made the then-"King of Late Night" laugh or got called over to the couch after your routine on "The Tonight Show," your future was bright. That was certainly the experi - ence of Jeff Foxworthy, host of A&E Network's Tuesday un- scripted series "What's It Worth?" His first performance on the iconic NBC show in 1990 turned out to be a career-making turn, though he admits there were nerves. "It was totally surreal ...," the 62-year-old Atlanta native recalls. "You get to the end of your six minutes and you're scared to look because it was like Caesar decid - ing do I live or do I die. And I look over and he's waving me to the couch and I'm like, 'Oh my Checking in with Jeff Foxworthy God! Oh my God! I'm going to the couch!' " "And I remember laying in bed that night after doing it staring at the ceiling going, 'I don't have a plan.' " He didn't need it. Carson's seal of approval had done its magic and Foxworthy was headlining in Las Vegas a week after his ap - pearance. Years later, Foxworthy guested on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and a producer handed him a photo of him and Carson on that night. "He went back into the ar- chives," Foxworthy explains, "and it's me sitting in the chair talking to Johnny and Johnny's got his head back and his mouth wide open laughing. And he said, 'I found this and I thought you might like to have it.' And I got tears in my eyes. I'm like, 'Oh my God! That's all I wanted to do. I made Johnny laugh.' " Full name: Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy Birth date: Sept. 6, 1958 Birthplace: Atlanta Family ties: He and wife Pa- mela have two daughters College: Georgia Institute of Technology Other TV credits include: "The Jeff Foxworthy Show," "Reno: 911!" "Just for Laughs," "Blue Collar TV," "Foxworthy's Big Night Out," "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" "Bounty Hunters," "Jay Leno's Ga- rage," "Bring the Funny," "Expedition Unknown" Movie credits include: "Rac- ing Stripes" (voice, 2005), "The Aviators" (voice, 2008), "The Smurfs" (voice, 2011), "The Smurfs 2" (voice, 2013), "Hatched" (voice, 2013), "Ozzy" (voice, 2016), "Bunyan and Babe" (voice, 2017) 921 W. Main St. Offi ce - 423-638-3652 www.gcfarmersmutual.com Get the Protection You Need • Fire • Wind • Lightning • Hail Liability Insurance • Farm Machinery • Barn • Residence • Modular Home Doughty-Stevens Funeral Home 423-638-4141 www.doughty-stevens.com 1125 Tusculum Blvd. Greeneville, Tennessee Established 1892 Serving the community for 127 years! One Y. One Community. Greene County YMCA 423-639-6107 www.greenecounty-ymca.org U 4 Z E E-Z PAY Select Our E-Z Pay Plan to make monthly payments for your Greeneville Sun subscription. Call today and say, "E-Z Pay, Please!" 423.638.4182 your hometown newspaper since 1879! The Greeneville Sun The Greeneville Sun

• Cover