We’re so happy to welcome the lovely & talented Joy Oladokun back to Grimey’s to celebrate her new record, Hope Is a Heavy Thing! Please join us on Wednesday, October 7th at 4:00 PM for an intimate instore performance and album signing with Joy. At Joy’s request this special gathering will also be a time of giving—we’ll be collecting donations in support of the East Nashville Care Market (ENCM), an awesome organization working in our neighborhood to provide support to our East Nashville community. East Nashville Care Market welcomes over 1,800 neighbors each month to shop for groceries, clothing, hygiene, and toys at no cost, with the freedom and dignity to choose what works for them and their families. Their current top 3 needs are for hygiene: full-sized soap, toothpaste, and deodorant. We hope you’ll support our efforts to raise awareness about ENCM and bring donations to support their efforts.

While you’re here for our event with Joy be sure to snap a pic with our super cool new Hope Is a Heavy Thing mural painted by Kim Radford! If you post your mural photo to social media be sure to tag us so we can share it too. And speaking of things we’ve seen on social media, we were delighted to learn that some of Joy Oladukn’s pieces have just been added to the National Museum of African American Music here in Nashville! Located on Broadway, within blocks of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena and the Ryman Auditorium, the NMAAM preserves and celebrates the history of Black music in America.

Hope Is a Heavy Thing, Oladokun’s third full-length album, was self-produced with additional contributions from Nigerian producer Spellz and a feature from Nigerian artist Adekunle Gold. The album marks a bold new creative chapter, broadening her sound while continuing to explore questions of identity, resilience, and belonging with the emotional depth that has become her signature.The project further reflects Oladokun’s ability to draw from diverse influences while creating music that transcends genre and geography. A queer Black musician and daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Oladokun has become a vital cultural voice, writing songs that explore identity, faith, mental health, and social justice with honesty and restraint. Those themes remain at the heart of Hope Is A Heavy Thing.

Released September 25th via Concord Music, Hope Is a Heavy Thing is available to preorder for event pickup on vinyl and CD. (Preorder in the record store and on our site here.) All who preorder the album in advance will receive a wristband for Joy’s post-performance signing. Wristbands are required to participate in the signing for all 13+. (Kids 12 & under don’t need a wristband if attending with a wristband-holding adult.) All who preorder in advance will also receive an email the day before our event detailing preorder pickup and run of event, as well as additional information about ENCM donations. Preorders + wristbands will be available for pickup in the shop starting when we open on Wednesday, October 7th, the date of our event with Joy Oladokun. If you’ve never visited Grimey’s before we recommend you check out our parking tips on our site here.

You can ead more about Hope Is a Heavy Thing and lock in your preorder on our site here. We can’t wait to see you here for this one, Nashville!