Generally you hear a narrative in a rustic music track, and suppose it’s too unhappy or twisted to be true. Generally life unfolds like a rustic track, and it’s nearly too arduous to imagine. The sordid story of the widow of George Jones and her relationship with convicted prison Kirk West is a type of unbelievable tales.
– – – – – – –
When the legendary George Jones handed away on April twenty sixth, 2013, he left behind arguably one of many biggest legacies within the historical past of nation music. To many individuals, George Jones is a Mount Rushmore performer, and maybe the best nation singer of all time.
George Jones additionally left behind his spouse Nancy Jones, maiden title Nancy Sepulvado, who George met in 1981 when Nancy was 34. Nancy grew to become identified to many nation followers all through the years for serving to George Jones lastly sober up, for being there through the revitalization his profession, and for occasionally accompanying George in interviews and appearances. Nancy was one among George’s most tireless champions, and gained the fame for being a shrewd businesswoman. Nancy’s unwavering assist for the legacy of George Jones didn’t change within the wake of George’s passing.
Nancy Jones Meets Kirk West
It wasn’t simple for Nancy Jones to proceed on together with her life with George not round performing and selling his catalog. In August of 2013, Nancy Jones determined to place the couple’s Nashville property up on the market as a part of a better effort to consolidate her property. In the course of the sale interval, a person by the title of Kirk West got here by to tour the house with an curiosity in probably buying it, both on his personal or with a bunch of traders.
Whether or not Kirk West ever had a bunch of traders behind him stays unsure, however he by no means had the cash to buy the George Jones residence on his personal. Nevertheless, by his interactions with Nancy Jones, he struck up a private relationship with the widow, and began texting her, providing each monetary steerage and companionship within the aftermath of George’s loss of life. When Nancy ultimately realized that West had no cash, nor a house of his personal, she started to really feel sorry for him, and provided up the upstairs wing of the property for him to stay in beginning in September of 2013.
Because it’s not too arduous to think about, ultimately Kirk West (who has additionally been generally known as Kirk Leipzig) grew to become each romantically concerned with Nancy Jones, together with changing into instantly concerned with the affairs of the George Jones property by October of 2013. West was about 18 years youthful than Nancy Jones on the time.
The Opening of “The George Jones”
A 12 months after West had moved into the George Jones property—in September of 2014—it was introduced that Nancy Jones had bought two adjoining properties at 128 and 130 Second Ave. N. in Nashville parallel to the Cumberland River, and proper close to the Decrease Broadway leisure district. Then on January thirteenth of the subsequent 12 months, plans have been unveiled for the property that may ultimately be identified merely as “The George Jones.”
Together with housing a George Jones museum with many items of memorabilia, there was additionally an occasion house, a music venue, a restaurant, a rooftop deck and bar, and a present store, with all of it constructed to commemorate the legacy of George Jones. Additionally launched as a part of the enterprise was the title and likeness of George Jones stamped on his personal line of flavored moonshine and vodka, branded after George’s first #1 hit from 1959, “White Lightning.”
Together with the bold scope for the brand new property, what additionally was outstanding was how rapidly it opened. It took solely 3 1/2 months for it to open on the 2 12 months anniversary of George’s loss of life on April twenty sixth, 2015. The whole complicated was constructed, completed, artifacts moved in, the restaurant and present store stocked, and workers educated in that point. Nancy Jones mentioned they labored “across the clock” to make it occur.
And remarkably, they did. “For Nancy to open the newly renovated George Jones Museum, Tennessee legal guidelines needed to be rewritten,” mentioned the regulation agency of Bone, McAllester, and Norton, who helped usher laws by the state authorities to permit all sides of the multi-use house to be allowed, together with a rooftop bar and package deal liquor operation for the George Jones-branded alcohol to be offered on the premises.
This entire time, Kirk West was a significant participant behind-the-scenes of the George Jones Property and the brand new institution, orchestrating lots of the plans and pushing them ahead, with Nancy because the front-facing spokesperson. Finally Kirk West was named the Normal Supervisor of The George Jones.
When Saving Nation Music reached out to Kirk West in February of 2016 on a separate matter of a web site promoting unauthorized George Jones merch, West additionally recognized himself because the Enterprise Supervisor for the George Jones property, saying in an official capability, “This product isn’t licensed in any respect. They should take away this product and by no means use George Jones title once more or I’ll sue them.”
When The George Jones opened in late spring of 2015, it actually was a sight to behold. Although the museum could not have been as expansive as some, it was nonetheless cool to see that the legacy of George Jones can be enshrined in Music Metropolis proper beside so many different places devoted to nation music legends. The meals was surprisingly good, and so was the expertise they employed to play the house. The venue grew to become an everyday place to play for conventional nation artists equivalent to James Carothers and Tim Culpepper.
The First Kirk West Arrest and Conviction
However monetary irregularities behind-the-scenes quickly started eroding on the integrity of the enterprise and property. Within the fall of 2016, every part started to unravel. Kirk West had lied about his revenue, and cast paperwork and pay stubs to dramatically inflate his web price on tax paperwork to safe loans on properties across the Nashville space. Federal costs have been filed in July 2016 in opposition to West, and he plead responsible to Federal fraud costs on September nineteenth.
Together with being ordered to serve two years in jail, West agreed to pay $935,045 in restitution to Nashville’s Reliant Financial institution. You may suppose that with all of those revelations, Nancy Jones would transfer on from Kirk West, who was rapidly revealing himself as a hustler and unscrupulous enterprise man. However in accordance with courtroom data, that’s not what occurred in any respect.
Kirk West was in a position to get the courtroom to agree to 3 years of supervised launch and one 12 months of home arrest. He ended up serving that home arrest within the residence of Nancy Jones. She additionally paid his authorized charges, and paid his $935,045 restitution invoice, with West promising he would pay her again over time. Earlier than, throughout, and after the arrest and conviction, Jones additionally paid for the pair to take lavish holidays, and purchased West a Mercedes-Benz.
The Closing of “The George Jones”
In the meantime at The George Jones on 2nd Avenue in Nashville, issues began to go south. Some people began to complain about poor service on the bar and restaurant. Although not being inundated with drunk vacationers was one of many causes to hunt the property out, being barely off the primary drag in the end made it tough to attract in patrons. The downfall of Kirk West put the property on not sure footing each from a management perspective, and financially.
Then a few months later, on November twenty third, it was introduced that the George Jones Museum had been offered by Nancy Jones to a Nashville-based funding group known as Possum Holdings LLC. Together with the George Jones Museum and all of its amenities, the possession group additionally negotiated a Grasp License to the George Jones title, picture, and likeness. The George Jones property not owned the George Jones Museum and Restaurant, nor his title or picture.
“I poured my coronary heart and soul into constructing a premier vacation spot for George’s followers in a means that he would have cherished,” mentioned Nancy Jones on the time.
After the sale, some felt just like the household ambiance of the place started to vanish. Then the pandemic hit with obligatory shut downs, which put the enterprise in peril. After which so as to add harm to insult, the George Jones Museum and all of its neighboring properties have been swept up within the 2020 Christmas bombing of 2nd avenue in Nashville, which occurred on the block down from The George Jones.
On December thirteenth, 2021, after 6 1/2 years of making an attempt to maintain the enterprise by a litany of adversities, The George Jones introduced it was completely shutting down. The shrine to George Jones was no extra, and the George Jones property not even owned the George Jones title or likeness.
Kirt Webster Enters The Chat
But by all of this time, Kirk West and Nancy Jones have been nonetheless romantically and financially linked. To handle the music aspect of The George Jones property, the pair made the very doubtful resolution to rent disgraced music publicist and supervisor Kirt Webster. Accused of rape by a number of people, and sexual harassment/inappropriate sexual habits by dozens of others, Webster’s nation music empire of representing an entire host of performers from Dolly Parton and Child Rock imploded in scandal in 2017.
Throughout a December twentieth, 2022 press convention to announce the “Nonetheless Playin’ Possum” tenth Anniversary live performance for George Jones that was held in April 2023 in Huntsville, Alabama, a number of people made certain to thank Kirt Webster for serving to to arrange the occasion, together with Nancy Jones. It’s since been confirmed Webster is representing the George Jones property.
Kirk West’s Cryptocurrency Investments, and Breakup
Throughout this time, Kirk West additionally allegedly had grow to be excited about cryptocurrency as a approach to construct wealth, and was utilizing Nancy’s cash to put money into XLM, DOGE, XRP, SHIB, and Ethereum, in accordance with courtroom data. Then round June twenty sixth of this 12 months, Nancy suspected that Kirk West had been dishonest on her, and ultimately kicked him out of the home on June twenty eighth.
Amid the breakup, Nancy Jones known as a granddaughter, and requested her to safe the contents of a secure West had entry to that included money, jewellery, and a ledger pockets containing the keys to the cryptocurrency investments. The granddaughter found that $400,000 in money was lacking from the secure, together with a Ledger pockets that contained roughly 5,534,307 items of the digital foreign money XRP, primarily based on the affidavit.
With every token reportedly valued at roughly $2.10 on the date of the theft, that was greater than $11 million price of cryptocurrency taken on the time. The worth of that stolen crypto has subsequently elevated to $17 million. West allegedly informed Nancy Jones that he would return $5 million of the crypto funds to her checking account, however mentioned that was all she would get.
Nancy Jones in the end went to the Franklin Police Division, who opened an investigation into the matter. Lower than 24 hours afterward July twenty fourth, they arrested Kirk West on the Nashville Airport and charged him with theft over $250,000. His bond was set at $1 million. West is about to be in courtroom on October twenty third.
By this complete saga, the property and affairs of George Jones have suffered, together with his title and likeness rights offered off, and the shuttering of his museum/restaurant. In an affidavit, Nancy Jones claims that Kirk West preys on “rich, probably weak ladies.”
Within the case of Nancy Jones, Kirk West additionally preyed on an necessary property to the legacy of nation music.
– – – – – – – –
In the event you discovered this text precious, take into account leaving Saving Nation Music A TIP.
