BILL BLOG
Monday January 16, 2023
And a good Monday morning to you back home here in Nashville. After seeing a ton of water in California, today in Nashville we’ll see rain as well with a high of 56.
THE WEEKEND
Friday my “Hits & Grins” trio made a six hour or so drive down from Lodi to LA to play a show Saturday night in Redondo Beach. Past Bakersfield where we played a few years ago the home of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard and others. In fact, we drove right by Merle Haggard Way. We saw a lot of high water, but we also saw some gorgeous snow-capped mountains like these as well.
Checked in our room where no room keys worked so every time we left our room? Some escort had to let us in. Finally got in my room and unpacked only to discover the AC unit did not work. Maintenance guy comes up, walks in, and says, “it’s hot in here”. I rolled my eyes and thought, “ya think”? He finally give up, have to repack, and get another room. Just part of the travel thing we do. Some of that angst went away when Victoria Venier, the girl in our trio found this great local Italian restaurant where we had a great meal Friday evening.
We knew we were in southern California when our hotel had 10 electric car charging stations right outside the door. And the tattoo shop we passed on the way to our Italian dinner had a line of at least 20 people waiting to get some purple put on some part of their bodies.
THE SATURDAY SHOW
The Redondo Beach show was terrific. Despite the continuing rain that delayed our start a bit and forced the staff to put out some buckets in the theater to catch some of the dripping water. Man, they have had a ton of water in California y’all. We played in the High School Auditorium and all of our sound, tech, lights were taken care of by a crew of High School students who are in classes learning how to take care of production. And they were terrific and really great kids as was their teacher.
My longtime friend Tanvi Patel, my first ever radio intern in Cincinnati came and hung out with me and the trio after just getting home from a trip to Africa where she fell off a bike on trail-ride there. And she had the black eye to prove it. I worked at B105 IN Cincinnati where the radio station mascot is a BEE. She reminded me that she had to wear that danged bee outfit once at some event we did…and I don’t think she’s forgiven me yet. These days Tanvi runs a big music placement company in LA that puts songs in movies, and TV show and commercials. So proud of her success…and so happy to see her again after all these years. No more bee costumes for her.
Despite the rain, we had a great two show run in California in Lodi and Redondo.
NEW SHOWS
We did officially add two new shows to our “Hits and Grins” tour schedule this year. We’re making up a couple of dates we lost when I came down with COVID a few months ago. And I’m surely glad that both these theaters in Virginia did reschedule our show. So…
May 4 in Culpeper Virginia for a 7 pm show at the Culpepper County High School Auditorium
May 6 in West Point, Virginia at the Robinson Olsson Civic Auditorium & Fine Arts Center at 7 pm.
TRACK OF THE DAY
Today I’m putting a musical spotlight on a song Jenny Tolman recorded that we wrote together with her husband Dave Brainard. The two of them just had their first baby on New Year’s Eve. Bear Brainard. Same birth-date as my daughter Heather! Congrats to them.
This song came from an idea I had that the two of them took and ran with. “That’s How I Got Married In A Honkytonk” which turned into a great single release for them that was accompanied by this great and very fun video they shot out in Jackson Hole Wyoming at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. Dave proposed to Jenny in the Tetons, then they were later married in Jackson Hole. So it was an appropriate location to say their “I do’s” to each other. Fun fun song!
VIRUS NOTES
A CNN medical analyst Dr Leana Wen admits now that they’ve overcounted the amount of COVID deaths and hospitalizations by as much as 30% or more.
At Yosemite National Park they have reinstated a mask mandate for indoors because of the number of cases in that region. And the CDC is suggesting folks in 26 South Carolina counties mask up as well because of high COVID rates there.
China is now reporting over 60,000 COVID deaths since early November.
FUNNY
From some guy: “My wife asked if she could have a little peace and quiet while she cooked dinner. So I took the battery out of the smoke alarm.”
THEM AN US
Tim Cook, the Apple CEO just took a huge pay cut because shareholders were upset. How big. He went from making 99.4 million per year to just 49 million per YEAR. I hope he’ll be able to afford the cost of a dozen eggs. I have a feeling he’ll be able to struggle by somehow.
NEW CONTEST
Reese Witherspoon, the actress who lives here in Nashville
along with her partner Kacey Musgraves the music artist are launching yet
ANOTHER singing competition. This one is called “My Kind of Country” and will
launch March 24 on Apple TV+. Gosh, do we need another one of these?
MONDAY MONDAY
Today is the third Monday of January. “Blue Monday”. That’s what they call it. Some think it’s the saddest day of the year. Holiday debt, New Year’s Resolutions already abandoned by many, and dreary weather are some of the factors that make up this particular Monday being so blue for some folks. The weather alone can drag some of us down. Tomorrow our gray skies here give way to sunshine and a high of 65 so maybe we can call that “Tan Tuesday” to make up for “Blue Monday”.
TOYS
Apparently you can find great deals on toys right now. Demand is down. Pandemic, inflation, and other factors have dropped the prices, and some toy manufacturers have shut down production for a while with there not being any demand for them. Perfect time for me to go buy that Red Rider BB Gun and shoot my eye out.
TODAY
It’s MLK Day, some stores and other places will be closed. Just getting back home from California means it will be a catch-up kind of day for me, and I’ll get to spend time with my daughter and her husband who are with us at the house this week before the Army sends them to Germany this coming Sunday for a 3-year stint. So my wife and I are going to treasure the time.
Have a great Monday!
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