BILL BLOG
Tuesday March 21, 2023
Tuesday morning with sunshine and a high of 56. Spring sprung yesterday officially and it feels a bit like that here in middle Tennessee today.
YESTERDAY
It was day one of our Freedom Sings USA writers retreat in Murfreesboro which is about an hour away from my house. 5 songwriters are involved with this retreat where later today all five of will sit down with a veteran nurse to hear their stories and then write those stories into songs which will be performed later tonight in concert.
My friend Irene Kelley is participating in her first ever
experience with this. I did not know until last night that Irene’s father
fought in World War 2 and was one of those soldiers who walked into Auschwitz
and helped free some of those trapped in train cars by the Nazis. She talked
about how hard those stories from her Father were to hear as one can imagine. I
remember when I was young that I read the “Rise and Fall of The Third Reich” and
felt almost sick when I read what the Germans did with the Jews at those camps.
Geez. So nice to have Irene with us at this retreat.
We’ve also had some nice coverage. Check out this nice plug the Murfreesboro Daily News gave us…thank you. And we had a camera crew there taping the entire thing as well.
Every songwriter that participates in one of these is moved by the experience.
And it will be amazing I’m sure to hear the nurses stories this morning when we sit down to write. God Bless those who serve.
ANOTHER RETREAT
I was also told last night that for sure we’ll be doing this again in Shiloh, Illinois April 14 and 15 which is near Scott Air Force Base where I used to play with my band at the NCO Club…many times. All the details are up on my calendar. The event will be held at a venue called “Klucker Hall” and the entire event is being sponsored by the city of Shiloh. How cool is that?
MUSIC NEWS
Today is release day for “Back Home” from my buddy Troy Engle who I wrote that song with. Gosh, Troy just recorded the heck out of it and it’s part of a new album on the way that will also include two more songs that we’ve written together. Troy is an incredible bluegrass artist-musician and you can hear that in this SONG. Thanks for the great cut Troy!
IRISH SONGS
And I got word from my new Irish friend Clare Cunningham who just performed on the Grand Ole Opry Stage for the first time this past weekend that she is recording two songs that Steve Dean, myself and her wrote. The only 2 songs we’ve written so far. So we’re a perfect 2 for 2! She’s actually in the recording studio doing pre-work on the songs right now. Thank you Clare for loving these tunes that much!
CARRIE UNDERWOOD AND MY FRIEND
If you read this little bog you’ve seen me talk about my dear friend Sydni Perry who I write with, and in fact she’s one of the writers on the “Safe Haven” song from Hillary Scott & The Scott Family that landed on their album “Love Remains” that won two Grammy Awards. Sydni is the girl singer-fiddle player for Carrie Underwood and the two of them showed up in this article that claims that Carrie and Sydni are “Leg Twin Sisters”. They both work out like crazy and it shows on stage. Check out his ARTICLE and you can see why they made the comparison. I’m happy to see this kind of attention landing on my very talented friend.
HEALTH NOTES
The CDC is warning of a dramatic increase in a deadly fungus known as Candida. It affects mostly older folks they say who have weakened immune systems.
More coffee please. Now a study suggests that caffeine may be a wonder drug. The study suggests that coffee could lower body fat AND prevent type 2 diabetes.
The World Health Organization is saying the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to end this year. Hallelujah.
WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES!?
Those folks from New York who have been flooding into Florida may want to turn around and go back home with word that officials think they can’t eradicate Burmese Pythons. The biggest they’ve found so far was 19 feet long, weighed 214 pounds and carried 122 eggs! Add those to the gators and it might be enough to make a New Yorker think, “You know, those rats weren’t really all that bad after all.”
LAYOFFS
Tis the season. Major layoffs on the way for ESPN with some major high figure salary folks who will be looking for a new place to talk sports. And Amazon is set to lay off yet another 9,000 folks after just cutting a bunch more recently
FYI
I watched the “Bezos” movie, which is of course on Prime. I was curious as to how Jeff Bezos built such an empire. And the movie shows that but man is it boring. The acting is pretty bad and the pacing is awful. My theory is the movie was so awful it forced him to cut 9,000 jobs.
INCREDIBLE
That would be this performance of the great Andrea Bocelli singing “Hallelujah” with Tori Kelly.
My wife is a big Andrea fan. So we got tickets to seem him “live” on Valentine Night several years ago. I got them thinking it would be “okay”…but was not enthused like she was. That changed after I saw and heard him. For me personally it was one of the best concert performances I’ve ever witnessed. I’d probably rank it #2 with only the “Eagles” concert I saw being better.
FUNNY JOKE
“My boyfriend asked to play doctor. So I kept him waiting outside the bedroom door for an hour”.
TODAY
This morning I’ll sit down with a nurse who served in the military and hear her story, and then do my best to honor her with a song about her life and contribution. Then tonight all 5 songwriters will share those songs on stage in concert which is always an amazing experience.
Have a great Tuesday!
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