BILL BLOG
Friday April 28, 2023
Friday morning headed for the weekend. We had a little lightning and noise early this morning that’s finally abated. 68 for the high here today.
YESTERDAY
I wrote at my publishing company with a young lady who was
in town from Australia named Ellen Tefanos. Ellen teaches music and history
Down Under but her real talent is she plays electric guitar like a rock star. I
mentioned here yesterday that Keith Urban got her up on stage once and they
traded guitar licks. Check out the VIDEO.
Ellen met my friend and bluegrass artist Kristy Cox, another Aussie online as Kristy mentored her and shared tips on the music business. When Ellen told Kristy she was coming to the states for a couple of weeks Kristy reached out to me and asked if I would write with her on one of those days as Ellen is just now digging into writing original songs. So that’s how our appointment happened yesterday.
Ellen plays great, is a quick study and was very fun to be around. I’m glad I said “yes”. And I brought a rockin’ kind of song that will allow her to use her skill set of shredding a guitar into places of this original song that I’m fairly sure she’ll take into a studio in Australia and record. Like a lot of guitar players she confessed that she has an entire room full of different guitars that she’s already collected. It’s an addiction only musicians and players understand. I’ll admit that when I first started writing seriously, I’d go co-write with someone at their house and notice a LOT of guitars almost every time I did that. I remember thinking why would anyone need so danged many? Now…look at this.
I told you. It’s an addiction. I so enjoyed meeting and writing with Ellen yesterday. She has a bright future in front of her.
NFL DRAFT
I did watch a fair amount of the NFL Draft as I wanted to see what young men would become instant kazillionaires playing a game. And yes, that’s an NFL draft beer you’re seeing here.
Did anyone else notice the new Bud Light ads where they’re using country music fans and the song “Chicken Fried” from the Zac Brown Band? Word is that Bud is going to spend a ton of marketing money on new ads to help restore sales after the disastrous Dylan Mulvaney ad we all know about. It will be interesting to see the new ads when they come out, as it will also be interesting to see if and when their sales will recover.
JERRY SPRINGER
I was saddened to hear that Jerry Springer passed away. I knew him a bit. If you’re from or live in Cincinnati you either knew of him or knew him personally. Jerry was the Mayor there. He was the leading on-air news anchor for many years. Seemingly everything he decided to do was successful.
And then came the Springer Show where he became nationally known for hosting the talk show version of professional wrestling. And Jerry was in on the joke all the way.
I knew him as a Yankee fan as well. Both of us were big baseball nuts and if I interviewed him or was around him we talked baseball and country music. Because Jerry loved “traditional” old school music. If you had a country band in the Queen City, there’s a chance he might show up and get up on stage and sing an old country song with the band as he did with mine once.
He was funny, intelligent, quick on his feet and smart. And he was extremely self-effacing…never serious about himself. A great interview and so fun to be around. He made some well documented mistakes in his life but he owned up to those, making fun of himself and how dumb he could be. He never made an excuse for the time he wrote a prostitute a check d while he was Mayor. He recovered from that and flourished even more because he owned up to it with humor. And that’s how one overcomes making a mistake. And who among us had not made a mistake or 20? My theory is that folks who make mistakes are more interesting than the vanilla person that does not or claims they do not. 79 years young. Too young.
And I’ll leave you with this “funny” from Jerry Springer. I have a 45 RPM in my collection of Jerry singing an old country song titled “Don’t Your Roll Those Blood Shot Eyes At Me”. Keep in mind, Jerry was not a great singer. But he was into it when he sang which was always funny. He recorded that old song as a duet with someone named Judy I think. On the label of the record it said Jerry & Linda or whatever her name was. When I asked him on air once who Judy was he had no clue what her last name was…just good ole Judy. I could not find that duet on You Tube but I did find this versionof it from Ranger Doug and the Time Jumpers here in Nashville. Try to imagine Jerry Springer singing this.
He signed off of his TV newscasts and other show with “take care of yourself and each other”. RIP Jerry and do take care of yourself.
HEALTH NOTES
Walnuts apparently are really good for you. A triple threat they say as they’re good for physical, mental, and cognitive health. (I’m going to have to start collecting those that fall in my backyard instead of letting the squirrels run off and bury them)
A new study suggests that the Mediterranean Diet may protect one from diabetes…more than thought.
And could the protein in a banana really be the key to beating COVID-19 and Influenza? Maybe.
SAD
The inventor of the mini skirt passed away this week. Word is that the funeral services were very short.
UPS AND DOWNS
Jenny Craig is shutting down doors and laying off a lot of people. So is Lyft. On the other side of the financial coin Amazon shares took a big jump when the company posted a first quarter profit of 3 BILLION bucks. The stock market also jumped yesterday…over 500 points.
I’ve never completely understood how the stock market works. I try not to look and that works for the most part. It’s like the old joke asks:
What’s the difference between the stock market and statistics?
Some people do get statistics.
HEADLINE OF THE DAY
Florida Woman Drunkenly Blows Away Parrot During Domestic Dispute. (Proof that some folks should not be able to own a firearm, or be able to drink, or be allowed to own a danged parrot)
TODAY
I’ll be writing this morning with the head of Billy Blue Records Jerry Salley today who got me my publishing deal and we’ll be joined by one of the members of my “Hits & Grins” trio Victoria Venier. That should be a really creative room to be in for sure.
Then tonight you’ll find me at the Nashville Sounds baseball game cheering on the good guys.
And then Sunday evening I’m part of a lineup of singers and songwriters who will perform at the Commodore Grille here in Nashville to help raise money to pay some hospital bills for our friend Gerald Smith who’s had a bit of a tough medical go recently. Truly one of the NICE guys in this crazy business. Gerald and I have written a lot of songs together, performed a few shows together and Gerald even recorded one of our funny songs titled “To TheGrave”. Gerald has written multiple #1 songs including “What Part of No” for Lori Morgan and was on Hee Haw as the “Georgia Quacker” for several years. He more than deserves the helping hand we’re going to try and give him Sunday evening. It starts at 6 pm in case you’re in town and want to drop in, hear some great songs, and help the cause.
Have a great weekend!
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