BILL BLOG
Friday June 21, 2024
Friday morning and I’m back home in warm Nashville. 91 with sun today and up to almost triple digits in about 3 days.
WHAT DAY IS IT?
Traveling on the road sometimes messes up your timing. I thought yesterday was Wednesday and you may have noticed that on yesterday’s blog. And I would have sworn that today was Thursday and that I had a day off. But no. It do be Friday all day long. Geez.
YESTERDAY
Our songwriter group got back into Nashville about 5 pm after a great Freedom Sings USA retreat in Heyworth, Illinois. The conversation in the car was about how great those two days had been, how great the folks were in that wonderful small town, and how great our veterans were that we worked with. I certainly enjoyed getting to know mine Marc Rogers.
If you’re one of those that worries about where our country is going, I encourage you to make a little trip to Heyworth sometime. You’ll feel better about that worry if young with the “real” folks who are part of that small town community.
They can’t wait to have us come back next year and write songs for more of their local heroes…and we can’t wait to go back.
SONGWRITERS IN A CAR
Songwriters Steve Dean, Bobby Tomberlin, and Irene Kelley were in the car with me on the drive back to Nashville for that 6 hour or a little more drive home. The three of them have had a LOT of their songs recorded by big artists. Bobby just got a Willie Nelson cut on one of his songs.
But Bobby is kind of a country historian like me…and loves the older artists and music. He knows his stuff. And on the drive home he was asking Steve (who was driving) about his Barbara Mandrell songs. I know Steve as well as anyone and I knew he had 3 songs that Barbara recorded. “Fast Lanes and Country Roads”, “Crossword Puzzle” and a duet of Lee Greenwood and Barbara Mandrell. But in the back seat Bobby was “Googling” and found at LEAST 3 more songs Steve and helped to write that Barbara also recorded that Steve had completely forgotten about. That made us all laugh.
It’s a pretty good thing as a songwriter when you’ve had so many of your songs recorded that you can’t remember them all.
LAST NIGHT
I really enjoyed the Fox baseball game last night honoring the Negro League and it’s great players. They shared a lot of interesting trivia and tidbits on Willie Mays who we just lost…and who many think might have been the greatest ballplayer of all time. The Cardinals and Giants wore those old Negro League uniforms which was cool at historic old Rickwood Stadium in Birmingham where Willie Mays once played.
John Smoltz who was helping cover the game gushed about how terrific and moving the Negro Baseball Museum is in Kansas City that’s getting ready to expand. Enough so that it’s on my list of places to visit now.
And one of the coolest parts of last night’s broadcast was when they made the game look like a 1954 baseball game on television. Black and white complete with the old timey looking graphics.
It was like being transported back in baseball time a bit…and it was very informative and fun to watch.
HEALTH NOTES
All canned coffee products from the coffee company Snaphill have been recalled because they could contain the deadly botulinum toxin. (Pretty sure I’d rather have cream in my java as opposed to a toxin.)
A new Harvard study says a spoonful of olive oil daily could lower the risk of dying from dementia.
Health officials in North Carolina have issued a health warning regarding raccoon bites that have increased. Rabies of course factoring into that warning.
CHURCH SIGN
I love when church’s get creative with their signs. And here’s a great true Nashville story about a church sign. Songwriter Doug Gill was out driving one day and saw a church sign that said, “These Days I Don’t Pray For A Lighter Load, I Pray For A Stronger Back”. Almost any songwriter who saw that sign would think there was a song in that. Doug certainly did. So much so that he says he pulled his car over and rearranged the letters on the sign so that no other songwriter could steal the idea before he wrote it. Makes me laugh every time he tells the story.
And a few years after Doug wrote that song…the late great Don Williams recorded it. Check out the church letters song.
LOOK FOR THIS TONIGHT
Yep. The strawberry moon…full moon out tonight. The Indians used to harvest under it back in the day. Sort of looks like Mary Kay colored the thing doesn’t it?
THEM AND US
Bugatti just rolled out this car.
Cost? 4 million dollars! I’ve been really good all year but I highly doubt Santa will leave this for me under the Christmas tree.
THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW
I read this morning that there is enough concrete in the Hoover Dam to build a road that would stretch across the country.
Who knew? I was on a motorcycle trip when I was young that took me from Lake Ozarks, Missouri to Vegas and back. On the trip out of Vegas I had to cross the Hoover Dam. And I stopped and took the tour. I remember thinking how massive looking it was but had no idea how much concrete was used.
TODAY
I’m off to write with the husband and wife team that is Adam & Amy Pope who have been nice enough to record three of my songs on their albums that I helped them write including this BEACH SONG.
Adam has just gotten off a tour doing a show of all Johnny Cash music in a big production that tributes the “Man In Black” so I’ll be questioning him about that experience.
TOMORROW
I’m hosting this songwriter show at Noon in town. Come see us if you can.
Have a great weekend!
Comments
Post a Comment