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Milton...A New Song...A Grammy Nomination...

BILL BLOG

Tuesday October 8, 2024


Hello Tuesday morning.

 

YESTERDAY

Man what a beautiful Fall day we had here yesterday. A 75 degree high and not a cloud in the sky. And I got a bunch of stuff crossed off my “To Do” list that needed done after being gone for a few days.

 

MEANWHILE

Hurricane Milton looks flat out scary. Category 5. Mass evacuations…long lines of traffic, gas shortages and more. Even if it comes down to a Cat 3 by landfall in or near Tampa it will be devastating…especially on the heels of Helene. It’s regarded as the 2nd most powerful hurricane ever churning out in the Gulf waters this morning. 180 mph winds…unthinkable. Gosh…stay safe Florida any way you can.

 

SONG OF THE DAY

This is a brand new song I wrote with Tim Stafford that was just recorded by a young bluegrass band out of east Tennessee titled “An Old Gray Stone”. The band’s name is Pythagoras who was a mathematician and has a connection with bluegrass music and music theory. I won’t bore you with the details…but it’s oddly true.

 

The song is on an album appropriately titled “Theorem”…and yea…this is old Pythagoras playing the banjo. 


 

 

I took this idea to Tim about how little space there is to write almost anything on a gravestone. Not enough to do justice to one’s life for sure. Tim teaches a bluegrass class at Eastern Tennessee State University (ETSU) and were getting ready to record an album. So Tim played them our song, they loved it and recorded it. Thank you Pythagoras.



 

 WOW NEWS

I just got word this morning that the song "Blue Collar Gospel" sung by Jerry Salley & The Oak Ridge Boys that I wrote with Rick Lang and Jerry Salley is on the first ballot for Grammy consideration for "Best Gospel Performance/Song".  That's a pretty good way to wake up on a Tuesday morning. 


 


It' great to see the recognition this song has been receiving and I'm so grateful that my friend Rick Lang invited me to write this idea with him and Jerry. 



 

 

NEW VIDEO

And I got this great video TEASE of a song “Catch 22” that I wrote with Brady Seals who used to be the long-haired piano player singer-songwriter with Little Texas. The video catches Brady in his youth at that time running all over the country with that band. I sent him a note and told him that after watching this video that I’m going to start doing all of MY shows with no shirt on. And that got a very deserved response of LOL. Nope…nobody wanna see that. 


 

 

 

That’s one of several songs we wrote together on his new digital release album that’s available on Brady’s WEBSITE.


 

PENSACOLA PICS

My friend Mutt Cooper sent me a couple of pictures taken at the Pensacola Songwriters Festival from this past weekend.



 

That’s Mutt in the middle with me and hit writer Larry Cordle after a show Larry and I did one night. Besides being a Navy vet, Mutt too is a songwriter, noted karate dude, and now does occupational therapy with soldiers at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. And he was a darned good roommate during this just completed Gulf Coast trip.



 

Larry wrote hits like “Highway 40 Blues” for Ricky Skaggs, “Murder On Music Row” for Alan Jackson and George Strait, and many more. So it was great to share a stage with him and make him laugh like you see up above.

 

And it was a terrific time getting to play with both Larry and Ronnie Bowman this past Saturday night with our backs to the ocean. Ronnie wrote “Nobody But Me” for Chris Stapleton.



 

Thank you Mutt for these great pictures!

 

HEALTH NOTES

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people aged 100 or above declined for the first time since the pandemic after a fall in life expectancy.

 

The FDA is urging consumers to discard millions of eggs as recall reaches  its highest level. Check for the brands affected.

 

After flooding like we’ve seen and are getting set to see even more of… health experts warn of disease, injuries and mental health concerns.

 

FUNNY QUESTION OF THE MORNING

(Taken from the Mullet Wrapper in Gulf Shores)

 

If a mute swear, does his Mother wash his hands with soap”?

 

FLY AND SHOP

How about a flying shopping cart anyone?  This is called the Palletrone. And instead of pushing your wobbly wheel grocery cart…this one flies. Think drone. It’s being developed right now in Seoul South Korea. It does have a restricted amount of time that it can be flown, so don’t stop and squeeze every fruit and vegetable in the produce section.



 

PRIME TIME

October Prime Time Day Deals are happening right now. Discounts on almost everything you can think of. TV’s, golf equipment, computer, coolers…you name it.

 

Don’t go crazy with your credit card though. If you do you could come down with this new disease “Primenesia”…for which there is no known cure as of now.



 

SPEAKING OF BUYING

Vanderbilt did the unthinkable last weekend and beat Alabama. Why didn’t I put down a $2 bet on that!  How big a deal is that?  Well, they tore down the goal post and tossed it into the Cumberland River…but not all of it apparently. In an online auction one can buy a small piece of that goalpost for $4,035.

 

Have I ever mentioned how crazy SEC College football fans can be?



 

GOOD IDEA

Some science engineers say they’ve come up with a new device to help drivers avoid hitting deer. The “Deer Detector” will give the driver a warning that there are deer ahead in time to help them stop well before hitting one. And there are LOTS of deer on the roads these days. Infrared, and AI are helping make that happen.

 

After having hit one years ago in a small sports car? I’m all for this.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND…

I don’t see myself buying a custom made pair of raccoon Crocs.



And yes…someone is making and selling those bad boys.

 

FUNNY

This one from comedian Andy Huggins.

“I used to smoke a lot. Heck, I used to smoke while I was jogging and that was stupid and unhealthy. So I quit jogging.”

 

TODAY

I’m back to the songwriting table writing this morning online with Troy Engle up in Pennsylvania. A little bluegrass going down today.

 

Have a great Tuesday!

 

 

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