BILL BLOG
Monday May 19, 2025
It’s Monday morning…already. And we’re hoping that we are through a pattern of storms that have been rolling through. We were hunkered down again over the weekend, as were many in the Midwest and the South. As of now, 32 reported dead from tornadoes. My home state of Missouri got hit hard, as did folks in nearby Kentucky.
We lost power for about 10 hours. Over 20,000 in Nashville were in the same dark boat as we were.
It’s going to be hot today with a high of 85 on tap.
THE REST OF THE WEEKEND
Mine started with a Friday morning writing session with friends Jenny Tolman and Dave Brainard. One of the highlights was getting to see their young 2-year-old boy “Bear,” who sat down and played me “Twinkle Twinkle” on his little guitar. There’s no doubt that this young man will grow up to be a musician just like his Mommy and Daddy.
Dave has a recording studio in his house where we always write, and I think the vibe gave us a little magic as we wrote a very fun up-tempo song. The kind of song Jenny wanted to write Friday morning as she and Dave are stacking up songs for a new project. I would not be the least bit surprised to see this fun song make that album.
It was a pretty good way to start the weekend…spending time with those talented folks.
AMERICAN IDOL
My wife and I watched the American Idol finale. Did you watch? Did you pick the winner? I thought the young country singer John Foster would win because of his popularity with fans, but Jamal Roberts is the 2025 season winner.
Jamal was no doubt the better singer. Amazing singer. There were several other contestants who technically were better singers than John Foster, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to be hearing a lot of John on Country Radio. He reminds me of Scotty McCreery, who doesn’t bust a lot of high notes, or do tricky runs with his vocals. But he has charm and a great country voice that transfers to success.
Congrats to Jamal who deserved to win. There was a LOT of amazing talent on the show this year.
GREAT MUSIC NEWS
To my friends Alex Miller and Emily Ann Roberts. Their fun duet “A Little More Country Than You,” which the three of us wrote, has well over a million streams. So, the two of them and myself are millionaires this morning. Though a million streams won’t make any of us wealthy as one stream on Spotify pays between $0.003 to $o.oo5 per stream, it does mean a lot of eyeballs have seen the VIDEOS or downloaded our song. If you’re one of those…thank you!
SONG OF THE DAY
Since I wrote with Jenny Tolman and Dave Brainard I
thought I’d share this song the three of us wrote that Jenny recorded. “If ICould Invent a T-Shirt.” Find out what her T-shirt would say by listening to the song and watching the fun video at the link above.
HEALTH NOTES
Former President Joe Biden has the most aggressive form of prostate cancer. 1 in 8 men will suffer from prostate cancer. The good news is, it’s highly treatable if it’s contained. And that means early detection is a game-changer. I’m hoping this news will encourage more men to get their checkups regularly.
Getting your steps in helps lower your risk of cancer. A recent study in the UK says that 7,000 steps lowers the risk by 11%. 9,000 lowers it further to 16%. But beyond that, the benefits level off. So, it’s not 10,000 steps as you’ve read or have heard people say.
Another study concludes that weight loss and diabetes drugs can cause mood changes.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
The great songwriter Guy Clark had a sign like that on his home-studio door that said, “Warning, Hard Head Area Ahead”. Love that.
FATHER’S DAY
It’s coming up. I read an article this morning that listed Father’s Day gifts for under $50. If my daughter Heather is wondering what to get me on that list? I’ll take this.
Simple things.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
This Memorial Day weekend I’ll be in Pensacola with Freedom Sings USA. I’ll be part of an outdoor concert to honor our veterans with some other Nashville songwriters. It’s going to be quite the weekend. Check out this ARTICLE to find out more about this patriotic weekend I’m proud to be part of.
JOKE
Teacher: “If you had one dollar and you asked your father for another, how many dollars would you have?”
Student: “One dollar.”
Teacher: You don’t know your arithmetic.”
Student: “You don’t know my father!”
SMALL TOWNS
I grew up in small towns in Missouri. Population a little over 1,000, maybe. But comedian Ron White “Tater Salad” may have lived in a smaller town than I did, as he says, “This town is so small folks, that one year, our High School Band formed a period”. Now that’s small.
Which brings up another marching band joke.
I mention on stage sometimes how I lived for years in Ohio and now live in Tennessee. Both states have lots of college football fans. I joke that I noticed a difference watching the half-time shows at both universities.
At Ohio State when the band is on the field, they spell out O H I O, and then someone runs out and “dots” the I.
I joke that when I watched my first college game in Knoxville, so kid ran out and dotted one of the “E’s”. (Just a joke folks.)
HEADLINE OF THE DAY
Two New York City Rats Caught Kissing In Restaurant Window. (Where else would rats kiss?)
TODAY
I’ll be writing with my young Aussie friend Angus Gill, who now lives in the States full-time. One of those talented young folks who can do it all. Produce, sing, write, play piano, guitar and more. Plus, he has a keen sense of humor. Writing with Angus is always fun.
Have a great Monday!
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