BILL BLOG
Wednesday July 16, 2025
Hump Day…Wednesday. A HOT Wednesday. 95 for a high. How hot? “
It’s so hot Jehovah’s Witnesses started telemarketing.” Hot.
YESTERDAY
I went out to a club called 3rd & Lindsley here in Nashville to see The French Connection family band.
That’s Mom Camille, from New Zealand, and her son Sonny and husband Stuie who are both guitar wizards. About once a quarter, they play a show at 3rd & Lindsley with a stage full of talented guests. And I do mean talented. Last night, Jimmy Fortune, Ben Isaacs, Jeff Taylor, Mike Rogers, and five-time instrumentalist (fiddle) of the year Jenee Fleenor all joined them to make one tremendous big band.
I can’t begin to tell you how enjoyable and great they were. They played instrumentals that were so good, and some of the vocals from Jimmy, Camille, Jenee, Mike, and others brought the house down a few times. SEVERAL well-deserved standing ovations. This won’t be the last time I go see this show.
SONG OF THE DAY
Today, I’m sharing the song Buckaroo Lullabye from Paul Bogart that the two of us wrote for his firstborn baby boy he and his wife, Tonya, named “Jett”. The reason I’m choosing this one today is because Jenee Fleenor, whom I mentioned above, played fiddle and sang harmony on this song, and it’s pretty amazing. Take a listen.
HEALTH NOTES
A new study is showing that an anti-nausea drug lowers the risk of death from aggressive breast cancer by 39%.
Some doctors are begging folks not to jump on board the viral trend of freeze branding. It’s like taking a branding iron that’s often soaked in nitrogen and pressing it on your skin. Doctors say it causes infections, scarring, and many end up in the ER.
A survey reveals that more employers plan to pass along health care costs to workers in 2026.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Wonder how many incidents this place had before they desperately put a sign together.
MAY THE FORCE
Darth Vader’s lightsaber from Star Wars will be auctioned off. How much? They expect his weapon to go for 3 million dollars or more.
And yeah, I’ve got a Star Wars story. A lot of years ago (in a galaxy far away), my band I were playing a club in Paducah, Kentucky for a couple of weeks. The club was just converting to “country” music from “disco,” which was dying out. And a lot of clubs were trying to take advantage of the “Urban Cowboy” movie and go country. All of a sudden, you started seeing a LOT of mechanical bucking bulls.
Our crowds were very light because people were walking in expecting to “disco”…and it was us playing country music. Well, one night, when the band went on break, this guy approached me and told me he was Darth Vader. And I thought, “What’s this guy been drinking”? Turns out it was David Prowse, the guy from England who was inside that Darth Vader costume in all those iconic movies. He had 8x10 pictures with him, and he signed one for me that I still have today. David was a weightlifter and bodybuilder before he got that role in the movie. And he was a very nice man, with an English accent.
MARRIAGE QUOTE
“I once gave my husband the silent treatment for an entire week, at the end of which he declared, ‘Hey, we’re getting along pretty good lately!”
PLAIN PLEASE
It’s National Hot Dog Day. You can get some deals if you know where to look. I’m a hot dog guy. I can’t go to a baseball park without ordering one. I always ask for one that’s a little burnt on the grill. Just the dog, in the bun, nothing else. Plain.
The first baseball game I went to as a kid, my Dad got me a hot dog. Grilled…and yeah, it was slightly burnt. I’ve been hooked ever since. So Happy Dog Day to ya.
SPEAKING OF BASEBALL
I missed the All-Star Game last night in Atlanta, which was won on the first-ever “swing off” in All-Star history. Different, to say the least.
But if you’re a baseball fan, you’ll love how they recreated Hank Aaron’s #715 home run through the use of technology that lit up the field last night. Pretty cool. Take a look HERE.
HEADLINE OF THE DAY
How A Man Declared Legally Dead Walked Into A Courtroom To Apply For A Driver’s License. (Nice trick)
TODAY
I’ve got a busy Wednesday ahead. I’ll head to a recording studio this morning to record songs I’ve written with two separate veterans from Heyworth, Illinois, for Freedom Sings USA. Marc Rogers was a Navy Corpsman, and his nickname was “Armadillo”. That’s the title of his song.
And a few months ago, I sat with an Army Chaplain, Carl Johnston, and wrote his song titled “Cross On My Collar”.
Freedom Sings USA is recording a complete album of songs that were written by Nashville songwriters over the past two years at retreats we’ve had there. Both of my songs will be part of this project.
CO-WRITE
Then mid-afternoon, I’ll be writing with two of my favorites, Thomm Jutz and Caroline Owens, out at Thomm’s studio-home.
Should be fun. Have a great Wednesday!
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