BILL BLOG
Monday August 4, 2025
It’s Monday morning, and I’m back home in Nashville after being in Shiloh, Illinois, this past weekend. The weather was great there all weekend, and it continues here in Music City today with a high of just 78.
THE WEEKEND
I had a great weekend in Shiloh, Illinois, writing with veterans in that community for the third time. Shiloh is just a few minutes away from downtown St. Louis, and the weather turned beautiful for our weekend with temperatures dipping into the 60s in the evening.
Friday night, the folks from Shiloh fed us a little Italian. Something called mostaccioli pasta. We’d never heard of the dish before, and that included songwriter Bill DiLuigi, who was with us, and he’s Italian!
So good. And then, myself, songwriters Bobby Tomberlin, Steve Dean, and Bill DiLuigi did a songwriters round for the veterans and local folks who came out to see us.
SATURDAY
We were up early for breakfast, and then each songwriter was paired off with a veteran to write their story into a song. My veteran was 103-year-old World War II Marine Private Bob Schultz, who is in REMARKABLE shape for his age.
What an incredible story he told me about joining the Marines with his longtime wife, Shirley, and two of his grandkids sitting by his side as he told me his story of joining the Marines at age 20 after seeing a movie called The Marines’ Hymn, which featured seagoing Marines.
Bob thought that was for him. The next thing you know, he’s on the Battleship California, where he quickly found out being a Seagoing Marine was much different in real life than it was in a movie. He found himself loading and firing those huge guns on that battleship and fought off a lot of Japanese Kamikazes. One of those Zeroes hit their ship, and later Bob watched them being buried at sea. Chilling.
SATURDAY NIGHT
We had a lot of patriots show up to hear the four songs we wrote with four veterans.
Including the one I wrote about Bob. I played his song, and when I asked if he had anything to say, he tried, but cried from the emotion of the experience. He and his family LOVE the song SEAGOING MARINE. And that’s what matters the most to me. After the last note faded, the city of Shiloh gave a framed poster picture of the event, complete with the lyric sheet to those songs, and each songwriter’s autograph to those four veterans. Quite the evening to say the least with Freedom Sings USA.
It was also great seeing my extended family members, Dodge Raymer and his daughter, Stacey, who drove over to take in the event and see me from their Missouri home, which is about an hour and 45 minutes away.
How many people get to sit and visit and make friends with a 103-year-old World War II soldier? Not many. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to do just that. Thank you, Bob, for sharing your amazing story with me. These are a few of the lyrics in Bob's song.
Another Zero missed us
His plane went up in flames
He was ejected dead, and I wish I knew
Why a kamikaze pilot bent on suicide
Would ever need to wear a parachute
Before I left, Bob and his wife Shirley gave me this.
It’s a wooden coin that will allow me to buy a free drink the next time I’m in Shiloh, on him!
What an unforgettable experience this weekend was.
SONG OF THE DAY
I was saddened when the news came in on Friday that country music-Grand Ole Opry star Jeannie Seeley had passed away. Before I got into the car to leave for Shiloh Friday morning, I asked how Jeannie was doing, as Bobby Tomberlin knew her well. He told me that he didn’t think it would be long.
By the time we were at the venue with the veterans on Friday evening, the sad news had arrived.
Jeannie Seeley made 5,397 Grand Ole Opry appearances. She was the Queen of the Opry, and mentored many young artists.
I knew Jeannie a little. She and her husband Gene, who passed shortly before Jeannie did, came to a recording studio to record her duet part on a song with my friend Jenny Tolman that Jenny and I, and her husband Dave Brainard wrote titled “Who’ll Be Your Fool”.
Jenny Tolman’s music is often wrapped around the fictitious town called “Jennyville”. In this video-song that you can watch by clicking on the link above, you’ll see what a great sport she was by wearing a pink sash that proclaims she’s the "Mayor of Jennyville”. And you’ll also see how great Jeannie Seeley sang with that smoky-soulful voice that has always been her signature.
I was blessed to be there that day. We had such fun and shared a lot of laughs, some of which they captured on camera. So today’s song is “Who’ll Be Your Fool”. And this video, and the moments I got to spend with Jeannie will be treasured for the rest of my life.
Jeannie Seeley was 85 years young. RIP
UP NEXT
August 12…a songwriter show with some friends at the Listening Room Café in Nashville.
August 15-16…Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival at the Gatlinburg Inn.
August 18…two shows with Linda Davis and Lang Scott at Uncle Lenny’s in Nashville.
Details for all these shows and others are available on my website under the TOUR tab.
HEALTH NOTES
In a new study, eating two eggs daily improved cholesterol levels in healthy adults. Researchers say saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, is the main culprit behind high cholesterol levels.
Hopeful news. New research from Hiroshima University in Japan has revealed that stevia leaf extract could help fight pancreatic cancer cells.
Some health experts are claiming that weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic can help with rheumatoid arthritis.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Pretty sure that’s true.
THE FUTURE
Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook dude, just gave 250 million dollars to a 24-year-old to work with his AI platform Meta, giving the whiz kid 100 million in the first year of the contract. And other platforms are offering that much and more to those skilled in AI. The nerds are now getting paid like professional athletes.
Want a high-paying job in the future? Think AI kids.
RECALL
Ford Motor Company is recalling over 312,000 vehicles because those vehicles are losing brake power. Not something you want.
And that reminds me of the funny joke my comedian friend Heywood Banks uses in his comedy routine.
“I’m addicted to drinking brake fluid. But I can STOP anytime I want to.”
EXPENSIVE
With the tariffs, economic experts are predicting that grocery items will become even more expensive. Here are 5 of those items at the top of the expensive list.
Liquor
Baked Goods
Coffee
Fish
Beer
I try not to look at the end of that long receipt when they hand it to me at the grocery store.
OH…YOU NEED THESE!
Just what they look like. For 90 bucks, you can own a pair of Krispy Kreme Crocs…and get a dozen of those mini-donut dots on the Crocs for 20 dollars. For a limited time only. The shoes are not edible…word to the wise.
OR…MAYBE YOU NEED THIS
He’s called “Skelly,” and he’s available at Home Depot. They put him out in 2020, and he sells out every year. The skeleton is 6 foot five, and now you can get a cat or a dog with him if you’d like. You can buy him for around $300 and have the tallest bones in the neighborhood come Halloween.
TODAY’S HEADLINE
Woman Hit With Five-Figure Medical Bill After Wild Bat Flies Into Her Mouth While On Vacation. (Man, I hate it when that happens!)
TODAY
I have a day to re-set and catch up on the catch-up things that need catching up on.
Have a great Monday!
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