BILL BLOG
Monday October 13, 2025
And here comes another Monday morning, and it’s Columbus Day. Here’s to the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
A high of 78 degrees today here in Nashville.
And…it’s beach week as I’m heading to Port St. Joe, Florida, on Thursday for the Blast on the Bay songwriter festival.
And from there, straight east to Gulf Shores for MOTM, the big Parrot Head gathering that I’m co-emceeing and playing.
THE WEEKEND
Friday afternoon, myself and songwriters Steve Dean and Bill Diluigi, and I jumped in the car and made our way to Huntsville to join songwriters Don Goodman, Jim Parker, and Alan Little for a Freedom Sings USA songwriter retreat. It was our second time going to Rocket City.
We gathered at the venue, the Grace Lutheran Church, where we had dinner, met the veterans we would be writing songs with, and then played a little songwriter show for those veterans.
SATURDAY
My veteran that I wrote with was Alvin (Al) Brown. When I met Al Friday night, he said something we hear a LOT from our veterans. “I don’t know if I have much of a story to tell.” In fact, we hear that so much, I actually wrote a song with my friend and veteran Larry Hudson in Gulf Shores titled, “Not Much Of A Story To Tell.”
They all have stories to tell. When I asked about his service and what he did, Al told me he was a Green Beret for 23 years, a retired Colonel. And yet, he didn’t think he had much of a story to tell. Unreal.
It was a pleasure to write his story into a song and then sing it in concert Saturday night at the Grace Lutheran Church, a gorgeous setting for our concert.
Some of the lyrics to Al’s song…
Even though I was a medic
Everyone in the Green Berets
Is a “trigger-puller” when they need to be
I’ve been to Somalia, Iraq, and Pakistan
What I saw back then has stayed with me
Thank you to Al and all the veterans who shared their stories with our songwriter group. And thank you to the organizers and sponsors for making this retreat possible.
We are looking forward to going back to Huntsville for the third time sometime early next year.
CHART ACTION
This doesn’t happen a whole lot, but it was sure great to see. Out of nowhere, the song “Blue Collar Gospel” from Jerry Salley and the Oak Ridge Boys went BACK on the bluegrass gospel charts, landing at #5. Very cool. So happy to have written this song with Jerry and Rick Lang. It’s a musical gift that keeps giving.
BLAST ON THE BAY
That songwriter festival in beautiful Port St. Joe, Florida, just released its full schedule. I’ll be playing 3 times this year. Here’s a look at that.
SONG OF THE DAY
I’m choosing “I Know Some Cowboys"” from Jenny Tolman, which I wrote with her and her husband, Dave Brainard. There’s some really great news about this song. Jenny, who is a contestant in the new show “The Road” that airs October 19 on CBS, is going to be singing our song on that show, produced by Taylor Sheridan, that features Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, and Gretchen Wilson. It’s going to be quite the moment to get to sit on the couch come October 19 and watch and hear our song coming out of the TV.
HEALTH NOTES
Three hospitals in Korea are reporting that patients with restless legs syndrome are more likely to develop Parkinson’s.
Measles continues to spread across the country. The CDC has confirmed 1,5633 cases so far this year. Others say the number could be much larger, as many as 5,000 cases.
Actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson’s disease, can no longer walk. When asked about mortality recently, he said, “I’d like to just not wake up one day.”
SPEAKING OF HEALTH
My wife showed me this app named “Yuka”. It lets you scan the barcode on food items, and then it tells you how unhealthy or healthy that food choice is. I downloaded it, then deleted it because every food I like…the app does NOT like! Geez.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Indeed.
BASEBALL
It’s the Brewers vs the Dodgers for the National League Playoffs, while Seattle takes on Toronto for the American League Championship. Who will be in this year’s World Series?
Since my Reds got eliminated right off, I’ll be rooting for Milwaukee after living and working there for six years. I got to know Bob Uecker a bit, interviewed him a few times. I was a board member for the CAP Fund for the Brewers. That’s the “Child Abuse Prevention Fund” that Bud Selig and his daughter Wendy founded. That was an honor.
And I even got to do a half-inning of play on TV for a Brewers game once at old County Stadium. Quite the baseball thrill. And Uecker was in the next booth over doing the radio call, while I was on TV for half an inning. I sat right next to Matt Vergasian, who was the TV play-by-play guy for the Brewers back then. He could not have been nicer or more helpful in getting me through that half inning.
So go Brew Crew!
HOW POPULAR IS TAYLOR SWIFT?
So popular that a Taylor Swift lookalike earns $550 an hour to appear at events looking like T-Swift. Kelly Thrasher walked away from a teaching job when she found out she could do this.
She’s booked heavily for kids’ parties…and they love her.
I’m trying to figure out what celebrity I look like right now.
DRONES FOR THIEVES
A company named Flock Safety has developed a drone for retail owners to help them combat theft, which has increased a whopping 94% over the last year. Someone steals from their store, and a drone takes off following them with the camera on, and that’s relayed to the police, who then chase down the thief.
TODAY’S QUOTE
From actress Diane Keaton, who we lost this past weekend:
“Memories are simply moments that refuse to be ordinary.”
TODAY
I’ve got a busy Monday that starts with a writing session with my friend Adam
Pope. And then this evening I’m attending a red-carpet event and will watch a
Christmas movie, “Music City Mistletoe,” that I wrote with the producer of this
movie, Shantell Ogden, and my friend Victoria Venier.
Have a great Monday!
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