BILL BLOG
Thursday January 8, 2025
Thursday morning it is.
We’re on a weather roller coaster right now in Nashville. While today’s high will be a balmy 71 degrees, storms are on the way, and by Sunday the high will be just 37 with a low of 25 expected Sunday evening.
YESTERDAY
I wrote with Addie Levy, a writing friend I have not seen for a while because she’s out on the road, mostly on the West Coast, tearing up the mandolin and playing with a very fun group called Brothers Comatose.
And she brought a friend, South Carolina native Ella Hennessee, who is out on the road playing fiddle for Pam Tillis.
Both girls play multiple instruments, and they play them well. It was great fun catching up with Addie and meeting Ella for the first time. We got a great song written yesterday, which let the girls show off their skills on guitar. The three of us will be writing more in the future for sure.
And if you see that the Brothers Comatose are near you? Go see them and my friend Addie. Their music is high-energy fun that’s so contagious.
JIM McBRIDE
I was beyond sad, like a lot of the Nashville musical community was yesterday, to receive the news that my friend and legendary songwriter Jim McBride had passed away. It just does not seem possible.
Jim was driving the mail in Huntsville when Conway Twitty recorded one of his songs, and that changed his life forever. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame a few years ago, and Alan Jackson showed up and sang some of the songs he and Jim wrote together, including the “smash” hit “Chattahoochee” and "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow".
The list of major country artists who recorded Jim McBride songs is a mile long.
And at one time, Jim was even the head of the Nashville Songwriters Association. He was always willing to give advice and help to young songwriters, and did so often. I consulted with Jim about signing a publishing deal years ago. And yes, we wrote together.
Jim was also as big a baseball fan as I am…and that’s saying something. He and I, and a couple of baseball friends of his took a trip to Atlanta to see the new Braves Baseball park and catch a game. The Braves were Jim’s team. I am going to miss talking baseball with him.
The first time I wrote with him was when another writer suggested that Jim reach out to me about writing a funny Christmas song idea he had. I was honored when I answered the phone, and he asked me to come write the idea with him at the little condo he had in Nashville at the time. His idea was to write a song about a family that has someone arrested every single Christmas. And the title was “Blue Light Christmas.”
Here’s the funny chorus.
And it was ho, ho, ho from the po, po, pokey
Cousin Jack and Uncle Joey
Shot a plastic Rudolph from their truck
The police said, “What the Noel!”
Hauled them both down to the jail
It’s a family tradition
When we sit down to eat, somebody’s always missing
It’s just another Blue Light Christmas
We had the best time writing that song, and that led to us being great friends.
The two of us also wrote a song titled “Time Don’t Stand Still,” with our mutual friend Linda Davis, and the words are especially moving today.
Days go by, just like that
Can’t be relived, can’t get em’ back
Sun comes up, sun goes down
Time don’t stand still, time runs out
My heart goes out to his wonderful wife, Jeannie, and his family. As great a songwriter as he was, Jim was an even better human being.
SONG OF THE DAY
I’m choosing the song “Houdini” that my fellow Missourian Becky Denton recorded. I wrote this with Becky several years ago, recorded it, and included the song on one of her EPs. It’s artistic, a little different, but also pretty danged cool.
HEALTH NOTES
The Trump administration is turning the food pyramid upside down, emphasizing eating plenty of protein and saturated fats while discouraging the consumption of sugar and highly processed foods.
Meanwhile, Dr. Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, explained new federal guidelines recommending alcohol use in moderation, saying the takeaway should be, “Don’t have it for breakfast.”
New data from the UK says that people who come off slimming jabs regain weight 4 times faster than dieters.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Amen!
BIG BIG TV
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, Samsung showed off a 130-inch TV. That’s a big boy.
I was all set to try and hang one on my wall until I found out it cost $800,000. Yikes. If you go by TV prices, maybe just wait a couple of years and Costco will have one for $100.
DO I NEED ANY OF THESE?
Cheap things on Amazon right now.
An Army man bottle opener for $10.
I might need to pack one of those in my suitcase. A couple of years ago, down on the beach, a couple of buddies and I bought a case of beer with no twist tops. And there was no bottle opener to be found in the condo we were in. We had to YouTube it and learned how to open a beer bottle with a tablespoon. My one and only McGyver moment that actually worked.
Or…
How about a goose plush that is half pillow and half emotional support bird for just $27?
And, I’m going to give a hard NO to purchasing a waterproof note pad for $11 that you can hang in your shower and make notes on it while you clean up.
I can’t imagine what I would write in the shower. “Don’t forget the armpits,” maybe?
QUOTE OF THE DAY
From comedian David Brenner:
“When I go to a bar, I don’t go looking for a girl who knows the capital of Maine.”
TODAY
I have the day off from writing, time to do some “catch-up” stuff. Then tonight I'll be feet up on the couch to watch the Ole Miss-Miami football game. Maybe I'll be curled up to that goose I mentioned earlier. Or not.
Have a great Thursday!
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