BILL BLOG
Monday, May 4, 2026
It’s the first Monday in the month of May, Star Wars Day, “May the 4th Be with You.”
A little warmer in Nashville today, with a high of 79.
THE WEEKEND
Friday, I made a trip to Shelbyville, Tennessee, about an hour and a half southeast of Nashville, for this event.
On Friday night, our group of songwriters gathered at Harmony Hills, a beautiful piece of property just outside Shelbyville owned by retired Marine Colonel Gary Carrada. Gary, who is a musician himself, now has a venue complete with a big recording studio.
(Pic)
And a room with a stage for “live” music events, like the one we had Friday night. Songwriter Dave Gibson got up and did his huge hit, “Ships That Don’t Come In,” a number one song for Joe Diffie, and it was great to have former American Idol Star “Hunter Girl” with us this trip, and she got up and did three songs. Then my buddy Steve Dean and I did a little duo set to help close out the Friday show for the veterans who had gathered.
It was a pleasure to entertain those folks.
SATURDAY MORNING
I sat with veteran Jason Bobo, who was an MP in the Army for 8 years. And you can see in this picture how similar the size of our muscles is. Not!
Jason's Grandfather fought in World War II…landed in Normandy, and also fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Wow.
His father fought in the jungle of Vietnam, and his older brother served in Iraq. Jason felt called to join the military. He also told me he used to sing “Family Tradition” at the top of his lungs by Hank Jr. Yep, we stole from Bocephus, as Jason’s song is titled, “An MP’s Family Tradition.” I don’t think Hank Jr. would mind
I served 15 months in Iraq
Some might call that a living
For me, I was just doing my job
Upholding family tradition
Jason now works in Lynchburg at the Jack Daniel’s distillery, and will be honored soon with his picture on one of their hero bottles, which is a very cool honor.
SATURDAY NIGHT
I had the pleasure of performing Jason’s song on the square in Shelbyville on what turned out to be a very cold night. The weather affected their crowd somewhat, but there were some hardcore patriots bundled up in lawn chairs who hung in there and paid their respects to the vets we were honoring.
My thanks to all those who worked so hard to make this event happen in Shelbyville.
NEXT SHOW
I’ll be up in Marion, Illinois, on Monday, May 18, with songwriter Bill DiLuigi. The two of us will be playing on the runway at the Marion Airport to honor a plane load of veterans returning from an Honor Flight to DC.
I’ve been told that 3 of the veterans with whom I’ve written songs with will be attending. So that will be a special evening for sure.
NEW DATES
There are already several show dates booked for 2027, with more coming in. You’ll see them listed on my website when all the details are confirmed.
Thursday night, January 21, I get to play at the historic Newberry Opera House in Newberry, South Carolina, with Linda Davis and Lang Scott with our “Evening in the Round Show.”
And the following night, Friday, January 21, we will be in Beaufort, South Carolina.
South Carolina is Lang’s home state, and I know he’s looking forward to these dates, and so am I.
NEW SONG
Originally, I was supposed to be part of a songwriter show at the Listening Room in Nashville with my friends Andrea Pearson and Brian White on Saturday morning. I had to cancel that when the veteran’s show called. And I hated not being there with those two. BUT…they did not forget me as Andrea included a song that the three of us recently wrote, “If I Came Over.” Very cool.
SONG OF THE DAY
This is my Paris, Missouri buddy Becky Denton singing “Plant A Little Seed” (live on Facebook over the weekend), a song we wrote with her husband Will. The song is being used in the Merschman Seed commercials up in Iowa, which is pretty cool.
HEALTH NOTES
There’s a new health trend where some are swapping pancakes and eggs for a bowl of breakfast soup. Nutritionists endorse the idea, saying that warm, protein-packed soups can support steady blood sugar and sustained energy.
Need a good job? There’s a shortage of radiologists. And the average pay is $571,000 yearly.
A study from Harvard claims that AI was more accurate in emergency room diagnoses than two human doctors.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Uh, pretty sure they will card the baby.
EXPENSIVE JAVA
Who knew that Starbucks sells a $9 cup of coffee?
Yep, I think the CEO may need to rethink his brewing brain on this one. Someone observed that people complain about 4 dollar gas, but will pay $8 for a special latte at Starbucks.
ROBOTS ON ICE
And now, robots can skate on ice.
The old Ice Capades show is going to look a little different.
SPEAKING OF ENTERTAINING
The Savannah Bananas, the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, just broke a record by drawing 102,000 fans for a game at Kyle Field at Texas A&M. Wow.
Proof that people just want to be entertained. Makes you wonder if Major League Baseball is paying attention.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
From the former Apple CEO Tim Cook, and I could not agree more with this:
“The longer the meeting, the less is accomplished.”
TODAY
I’m back to writing with Brian White and Andrea Pearson this morning. I’ll be asking them questions about the songwriter show I missed with them this past Saturday morning.
Brian has several chickens, and I always come home with eggs after we write. And that begs the question, what comes first, the song or the eggs?
Have a great Monday!
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