Bill's Blog

BILL BLOG Thursday, May 7, 2027   Thursday it is…all day.   Crazy weather across the country for early May. In South Texas, they’re asking folks to stay indoors because of the extreme heat. Meanwhile, in the Rockies, there was a huge snowstorm.   Here in Nashville, it’s cool, with a high of just 66 today.   YESTERDAY I got to catch up with Pennsylvania friend Troy Engle for the first time since he joined “Kentucky Thunder”, Ricky Skagg’s great band.      Troy is playing a lot of different instruments for Ricky: fiddle, banjo, steel guitar, guitar, dobro, mandolin, and whatever else Ricky might need. And he’s singing harmony as well. Did I mention how talented Troy is? This is Troy sitting behind the steel guitar with the band.      I’m so happy for my friend, as this was his dream job. He’s already played for Eric Church, Tom T. Hall, The Isaacs , and others, but this was the one job that he wanted so muc...

BILL BLOG Wednesday, May 6, 2026   And here it is…the first “Hump Day” in May. Wednesday. And it’s bringing rain to Nashville, with a high of just 58 today.   YESTERDAY I had a great lunch meeting with my “ Evening in the Round ” partners, Lang Scott & Linda Davis .     It was great catching up and pulling out our calendars to compare notes about where the road is going to take us between now and the end of April 2027. We will be playing shows in that time frame in Tennessee, New Mexico, Texas, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina for sure, with more dates to come.   The first of those dates will be in Mountain City, Tennessee, on August 22 at the Heritage Hall Theatre for a 7 pm show, with another possible date in North Carolina either the night before or on the 23 rd . Stay tuned for info on that.      And I’m certainly looking forward to returning to the beautiful Spencer Theatre i...

BILL BLOG Tuesday, May 5, 2026   It’s Cinco De Mayo! Time to salt a rim and pour a Margarita.   Just a high of 63 in Music City today, with some light rain in the forecast.   YESTERDAY I wrote a patriotic song yesterday with Brian White & Andrea Pearson out at Brian’s miniature farm.      Normally, Brian will give each of us a dozen eggs after our write, but he’s lost three of his free-range chickens due to chicken hawks. Yikes. No yolk!   Brian knows of a TV project looking for patriotic songs from songwriters to help celebrate America’s 250 th birthday.     I have a feeling that the producers will love this song we wrote, but we’ll find out for sure by the end of this month. Fingers crossed.   SONG OF THE DAY Here’s a song from Kristy Cox that I wrote with her and her producer, Jerry Salley , titled “ Dirt Road ”. This is a song about unplugging from the world and getting back to basics that Kristy ...

BILL BLOG Monday, May 4, 2026   It’s the first Monday in the month of May, Star Wars Day, “May the 4 th 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 J oe 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 ...