Bill's Blog

BILL BLOG Monday, April 20, 2026   Monday morning, and I’m back home in Nashville, where the high will be just 73 today.   THE WEEKEND Quite the weekend in Anna, Illinois, with Freedom Sings USA. Saturday morning, our guests treated our group of songwriters to a free breakfast inside the old gymnasium at the old High School we are staying in, which has been converted into a very cool Inn.   It does remind me a bit of the old High School that I attended in Elsberry, Missouri, which was a long time ago. This one, they preserved.  They put me in the old music-arts room of the High School, complete with the chalkboard in front of my bed, a small record player, an old Cathedral radio, and some 45 RPM records. Talk about a throwback!   OUR VETERANS My veteran was Bob Caracker this trip. Bob is from Anna, Illinois. Born and raised, still here with his wife after all these years.   Bob went to Vietnam. He remembers the day his draft let...

BILL BLOG Friday, April 17, 2026   And a good Friday morning to you from the town of Anna, Illinois. A warm 86 degrees here today in southern, Illinois.   YESTERDAY I made the trip from Nashville to the small town of Anna, Illinois drive for our Freedom Sings USA event this weekend.     First stop was the High School.     Actually, this old High School was our hotel. A former Marine and his wife turned the old High School into a hotel.      Yep, my room has a blackboard in it, and I wrote “ I will be good ” a hundred times, then clapped the erasers, just like my old High School Days. It’s really a cool place owned by nice folks.     THE VFW After settling in for just an hour or so, we drove to the local VFW, where we had dinner, and each songwriter met the veteran who they will be writing with later this morning.      My veteran was a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. I can only ima...

BILL BLOG Thursday, April 16, 2026   Thursday morning, and it’s road trip day to Illinois. More on that later. A comfortable 78 degree high today in Nashville.   YESTERDAY My writing session was with Alex Miller and Mark BonDurant , and both Mark and I were gifted this from Alex.     The brand-new Alex Miller album.     Mark has a song on this album, and I’m blessed to have two songs, including the title track. Pretty cool vinyl gift to play on my little suitcase record player. When’s the last time you saw a YELLOW album? Thank you, Alex.        Alex is going to hold an album listening party at the Texas Troubadour Theater here in Nashville on Thursday night, May 14, at 6:30 pm. It’s free and open to the public. Alex will play every song on the album “live” with a full band, so it should be a very fun evening. Come if you can.   ANOTHER GIFT Alex also told me yesterday that our song “ More Country Th...