Bill's Blog

BILL BLOG Friday July 29, 2022   Friday morning coming up here on the Gulf Coast. A little rain on tap with a high of 89. Back home in Nashville a little heavier downpour appears to be on the way with possible straight-line winds and flash flooding. We can use the rain in Nashville, not the straight-line winds which   YESTERDAY Busy day that started with writing a new song with my pal Brent Burn s . Something with a girl in it, and a beach. And that kind of stuff works for guys that sing Trop Rock music like Brent does.   Then when that wrapped up, unexpectedly the folks who do a podcast in Hot Springs, Arkansas at Hot Springs Village reached out for a zoom video interview with me and Brent to talk about that great show we played last weekend at the gorgeous Woodlands Auditorium that was so fun. Over 500 folks came out to catch the fun that night. Host Dennis Simpson was great, and we had fun talking about that, songwriting, and the music business. I should have access to a l

BILL BLOG Thursday July 28, 2022    Good Thursday morning to you from beautiful Gulf Shores, Alabama.   YESTERDAY I made the 7 hour or so trip from Nashville to Gulf Shores. I’ll be here until Monday morning writing some songs with Brent Burns and then doing two shows. I've been coming here for a lot of years now, and always enjoy the chance to come back and spend a few days.   The Saturday show will be poolside for the Concerts on Canal series hosted by my friend Judd Williams and his wife. Bring a lawn chair, a cooler, your sunglasses, and flip flops. It could get a tad warm. We start playing at 4 pm Saturday around that pool.     Then Sunday I have a 6 pm show with comedienne Juanita Smith at the Peoples Listening Room in Mobile, our third show we’ve done together in this wonderful venue in downtown Mobile. Thank you, owner Jim Pennington , for having us again!     MORE CLEDUS I also spent some time yesterday texting parody song ideas to Cle

BILL BLOG Wednesday July 27, 2022   Wednesday morning on the road to Gulf Shores, Alabama.   I’m blogging from a McDonald’s in Alabama right now. Behind me a minute ago was a family. As they were getting ready to leave, I heard a grandma do a check on the two kids of her daughter who was with her to see if they had both gone to the bathroom.   She said, “we’re getting ready to go back on the road”. The little girl had gone, but the little boy said to her, “Daddy taught me how to hold it. I’m good.” That drew laughs from me, and everyone behind me.   YESTERDAY After waiting almost a year, my wife and I welcomed the arrival of a brand-new Toyota RAV4. It will be my new workhorse now for when I’m traveling to shows across the country. My old 2009 has over 230,000 miles on it and I’ve never done a major thing to it which is why we waited so patiently for a new one to finally come in. And what a buying ordeal it was. Not the most pleasant experience, which is why so many folks hat

BILL BLOG Tuesday July 26, 2022   Tuesday morning coming up in Nashville. Another packing day with a trip ahead tomorrow.   YESTERDAY I had an online songwriting appointment with a songwriter out in California named Ben Krahne who signed up for a writing session through Songwriting Pro that’s hosted by my Arkansas friend Brent Baxter. It’s the third time now that Ben and I spent some time over a song he had started that he felt needed a little help or at least a second opinion. So I played “consultant” online yesterday for about an hour although in this case, Ben’s song was pretty solid all the way around and I just suggested a couple or three thoughts that he can use or not use.   I always tell online songwriter clients to always remember it’s their song and what I’m giving them is just an opinion or a thought or two that I hope helps them and their music. I had fun, and I think Ben walked away with some stuff he can apply.   If you’re a novice songwriter, remember you ca

BILL BLOG Monday July 25, 2022   Monday morning. Back home in Nashville. 91 is the hot high today.   THE WEEKEND It truly WAS a musical weekend with my friend Brent Burns that started with a tremendous concert in Hot Springs, Arkansas this past Thursday evening that I blogged about last Friday morning.      Friday morning we made our way to Sullivan, Missouri and the “Hangout” which is the home of a couple of wonderful folks who LOVE Trop Rock music. So much so that their basement is a beach show room, complete with stage, beach colors, Jimmy Buffett posters and albums and a full bar complete with “on tap” Landshark beer. Truly unbelievable.       And Brent and I had a room full of Trop Rock fans to entertain who brought their lawn chairs and coolers indoors because the weather was so hot. I’m glad it moved indoors because not only was it stifling heat, but this room they built is just such a cool room to play in!     Mark and Colleen Fuchs built this place because of t

BILL BLOG Friday July 22, 2022 Friday morning in Hot Springs, getting ready to roll to Missouri for another show. 99 degrees for a high here today in Razorback land.   YESTERDAY Brent Burns and I and Brent’s girlfriend had a relaxing day in the beautiful Hot Spring Village before heading to the Woodlands Auditorium that’s part of this massive property for our show last night. And gosh what a show. Over 500 folks showed up in that beautiful theater to watch a couple of buddies in shorts and tropical shorts sitting on stools sharing our original songs. It’s my third time to play in the Village and that makes me their most booked entertainer ever at 3 times. My thanks to Larry Wilson for that.     Folks laughed hard, they even cried during a patriotic song, and there were a couple of standing ovations. About as good as it gets for two fools on stools. Brent debuted a new funny song he wrote called “Dead People’s Clothes” that dang near brought the house down

 BILL BLOG Thursday July 21, 2022   Thursday morning coming at you from “hot”   Hot Springs, Arkansas.   YESTERDAY I made the six and a half hour or so drive from Nashville over to Hot Springs and checked into a house in beautiful Hot Springs Village along with Brent Burns and Brent’s girlfriend Colleen also came along for this little two show run we’re on.   We pay here in the Village tonight at 7 pm for a show at their Woodlands Auditorium. How big is the Village here in Arkansas?   Once I entered the gate, I still had 13 miles to go inside the village before I got to the house in a golf course resort community, we’re staying in. It’s big. My thanks to Larry Wilson and the gang here for giving us such a great place to hang until our show tonight which will have a big crowd that we are looking forward to entertaining.      We had dinner with a couple here last night who are longtime friends of Brent’s who used to live in Gulf Shores where Brent is from before they decided to

 BILL BLOG Wednesday July 20, 2022   Wednesday morning and I’m on the road to Hot Springs, Arkansas. In the 90’s for most of the trip over to Arkansas, but at LEAST I’m not traveling in Britain where the temperature hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. You could cook your fish and chips on the sidewalk in front of Big Ben.   YESTERDAY Well, to be honest, it was a day of frustration. The short of it is, I thought we were picking up a car that I ordered almost a year ago that FINALLY arrived after being told 4 different times over the course of the year that it would be arriving in October, then December, then…you get the picture. So I test drove the vehicle and loved it. All that was left to do was sit with financing and learn the features on the new car and drive it home. Didn’t turn out like that. My wife and I arrived on time and sat with our sales guy (who I like) did some pre-paperwork and then waited to get into financing. And waited and waited. Over 2 hours of waiting. I h