BILL BLOG
Thursday April 27, 2023
Thursday morning in the mid-south. A high of just 63 today as some pretty good rain and thunderstorms are coming our way this evening. Yesterday Texas had some grapefruit sized hail fall. Here’s hoping our thunderstorms bring no grapefruits
YESTERDAY
I wrote online yesterday morning with my friend Rick Lang out in New Hampshire and we tore into a gospel-bluegrass idea Rick had e-mailed me a couple of days before our writing appointment. The title was a little “different” for a gospel idea, and I always love anything like that. Always. Rick is a great title and idea guy. He always sends three or four then lets me choose one to tackle. And he told me after we finished yesterday that he KNEW I was going to choose that one because he too knew it was different and that he thought I’d be the guy to chase this idea with. Happy to be that “different” guy. Love what the song says, so thanks for teeing it up for me yesterday Rick! Another song to add to our growing catalog.
ALBUM OUT
The new Nick Dumas bluegrass album “Details” is out today. I helped write the title track to this song with my friends Tim Stafford and Becky Buller. Tim brought the idea to our writing table the day we wrote it and got the song to Nick who loved it and recorded it right away. So thank you Tim. Here’s a “live” version of our song I found this morning.
And if you check out the girl fiddle player in the band, that’s Carley Arrowood who also recorded a bluegrass album over the past few months and I’m fortunate to have the title track and single off her album “Deeperin Love” that I wrote with Josh Shilling. Kind of like a “two for one” deal on those two songs.
And both of those songs are up for consideration for “Song of the Year” right now by the International Bluegrass Music Association. Good luck to both Nick and Carley.
HEALTH NOTES
This is a little bleak. The National Council on Aging says that 80% of adults can’t afford two years of nursing home care or 4 years of assisted living.
Engagement ring sales are down drastically. And you can throw in wedding dresses and almost anything related to a wedding. The pandemic is to blame they say and the industry still has not recovered completely.
A dental hygienist on TikTok went viral when she pointed out that there is no need to buy expensive toothpaste because they’re all the same. And furthermore she reminded us that toothpaste does not clean teeth. We use toothpaste for the fluoride benefit. AND…she also says we should spit not rinse out after we brush out teeth. That allows the fluoride to keep working longer. Who knew?
I AGREE
I agree with what this poster says.
THE RADIO DIAL
Already it’s hard to find any new cars with a CD player. Gone. And next up could be AM radio. Several automakers including Ford are talking about eliminating the AM Radio band in cars as early as next year. I started my radio career on an AM radio station. KPCR in Bowling Green, Missouri. All 1,000 watts of it.
And I finished my career on a 50,000-watt AM radio station 650AM WSM here in Nashville. So that kind of news is sad to me. Statistics are showing most AM listeners are older. Maybe that’s the reason I don’t know. But I still listen to a fair amount of AM radio when I drive. Talk radio, sports radio in particular and yes I still dial up the home of the Grand Ole Opry WSM.
As a kid I used to play in a band. And when our gig would end at 1 AM or so in the morning, on my drive home I always turned the radio onto WSM up in Missouri and would listen often times through the static just to hear the late Ralph Emery do his all-night radio show on the AM band. And then all those years later I wound up on WSM myself, doing the same all night radio show that he used to do. Can’t imagine my car without an AM band.
WEIRD LAWS
There are several weird laws in this country. Here’s three still on the books.
In Blythe, California it is illegal to wear cowboy boots unless you own two or more cattle.
In Brooklyn, New York donkeys are not allowed in one’s bathtub. (So take them in the shower with you instead)
And finally…right here in Tennessee it is illegal to catch a fish with a lasso. (And you know that Bill Dance has tried that once or twice!)
HOMICIDE
They released the top 10 cities for homicide in the country. Not a list you want to be on. Some I would have guessed. Others? Not so much. In reverse order those cities are:
Kansas City, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Dallas, Durham, NC, Detroit, Richmond, VA, New Orleans, and NUMBER ONE FOR HOMICIDES is Memphis, Tennessee.
I don’t think I would have guessed KC, Richmond, or Durham. Again, it’s not a list a city wishes to be on. It makes it a challenge to promote tourism.
UBER
Recently I got on the Uber train and started using the app to catch very early morning rides to our airport when I have a fly date for a show. So far I’ve left nothing in the backseat. But others have left some unusual things according to Uber. Those include a pair of false teeth, a wedding dress and even an Olympic gold medal! Double check before you close the door on your Uber ride folks.
A WIFE TWEETED THIS
“Nobody told me when you get a husband that ears are sold separately”.
TODAY
I’m writing with a young writer-guitar slinger from Australia for the first time today. She’s visiting the states and a mutual friend of ours Kristy Cox who’s also an Aussie asked if I would write with her while she’s here…she’s just starting to learn how to really write songs. Turns out that young Ellen Tefanis is quite the guitar player. Another fairly well know Aussie once got her up on stage to jam with him. That would be Keith Urban. Check this video out of the two of them swapping guitar licks. So yea! I’m interested in getting to know her today, writing with her, and finding a way to use her guitar skills in whatever we write.
Have a great Thursday.
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