Bill's Blog

BILL BLOG Thursday August 31, 2023   Thursday and it’s the last day of August. How in the world is that possible? Just 84 here today but back up to 95 come Labor Day.   YESTERDAY I had to shift plans yesterday as my co-writer for our songwriting appointment had the date wrong in his calendar and had to reschedule. I’ve done that myself. So we did that and then I had the day open to do other stuff. And since I had a writing room already reserved for yesterday morning, I used it to start a new song idea I’ve had for a while and got a good start on it. So it wasn’t a completely wasted creative day after all.   BLAST ON THE BAY Those dates are coming up October 19-22 in beautiful Port St. Joe Florida…a great songwriters festival that I’ve been playing at for several years now with my “ Hits & Grins ” trio featuring Victoria Venier , Steve Dean , and myself.      They’ve officially escaped any hurricane damage so it’s on and we’re all glad to hear that new

BILL BLOG Wednesday August 30, 2023   Wednesday…Hump Day…All Day. 87 for a high here today with a low down to 61 tonight. Meanwhile further south…   All eyes on hurricane Idalia coming ashore in Florida now at Category 3 strength. It went from Cat 1 to Cat 3 very quickly and now we’re talking crazy high storm surges in parts of Florida. Record breaking stuff according to some…and that’s not a good thing. Key West has already been battered; Ft. Meyers is flooded with much more to come it appears. Evacuations ordered in some areas in the direct target path. Half of the state is under a state of emergency. Flight cancellations, power outages, 120 mph winds…the whole deal.   The Blast on the Bay Songwriters Festival down in Port St. Joe, Florida looks to be on the edge of the storm in that panhandle region. Certainly hoping for the best, as a few years ago a hurricane wiped out Mexico Beach and the writers festival was cancelled two years for rebuilding in that

BILL BLOG Tuesday August 29, 2023 Tuesday has arrived. 87 for the high today. Meanwhile Idina is getting closer to land fall down in Florida. And yes, Jim Cantore was spotted at a Florida airport yesterday. Idina is at Cat 1 this morning and strengthening.   YESTERDAY I wrote online last night with my friends Darin and Brooke Aldridge in North Carolina. Those two are in demand and stay busy and have a slew of shows on the road coming up. They did tell me their new single that we wrote together “ Wildflower Too ” was just added to the playlist on Bluegrass Junction on Sirius-XM…and that’s a significant thing in the bluegrass world so I was glad to hear that good news.   And their gospel single “Jordan” is getting all kinds of acclaim and nominations for awards and rightfully so. I have zero to do with this song but it’s so good. It also features Ricky Skaggs and Mo Pitney . If you’ve not seen it… check it out here .   And yep…we did finish a new song

BILL BLOG Monday August 28, 2023 Monday morning has rolled back around and look. It’s the last week of August already. Some rain has cooled us off here in Nashville with a high of just 82 today.   Meanwhile Florida has got its eyes open for Jim Cantore as tropical storm Idalia is on the way and could turn into a category 3 hurricane before it’s all over. And some of those weather folks are saying the Sunshine State could get as much as 18 inches of rain from this storm.     THE WEEKEND Friday morning I met and wrote with Mike Richards for the first time. Mike’s from Nashville, a rarity. Most of the musicians, pickers, writers have moved here through the years from other states but he’s a native. Mike is a writer for Billy Blue Publishing as am I so he writes a lot of bluegrass songs, though he started in rock n roll when he was young. He founded the Chigger Hill Boys gospel-bluegrass band many years ago, and they’re still going strong.   But one of t

BILL BLOG Friday August 25, 2023   The weekend approaches. It’s Friday! A cool 100 degree high expected here in Nashville today.   YESTERDAY I wrote with Irene Kelley yesterday at my publishing company. Irene played at the Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival last weekend as did I and while we were there she shared a funny idea for a song she had. So yesterday we tackled that and had great fun with it. Irene is a terrific well know bluegrass artist, was an MCA mainstream artist at one time and has had had several stars record her songs like Alan Jackson did with this great country song “ I’m A Little Bluer Than That .”   But like a lot of artists, she didn’t have a funny song in her catalog. So we solved that problem yesterday for her and laughed while doing it.  Her current bluegrass single is on the charts and doing well right now “ Yellow Brick Highway ”. Good day yesterday.   SPEAKING OF BLUEGRASS On the way back home after my songwriting session I had

BILL BLOG Thursday August 24, 2023   Thursday morning in the sauna known as Nashville. 99 here today folks.   YESTERDAY Bit of a lazy yesterday as I had a writing appointment that cancelled. So it turned into a phone day at my desk. For the most part, my phone doesn’t overwhelm me a lot with calls. But for whatever reason yesterday it was wearing me out a bit…but all good stuff.   HOUSE CONCERT THIS WEEKEND One call was from my friend Terry Seay who is hosting a house concert with "Hits and Grins" as headliners this coming Saturday night at their house. Show time is 8 pm in Franklin, Tennessee. Terry told me we still have some open seats available, so if you’re near don’t miss this fun show. He also told me about some very cool surprise announcements he has in store that I’ll be able to share here come Monday morning after our show is done. So join me, Victoria Venier and Steve Dean and fill up these seats Saturday night!     BEACH AHEAD

BILL BLOG Wednesday August 23, 2023   A “hot” Hump Day coming at ya from Nashville. 99 for a high.   YESTERDAY I was online with Pennsylvania bluegrass friend Troy Engle writing a new bluegrass tune that turned out great. Troy is one of those guys who can pretty much play every instrument with strings attached. And sing. And write. And produce records. Unreal. He’s played for several big name artists in his career including the late Tom T. Hall who we both loved. These days Troy is back home in PA and has a bluegrass band with some members of his family and others and they play several dates every year. Here’s an EXAMPLE of that for you.   Always fun hanging and creating with Troy.   THREE DAYS A reminder that this Saturday is the big house concert in Franklin, Tennessee with “Hits & Grins”. Victoria Venier , Steve Dean , and myself hope you’ll join us if you’re in town. BYOB…admission at the door.      Our Australian friend Katrina Burgoyne will