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A Seed Song...Happy Birthday...Beanie Babies

BILL BLOG

Thursday July 18, 2024

 

Here it be…Thursday already. We had some needed rain roll in last night…pretty heavy and it’s going to cool things off here in Nashville. Today’s high will only be 83 after being in the high 90’s for several days. That’s going to feel like a breath of fresh air…literally.

 

YESTERDAY

Another free day yesterday so pretty lazy around the Whyte House. I did some voting yesterday as the early round are up for voting in both the CMA Awards and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. So I cast early votes in both…final round voting will come later. Good luck to all and there are so many who deserve to win.

 

A JINGLE

I talked with my northern Missouri friend Becky Denton yesterday as she was in town with her talented husband Will Denton who plays both drums and piano and he was in Nashville prepping for a show with a Tom Petty tribute band that he’s part of. A couple of years ago the three of us wrote a song to pitch to the Merschman Seed Company up in West Point, Iowa.



 

Becky knew the owner, and they were looking for a jingle to us for TV and radio commercials. So we wrote a song called “Plant A Little Seed” together and they loved it. Parts of the song were chopped up so that they could use some of it for 60 second and 30 second ads. Pretty cool.

 

And here’s a VIDEO of Becky singing that song in her kitchen up in Paris, Missouri proudly wearing her Merschman’s ballcap which is mentioned in the lyrics of the song.

 

SHOWS AHEAD

I’m looking forward to being back out on the road again with my dear friends Linda Davis and Lang Scott and we have several upcoming dates on the books stretching through the first quarter of 2025.



 

We’ll be in Illinois, Ohio, Texas…more than once. And January 18 we’ll play in Kill Devils Hill, North Carolina (near the Wright Brothers launching place) AND there’s a pretty good chance we’ll be in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina the following day Sunday January 19 playing a show with some dear friends that I’ll name when the date is confirmed. As always, complete details of all of these shows are here on the website under “Tour”.

 

HEALTH NOTES

A sure sign that COVID is still out there with the news that President Biden is down with it.

 If you’ve ever wondered, and I have, an ophthalmologist warns that opening your eyes under water for a prolonged period can indeed put your vision at risk.

 A new report claims that people are getting sick with dengue at record levels in America.

 

FAKE BIBLE NEWS?



 

SORRY TO HEAR

That Pat Williams who brought the NBA team to Orlando…the Orlando Magic passed at the age of 84. A visionary and by all accounts a very kind and generous man. I bring it up here because he is the father of my friend Karyn Williams who is a great Christian singer who’s out on tour a lot with a funny Christian comedian named Chonda Ruth. Karyn is married to Brian White who I co-write a lot with.

 

Pat and his wife have 19 kids, 14 adopted from foreign countries. My heart goes out to Karyn, Brian, and the family this morning.



 

ON A HAPPIER NOTE

I want to say Happy Birthday to Dodge Raymer back in Missouri who is extended family for me. Dodge turned 91 yesterday and we should all be as vibrant and healthy as he is. He and his late wife Dean have made a long lasting difference in my life for a very long time. He has two daughters who I am sure spoiled him on his birthday. Happy Birthday Dodge!



 

DO YOU NEED ONE OF THESE?



 

It’s called a “Beanie Bouncer” and it bounces as high as 50 feet. Ty Warner who founded Beanie Babies, that I still have a tub full of, invented the new toy. Will it be anywhere nearly as successful as those Beanie Babies? Doubtful, but time will tell. There are several different characters to choose from to bounce if you’d like.

 

Many years ago when my daughter Heather was very young and into the Beanie Baby craze like a lot of kids were, my longtime friend-comedian-travel writer Roger Naylor gave her a gigantic Beanie Baby dog. The size of a large rug.  One of a kind. You couldn’t buy one if you wanted.  It has a ribbon around its neck autographed by the Beanie Baby founder Ty Warner. We still have it somewhere.



 

So I can easily root for Ty to have another hit.

 

WORST CARS

Consumer Reports just listed their Top 10 Least Reliable Cars. Jeep had three on the list. I had a Jeep. Loved it. I’ve always loved the way they look and they’re a fun drive. But they end up in a shop a lot.

 

Their Top 5 Least Reliable Cars are…

 

5 Rivian R1T

4 Volvo XC60

3 Ford F-150 Hybrid

2 Volkswagen Taos

 

And the LEAST RELIABLE is this Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Van.



 

FUNNY

This one from Grand Ole Opry member and comedian Gary Mule Deer who says, “My grandad used to say, if everybody liked the same thing, they’d all be after your grandma”.



 

TODAY

I’m back writing with new, young,  bluegrass artist Caroline Owens today. She truly has a beautiful bluegrass voice much like Alison Krauss. Always a pleasure to work with young talented artist like her.


 

 

Have a great Thursday!


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