BILL BLOG
Thursday August 8, 2024
And now it’s Thursday morning. 89 for a high today.
YESTERDAY
A full day Wednesday it was that started with a writing session with my friend Irene Kelley. Irene is a great bluegrass artist these days, but earlier in her career she was a recording artist on MCA Records and as a writer she had folks like Ricky Skaggs, Trisha Yearwood, Loretta Lynn, Little Big Town and many others.
My favorite story though about one of her songs is the song she wrote “I’m A Little Bluer Than That.” Irene sang the song on the Grand Ole Opry one night and call a call from her manager after the show who excitedly told her that “Alan wants to record that song”. Irene had no clue and asked, “Alan who”? It was Alan Jackson who was listening to the Opry that night on his truck radio while driving around town.
Irene brought a fun idea about folks who love Chevy’s vs folks who won’t drive anything other than a Ford. It was fun getting that thought into a new song that got added to our catalog.
LAST NIGHT
Irene was involved a bit in the songwriter show I did last night as well…even though she was not there.
I played at a wonderful Irish Pub & Restaurant “McNamara’s” which I would highly recommend to any fan of Irish food, Guinness and Irish music. I’m a fan of all three myself. I was in a round with the owner Sean McNamara who I had not met before and fell in love with singing and his songs. And he had great stories to tell.
Suzy J from Australia who I wrote with for the first time the day before was also in the show as was my longtime friend Steve Dean.
The crowd was totally into it, and part of the reason was because Sean created this wonderful listening room for singers-writers and music lovers. And it’s hard to beat a venue where you can have a Guinness in your cup holder while you’re doing a show.
My favorite part of the evening for me personally was getting to sing an Irish song that I wrote with Irene Kelley. Heck, I’m in an Irish Pub for gosh sake…why not try it out. And so I did. And gosh the song went over big time! The song was inspired by the trip my wife and I took several years ago to Ireland where we married our daughter and are sung over a wonderful melody that Irene had started the day we wrote it.
Here’s a few of the lyrics.
I stood on the cliffs of Moher at night
Sat under those dark hedges trees
Sang in the pubs drank a tall Guinness stout
And I found the Irish in me
So let’s raise a glass to the future and past
Where ere’ you come from this rings true
If you sing along by end of this song
You’ll find the Irish in you
Green are the meadows valleys and fields
Sweet are the faces I’ve seen
Those melodies wandered from that Emerald Isle
Where I found the Irish in me
So let’s raise a glass to the future and past
Where ere’ you come from this rings true
If you sing along by the end of this song
You’ll find the Irish in you
I wish someone would have caught it last night on video. What a truly fun evening!
SOMEONE DID CATCH THIS
Singer-songwriter Darrell Clanton sent me this VIDEO from the Jim Parker songwriter show we were both a part of in Huntsville last weekend. The middle of the summer and I sang a Christmas song. Uh huh. So, if you want to hear a funny Christmas song in August, check out “The Dogs Home”. Thanks for sending this Darrell.
BLUEGRASS CHART
And thank you to David Pugh for having two gospel bluegrass songs I helped write on your chart. “Blue Collar Gospel” with Jerry Salley and the Oak Ridge Boys is sitting at # 3 this week!
And “God Never Made A Mountain” with Kristy Cox is the #11 song off her successful album “Let It Burn” which picked up this wall hanger yesterday from Billy Blue Records given by our mutual friend and producer of the album Jerry Salley.
So glad both songs are getting a little attention.
HEALTH NOTES
There’s news that common sweeteners in stevia and keto products could be linked to blood clotting risk.
A study concludes that as little as 8 minutes watching TikTok stuff can have immediate negative consequences.
A middle school in El Paso, Texas has banned “all black” outfits because they associate it with depression and mental health illness. (So Johnny Cash would not be allowed in if here were alive today) And we all know what Johnny’s reaction would be to that!
IRONIC FUNNY JOKE
I had an uncle who was allergic to cotton.
He got some pills for the condition but couldn’t get them out of the bottle.
BIG FISH…LITTLE POLE
How about this guy catching a 46 pound catfish on his 3-year old daughters pink fishing pole?
Save yourself some money at Bass Pro folks. Git you a cheap pole.
SPEAKING OF POLE
This Olympic pole vaulter celebrated clearing the bar in the Paris Olympics by “twerking”. Uh huh. Put THAT on the Wheaties box.
It’s a different generation. I remind myself of that fact every time I see something like that. I remember winning the church softball championship with my Dad and two brothers on the same team. Somehow we all resisted “twerking” after we’d won. Pretty sure that’s because of the scripture that says, “thou shalt not twerk.”
LONG TRIP
Those astronauts that were to be up and back in 8 days are still up there on that Boeing Starliner. Word is that it could be February of next year before they finally get back to earth. Wow. Hopefully they’ll get things fixed and find a way to get them home sooner than later.
WHAT?
TODAY
I’m back writing with my young friend Alex Miller who’s going to release a new single with Emily Ann Roberts who won “The Voice” competition a couple of years ago. Alex was on Idol…she was on “The Voice” and their chemistry is great together. Can't wait for that song to be released.
We'll have fun today as always.
Have a great Thursday!
Comments
Post a Comment