BILL BLOG
Monday April 7, 2025
Hello Monday. The sun is coming up today and all of Nashville is glad to see that after a four-day rain and tornado system roared through here that has claimed at least 10 lives. There have been flooding evacuations, school, and business closings, the airport closed, almost everything closed at one point.
Saturday started with rain that stopped. Then Saturday evening here came the tornado warnings again. And major flooding. We were hunkered down in our safe place and it got a little scary at one point with the winds getting loud outside. Our power was out until early Sunday morning. And we feel pretty lucky it was no worse. Our cable and TV were out almost two days before it finally came back on right before bedtime last night.
Rivers are going to rise for days with the flooding we’re seeing and there have been some evacuations.
Today it’s going to be cloudy with a high of 55 in Nashville. And everyone here is very glad the storm has finally moved out of here.
MOVIE
I missed most of the Final Four basketball tournament because of having no cable. I had to go to a Sports Bar to catch the second half of the Auburn-Florida game and then missed the exciting upset of Houston over Duke. It got so boring I watched the movie "The Accountant" last night on my cell phone. FYI…I thought the Ben Affleck movie that I had not seen before was pretty darned good. And now I hear there’s an Accountant 2 coming out.
THE WEEKEND
Friday morning my friend Tim Stafford and I wrote a new song that we filled with memories of growing up around farm life. The song is titled Case Model C which is a tractor that was made by Farmall.
Though I never plowed a field I always had a love for tractors. There’s just something cool about them. And they do bring up a lot of memories of growing up in Missouri where my Grandpa Payne Whyte and my Uncle Lucian sat on tractors many an hour. They started plowing with mules before tractors really came into their own.
I’d been wanting to write a “historical” song with Tim because he writes those kinds of songs so well. One example is this song “Wall Dogs” that he and my friend Thomm Jutz wrote those that painted murals on buildings.
I brought an idea about C.F. Martin who made the coveted Martin Guitars that have so much history behind them but Tom quoted me some lines from a song someone else had written about that subject. So that was out. And it was then that he shared with me the start of this song about that old farm tractor that he was familiar with. And it was on.
I had SUCH a great job bringing this song to life and enjoying the memories it evoked in my mind. A lot of the folks who play bluegrass music for a living grew up and around farms, so Tim and I feel confident that one of them will fall in love with our little tractor tune and record it. We’ll see.
PICK ONE
I wrote a song with my friend Katrina Burgoyne titled “Living the American Dream” that she will be recording soon. She and her producer husband put up a little video asking folks which version they should choose. Two different musical grooves. Click on the link and help her decide with your vote!
MOTM GIG
I’ll be returning to the largest Parrot Head gathering in Gulf Shores October 22-26 this year. It’s a sea of people in beach shirts, thongs and shirts with blenders whirring as far as you can see with tons of parties and music that appeals to all those who love Jimmy Buffett and the Trop Rock life.
I got a call Friday from a friend on the entertainment committee asking me to co-emcee this event again this year. I did that a couple of years ago down in Key West when the event was still being held there.
It’s now held every year in one of my favorite places Gulf Shores, Alabama. It will be great fun bringing musical acts on and engaging with that large gathering of Parrot Head fans who come from all around the world for the party.
And my friend Brent Burns and myself will be doing at least one show on one of the main stages together and that’s always a laugh riot.
Thank you to the folks at MOTM for having me again this year. Looking forward to it.
SONG OF THE DAY
And with that news, I’m in a beach mood. Let’s make today’s song another beach tune I wrote with Brent Burns titled “The Sand Is Getting Heavy in My Shoes”. This song about someone who went down to the ocean and decided to stay. And every time he thinks about going back to the cold north, he admits that he can’t go back because the sand is getting heavy in his shoes.
HEALTH NOTES
Texas now has over 500 cases of the measles.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has announced it will not cover anti-obesity drugs.
Experts say Ricotta cheese is the best cheese to help reduce blood pressure.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Fore!
WHY?
There’s an unemployed man who makes his own Crocs and then goes out and puts them on statues. I guess because every statue looks better wearing plastic shoes?
There are some things in this world I can’t explain.
FUNNY LADY
NBC is going to air a tribute to the late Joan Rivers on May 13. Several comedians will be on hand to pay tribute. If they just repeat lines that Joan delivered it will be funny. Here’s a few of my favorites.
“The first time I see a jogger smiling, I’ll consider it.”
“I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die, they will donate my body to Tupperware.”
And on getting older Joan said, “I now consider it a good day when I don’t step on my boobs.”
THEM AND US
College tuition at Brown University is currently $93,000 a year. Geez. Trade school kids. Intern kids.
DO YOU NEED ONE OF THESE?
These retro TV-tissue boxes are selling out they say on Amazon Prime.
MARRIAGE
These two T-shirts say all you need to know about this married couple.
Some people choose to wear the truth on their backs.
AIRPORT FOOD
Someone just ranked the best airports for eating.
#1 is Atlanta followed by Chicago O’hare, JFK, LaGuardia, and Austin.
Our Nashville Airport did not make the Top 10. But there’s a Tootsie’s and Ole Red’s (Blakes place) in our airport. And they have songwriters singing “live” starting early in the morning. And that’s a bonus. Tootsie’s and Ole Red’s of course are honkytonks located on our famed Lower Broadway in Music City. If you’re lucky, you might see Blake get up on the airport stage.
HEADLINE OF THE DAY
Man Throws Snail at a Car in a Street Fight. (More powerful than an uppercut I guess)
TODAY
I’m writing with Kevin Williamson for the first time. Kevin is the Father in the family band Williamson Branch that features his wife, three daughters, and one of his daughters husband who plays banjo. And yesterday the one daughter delivered her first child making Kevin a Grandpa for the first time! We will celebrate that before we write a word today.
This is a talented bluegrass family band and I’m looking forward to seeing what we might be able to come up with today.
Then tonight with my cable restored I’m going to watch the NCAA Championship game with Houston playing Florida for all the marbles. For what it’s worth…I’m leaning Gators to win it all.
Have a great Monday!
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