BILL BLOG
Monday May 26, 2025
And a good Memorial Day Monday morning to you from Pensacola, Florida.
THE WEEKEND
Mine started Saturday morning by jumping the car with Steve Dean and making the trip from Nashville down here to beautiful Pensacola for this event with Freedom Sings USA.
The event was held at Warrior Beer Company in Pensacola, owned by veteran Gary Hefner.
We rolled into Pensacola around 5 pm Friday, dropped our bags at the hotel, and then made our way over to the Warrior Beer Company for a little meet and greet with our veterans.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that a long-time friend of mine, Larry Hudson, from nearby Gulf Shores, would be the veteran I would be writing with. More on that in a bit.
After our dinner,
our songwriter group got on stage and sang a few songs.
After we wrapped up, we headed to a favorite Irish Pub, “McGuire’s,” and closed out the night the right way.
SUNDAY
On Sunday, each songwriter had a veteran to sit with, listen to their story, and then write that story into a song. I got to sit with Larry Hudson, a longtime friend from Gulf Shores who was there with his wife Vicky. What a pleasure and honor that was. I knew Larry served in the Army, but I had never talked with him a lot about his service. And he told me (before we wrote) that he didn’t know if he had enough of a story for a song. We songwriters hear that from MANY of our veterans.
And of course, there’s a story. There always is. Those vets often times are very humble about their service. “I was just doing my job”.
Well, Larry’s song is titled “Not Much of a Story to Tell”.
Here is a verse of Larry’s story in this new song.
They put me in the rear, put my friend at point in my place
We walked into an ambush and to this very day
Losing him and two other buddies is the worst I’ve ever felt
But I don’t have much of a story to tell
I’ve had survivor’s guilt since the day my three friends fell
But I don’t have much of a story to tell
SUNDAY NIGHT
When you’re near the ocean, you should have seafood, right? That’s what we did Sunday evening. Our group went to a local place…The Oar House.
Fish and shrimp, and a view of the water.
And we got quite the bonus when 5 Blue Angels in formation flew by us, and that’s always a majestic sight that most get to see when they vacation down here on the Gulf.
INDY
I did get back to my hotel room in time to watch Alex Palou win his first Indy 500 Race. Congrats to the Spaniard. For me, the real wiener at this year’s Indy 500 was this bad boy.
SONG OF THE DAY
Today, being
Memorial Day, I’m choosing a montage of songs written with Freedom Sings USA. This VIDEO give you insight into what the experience is like writing with veterans. In this case, every songwriter wrote with a nurse. And you'll see my veteran Christine Brooks and hear some of the song I wrote with her "Welcome Home".
HEALTH NOTES
Reportedly, millions are now turning to ChatGPT for therapy, and that is raising concerns from experts.
Sobering research says that alcohol-related cancer deaths have nearly doubled from 12,000 a year in 1990to more than 23,000 a year in 2021. Men 55 and older are the largest at-risk group.
Experts now say we could learn a great deal about our health by simply having our eyes checked.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Umm…they might want to rephrase that a tad.
KERMIT
How can you beat Kermit the Frog as a commencement speaker? The frog dropped some great advice for Maryland graduates.
The frog’s advice was about three things close to the frog’s heart: “finding your people, taking the leap, and making connections”. Check out the speech HERE.
Meanwhile, President Trump advised graduates at West Point to “not marry trophy wives”. Something Kermit left out of his speech.
How many of us remember our commencement speaker? Not me. Not a clue who it was at Elsberry High in Missouri. But it had been a frog behind the podium? That would be impossible to forget.
THIS EVER HAPPEN TO YOU?
A New Jersey couple found 3 Mega million tickets in a drawer that they had completely forgotten about. They were bought last New Year’s Eve. The wife decides to have them scanned. The first one said “no winner”. The second one is the same. But the third said, “Winner”. It was worth a MILLION dollars. Tickets are good for up to a year in New Jersey, so they cashed in.
When I get home, I checking my junk drawers.
HEADLINE OF THE DAY
Pet Lover Spent $23,000 For His Cats To Travel The World 10 Times In Two Years. (Can a cat get a passport?)
TODAY
I’ll be part of a Memorial Day concert here in Pensacola to honor our veterans. This afternoon I’ll be singing the song I wrote yesterday with my friend and veteran Larry Hudson. Pretty great way to get to spend Memorial Day.
Have a great Monday!
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