BILL BLOG
Thursday June 26, 2025
Thursday morning arises after a busy Wednesday. It’s ONLY going to be 95 in Nashville today with some possible rain. And that’s good news after the weather folks predicted that it would be over 100 degrees yesterday. Plenty HOT.
How hot is it?
Hot enough that asphalt melted in NYC yesterday and almost swallowed this bus.
YESTERDAY
My friend Troy Engle drove down from Pennsylvania with his family to visit a couple of colleges for his daughter. And he found time to write a wonderful idea he brought with him from Amish country, with me, and I’m surely glad about that.
Troy lived in Nashville for years, and he wrote songs and played with the late Tom T. Hall…and then Eric Church, and then Patty Loveless, and on and on. Big acts hired him a lot because he’s a multi-instrumentalist and can play banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, steel guitar…you name it.
If his two kids both end up here in Nashville colleges, there’s a pretty good chance he and his wife will move back to Music City, which would allow the two of us to write more in person like we did yesterday, and less online.
LAST NIGHT
It was some kind of amazing musical evening last night at the Bluebird Café as my talented friends Wil Nance, Brian White, and Wil Nance joined me for a great songwriter round. The intimate place was packed with tourists, friends, and celebrities.
It was the kind of night nobody wanted to end. Christian Comedian Chonda Pierce was there.
So was my old piano player, Doug Mayo, who made the trip down from Cincinnati. My Aussie friend and co-writer Angus Gill was there, as was Brian White’s wife, Karyn Williams, who is a great Christian singer who got up and sang a song with Brian that was a big hit for the group The Martins called “The Promise”.
And so was Kristen Bearfield, who just had a big ole hit “Country Faith” that we wrote together with Tim McGraw’s guitar player Bob Minner.
Wil’s wife Holly, got up and sang harmony with him on Wil’s smash hit for Brad Paisley, “She’s Everything”.
My dear friends Lang Scott & Linda Davis got up and tore the house down singing “I Run To You”, the big hit from Lady A that their daughter Hillary is part of.
And there are not enough superlatives to describe Jimmy Fortune’s singing with that great tenor voice of his. He sang “Elizabeth,” which he wrote and recorded with the Statler Brothers, at the end, and then added an encore with “More Than A Name On The Wall,” which was just an incredible way to close our show at the Bluebird.
Jimmy’s friend and GREAT Christian songwriter attended, as did Jimmy’s daughter and granddaughter, both with the middle name of “Elizabeth”. Dave Clark has put the finishing touches on Jimmy’s book that I can’t wait to read.
And my wife and now author Kathy, was out front as well, and that gave me a chance to plug her book that will be released this September.
Truly a night of one unforgettable moment after another.
SONG OF THE DAY
Since Wil Nance was with me last night, I thought I’d share yet another Kristy Cox song that I wrote with Wil and our friend Lisa Shaffer, “Some Things Don’t Go Together,” that’s on her newest CD, “Let It Burn”. This one is a very fun and uptempo bluegrass number about things that just don’t go well together.
THE ROAD
This Fall, CBS will air a singing competition called “The Road,” produced by Taylor Sheridan, and Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, and Gretchen Wilson are part of this show.
Yesterday, they released a picture of the competitors that includes my talented friend Jenny Tolman. Jenny is the one in the front row in the boots.
I’m going to be rooting very hard for her. I know for sure that Jenny will be singing one of the songs we wrote together with her husband, Dave Brainard, “I Know Some Cowboys”. That’s not going to hurt my feelings. Go Jenny!
HEALTH NOTES
Good news here. A new study found that the number of people dying from heart attacks has dropped nearly 90% over the last 50 years. But…researchers are warning that other heart conditions are on the rise.
Another study finds that instant coffee is tied to an almost sevenfold higher risk of vision problems.
Researchers say that your ear wax may hold surprising hints of early Parkinson’s.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
I do agree.
WAFFLE HOUSE
The TSA confirmed yesterday that a Waffle House ID will not suffice as personal identification for travel. Some “scattered and smothered” yokel posted a vide saying it would, and it got a ton of views and some believing it was true. Pretty sure none of those folks are Mensa members.
Ya gotta wonder how many TSA agents buckled over laughing when those were presented.
FUNNY MOVIES
Those folks at IMDd listed the “Funniest Movies Of All Time”. According to them. Here’s the Top 5.
5…National Lampoons Vacation
4…The Blues Brothers
3…Blazing Saddles
2…Caddyshack
1…National Lampoon’s Animal House
Pretty good list. Are any of your favorites on the list?
SENSE OF HUMOR
You may have read that Lee Ann Rimes lost her teeth while singing at a concert recently. She handled it with a mix of horror and humor.
The night after it happened Lee Ann warned her concert crowd that evening, “I hope my teeth stay in tonight. We shall see. The front row, get ready for something to fly out. If you catch them, please return them.”
I like that response. I learned years ago that she had a sense of humor, and that she was VERY competitive. I had her as my radio guest one morning in Cincinnati, and at one point, she played “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” with my producer at the time. He knocked her head off, and the management folks who were with her wanted her to leave for her next appointment. She refused to go until after 6 or 7 bouts, she finally managed to win.
I’ve liked her ever since.
TODAY’S HEADLINE
From those funny folks at the Babylon Bee, who are masterful at writing fake headlines. Like this one.
New Version Of The ‘Operation’ Game Just Has Players Use Essential Oils Instead Of Performing A Medical Procedure.
TODAY
I’m looking forward to writing with and seeing. Gerald Smith today, who is finally feeling well enough to rhyme again after having a battle or two with his health. Maybe we can write something as fun as the song he wrote that George Jones recorded, “The Lone Ranger”.
Have a great Thursday
Comments
Post a Comment