BILL BLOG
Monday August 11, 2025
Hello Monday morning. 92 for the high here today in Nashville. Meanwhile, the Midwest is flooded, especially up in Milwaukee, where my wife and I lived and worked for six years. Some of the pictures in and around the State Fair Grounds are unreal. They’ve had so much water in that area that they’ve had to shut down the Fair, and the Brewers played a game with no crowd because roads to the baseball stadium were closed.
THE WEEKEND
We took a little “up and back” trip to the town of Lawrenceburg, Indiana (near Cincinnati) to celebrate a big anniversary for our two longtime friends Rusty & Denise Huff.
We lived in the same neighborhood when I first moved to Cincinnati, and I was on the radio there. We’ve stayed in touch through the years, and it was great seeing them again, and so many of their friends and family who showed up to help them celebrate.
My wife and I booked a room with a river view of the Ohio River flowing by.
And I found time to find a Skyline Chili Parlor!
It’s always fun to go back to Cincinnati, and we certainly enjoyed our little trip back there this weekend.
SHOWS THIS WEEK
I’ve two shows this week.
Tuesday night, August 12, I’m in a songwriter show at the Listening Room Café at 6 pm.
And then this Friday and Saturday, I’ll be playing the Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival at the Gatlinburg Inn with this group of writers and friends that you see in the picture, and with others as well.
I’ll play 3 different times at the festival this year. For more details, just click the TOUR tab on my website.
SONG OF THE DAY
I’m excited about this song, “Telluride,” as it’s the brand-new single release from Caroline Owens on Billy Blue Records. I wrote this with my talented friend Andrea Pearson, who is up in Canada celebrating this release today at her old home place near Vancouver.
I visited Telluride for the first and only time a couple of years ago when I had a day off from a writing retreat with Freedoms Sings USA, when we were in Montrose, the western part of Colorado. Beautiful. The mountain surrounds the picturesque town. I remember riding the chair lift to the top of the mountain with the other songwriter’s trip, and a gentleman climbed into the tram-car at the last second to ride with us. Turned out the be the Father of country star Dierk’s Bentley, who owns a home in Telluride.
Before I got home, I wrote the word “Telluride” down in my “song-idea” book, and it wasn’t long after I wrote the song with Andrea. A few days after that, Caroline was in my publisher’s building, and we started talking, and I found out she was looking for an up-tempo song for her sophomore album. So I played her the song off my phone that Andrea and I had written, and after hearing only the first verse and first chorus, she lit up and asked for a copy. And then shortly after that, she was in the recording studio with this song, where Jerry Salley and Darin Aldridge produced the heck out of it.
Over the weekend, the publication Bluegrass Today wrote a very nice article about the song. You can read the article, and you can scroll down to get an early listen to our song that will be available everywhere in September at this LINK.
THE RADIO SHOW
Last Friday, Caroline was a guest on the internet radio station Banjo Radio with host Kyle Cantrell, with whom I used to work at WMS Radio. Kyle was the first person to play our new song “Telluride”. Check out Caroline’s big smile in this VIDEO CLIP from that show.
HEALTH NOTES
According to health experts, three out of every four Americans now have chronic health conditions.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration directed federal agencies to delete employee COVID vaccination records.
Here’s an eye-opener for you. A study suggests that using Ozempic not only helps shed a few pounds, but it also appears to reverse the effects of aging. Those on the drug in this study, on average, rolled off 3 years.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Thanks for clearing that up.
SPEAKING OF FAT
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a donut, bacon, and cheese sandwich!
2 glazed donuts
4 slices of bacon
4 slices of cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 eggs fried (OPTIONAL)
My reasoning for choosing to eat this is that if I just leave out the “optional” fried eggs, it can’t be so bad for my health…right?
GIRL’S GOT GAME
How popular is WNBA basketball player Caitlyn Clark? Well, her rookie basketball card just sold at auction for $317,000! The Indiana Fever star is filling up the arena, and that’s a great thing for all of women’s basketball.
My rookie baseball card is not worth nearly that much…so make a bid y’all.
TOP COUNTRY SONGS
American Songwriter Magazine just listed what they consider to be the Top 5 Country Songs of All Time. Their number one selection might surprise you, as it did me. That’s the thing about lists. If you don’t agree with it, someone else is getting ready to make a completely different list. With that said, here’s their Top 5.
5…Ode To Billy Joe by Bobby Gentry.
4…Pancho and Lefty written by Townes Van Zandt. (Here’s the "live" SONGWRITER VERSION of that great song.)
3…He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones. (Many consider this one to be the best all time…and George didn’t want to record it.)
2…The Devil Went Down To Georgia by the late Charlie Daniels. (Another surprise for me)
1…A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash…written by the great Shel Silverstein. (Surprised?)
WINE EXPERTS
Some people claim that boxed wines can be better and more affordable than bottled wine. (Plus…you don’t have to sniff a cork)
I’m one of those who could not tell you the difference between an expensive wine and a cheap wine. So, I don’t appreciate those who look down their noses at me when I drink Mogen David.
AOL
AOL says it’s shutting down its dial-up internet service. I had no idea you could still get it. I do kind of miss hearing, “you’ve got mail”. But I don’t miss the sound dial-up service makes when you’re logging in. Not everything old is good.
TODAY’S HEADLINE
Here’s another one from the funny folks at Babylon Bee.
Pro Tip: Treat Your Depression By Going For A Run. The Misery Of Running Will Distract You From Your Depression.
TODAY
A busy Monday, as I have a rare double-header of writing.
This morning I’m with one of my “Hits & Grins” partners, Victoria Venier, to work on a song she plans on singing this weekend at the Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival.
Then this afternoon I’m with two of my favorites, Thomm Jutz, and Caroline Owens.
Have a great Monday!
Comments
Post a Comment