BILL BLOG
Friday August 1, 2025
Friday morning and it’s the first weekend of August. With that, I’ve got a guitar and bag packed for a. road trip this morning to Shiloh, Illinois.
A little cooler in Nashville today with a high of 82. And even nicer in Shiloh where the high will be 78 degrees.
YESTERDAY
I wrote with my Italian buddy Lauren Mascitti yesterday. The morning got off to a funny start when Lauren texted that she was running late. I was sitting with my publisher, Joe Dan Cornett, who laughingly told me to text Lauren and tell her that it was “unacceptable” and he would have to downsize our writing room. Then he took this picture, and we sent it to Lauren.
And this was Lauren’s funny response.
I was running a few minutes late to my write with Bill Whyte this morning, so I texted him to let him know. He said Joe Dan said that was inexcusable, and he was going to downgrade our writing room. I said, tell Joe Dan we're so good, we can write a hit in a maintenance closet… This is the pic I got from Joe Dan.
A little cramped, but we wrote a hit nonetheless! Joke’s on you, Joe Dan.
Fun at the old publishing company. And we did write a good song, but it was in a bigger room.
HALL OF FAME
I got this nice promotional poster from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum yesterday. My buddy Steve Dean and I will be playing in the Ford Theater located in the Hall for the 4th time, I think. Beautiful theater. The show is free with your museum tickets.
The show lasts 45 minutes, and we have a question-and-answer session in the middle of our show. The tourists who are there from all over the world always ask some interesting questions. It’s always a pleasure to get to play inside the Hall of Fame.
SONG OF THE DAY
My musical friend Mark Houser passed away yesterday. He fought cancer with a brave heart and attitude. Such a good man, and I’m saddened this morning by the news that came in yesterday evening.
Mark and his girlfriend Tena run Americanaville in Livingston, Tennessee. I’ve had the pleasure of playing there a few times. Getting to know him that way led us to write a couple of songs together. The “Song of the Day” is one we wrote the last time we were together, titled “Where You Choose To Go,” which seems more than fitting for today.
Mark wanted to make one more album…a gospel-bluegrass album. And so he did. Our song went on this project titled “Gospel Train,” and it includes performances from other friends like Linda Davis and Lang Scott, and Darin and Brooke Aldridge.
Mark had the idea for our song when he walked into our writing room that day. He was already battling cancer when he shared the idea for the song with me.
I’ll never be able to express fully how much I hate cancer. RIP, my friend.
HEALTH NOTES
According to scientists at Queen Mary University in London, coffee not only helps a drinker stay more alert and awake, it also has anti-ageing properties.
President Trump says he is giving drugmakers 60 days to lower their prescription drug prices, and he wants prices to be the same as abroad. Prescription drug prices at as much as ten times higher here in the U.S.
Best fruit for your gut health? According to those in the know…that would be raspberries.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
I can only guess that the sign is located in New Yawk.
APPLE
The company says they have now shipped 3 BILLION iPhones globally since they were first made. Gosh, think of all of those great “selfies” we would have lost had the iPhone not been invented!
My friend Lauren Mascitti showed off one of those Apple i-Tags that help you find what you’ve lost. And yes, you can put one on your car keys.
Wonder if you can put one on reading glasses?
HERE YA GO
They are making a Spinal Tap movie sequel. For some reason, I’ve never watched the original. But I might be interested in watching the sequel because Garth Brooks and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, are going to sing a song titled “Big Bottom” in this movie. Uh huh.
MEANWHILE
In a poll, 61% of white-collar workers believe they will lose their jobs to AI within three years. Wow. Time for some to start researching jobs not likely to be lost to AI.
FUNNY
This is from the late comedienne Joan Rivers, who once said, “The first time I see a jogger smiling, I’ll consider it.” Ain’t that the truth.
A BOLT OUT OF THE SKY
We just broke a record for the longest lightning bolt a couple of nights ago. This bolt was seen from Kansas City all the way into Texas. That’s a really long bolt of lightning. Really long.
Speaking of “bolts”. We saw those on the helmets of the San Diego Chargers as they played the Detroit Lions last night in the annual Hall of Fame football game in Ohio. Football is almost here! A lot of husbands will soon be posting these.
TODAY’S HEADLINE
Man Has One Hand, One Foot, And Nothing Else. (Don’t ask me)
TODAY
I’ve got about a 5-hour road trip this morning to Shiloh, Illinois, with songwriters Steve Dean, Bobby Tomberlin, and Bill Di Luigi for Freedom Sings USA. Tonight, we will have a “meet and greet” with a short songwriter round and we’ll meet the veterans that we will be paired up with tomorrow morning when each of us will listen to a veteran tell their story, and then perform that song in a “live” concert Saturday night that’s free and open to the public.
This will be the third time I’ve written with a veteran from the Shiloh, Illinois area.
The first time I wrote with Air Man Ben Wocken, who served in Afghanistan. His song is “The Sands of Afghanistan”. This is a verse of his song.
As we flew in below, there were rows of fighter jets
Over a landscape I’ve not forgotten yet
The color of the world below was tan
The color of the sands of Afghanistan
Last year, I wrote with Frank Hagelstein, anArmy vet who served in Korea. His song is titled “The Smell, The Cold And The Heat”. And here’s one verse of his song.
A pink piece of paper came floating from the sky
North Korean propaganda full of lies
Brought home that souvenir
But my lasting memory
Is the smell, the cold, and the heat
It will good to see both of those veterans again.
Have a great weekend!
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