BILL BLOG

Monday November 24, 2025

 

Monday morning. Start heating the rolls. It’s Thanksgiving week!

 

We’ve got some dense fog this morning in Nashville with rain on the way. Today’s high is 66, but on Thanksgiving? Cooler. A high of just 47, and Thanksgiving night it will dip below freezing to 26!

 

THE WEEKEND

I got out and heard a little Irish music on Saturday night.

 

That’s my friend and co-writer in the middle of the stage, Sean McNamara, with his band Nosey Flynn. Sean is the owner of McNamara’s Irish Pub and Restaurant which is a great place to go for Irish food, music, and one of these.

 

I love Irish music, and the big guy on the left in the picture of the band is a 3-time Irish champion for best fiddle player. The band is just awesome and fun to listen to. I’m glad I went and got into the Irish spirit.

 

MORE TELLURIDE

Well, this is fun. This is my friend Caroline Owens promoting her current hit single “Telluride” that I co-wrote with Andrea Pearson, WHILE driving a new Kia Telluride. Check out this VIDEO. I see an endorsement coming. I told Caroline teasingly that if KIA doesn’t brand with her, then we’ll write a new song titled “Corvette”.

 

RESCHEDULED SHOW

The “Hits & Grins” show that was to have happened this past Friday night at Starstruck Farms, Reba’s old farm in Lebanon, Tennessee, was indeed rescheduled.

 

The new date will be Saturday evening, January 24. It’s dinner and a show inside the “Grand Ole Barn”, which is an old horse barn Reba had on her property that was turned into an entertainment venue. In fact, some of the old stables were converted into rooms that you can VRBO if you’d like.

 

Come join us if you can.

 

BLUEBIRD CAFÉ

Stay tuned. It looks like I’ll be adding a Bluebird Café date to my calendar, with some friends to be announced in the first quarter of 2027. Can’t wait to play the most iconic songwriter venue in the country once again.

 

LAST NIGHT

My talented friend Jenny Tolman was eliminated from the competition on “The Road” TV show. But, she sang the fire out of a song the two of us wrote with Dave Brainard, “Married in a Honkytonk” on the CBS talent show. In fact, I don’t think she could have sung it any better. I’m happy for Jenny, who got a LOT of national exposure by being on that show starring Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, and Gretchen Wilson.

 Thank you, Jenny, for singing two of our songs on CBS during your run!

 

 

SONG OF THE DAY

With that, of course, the “Song of the Day” should be the one Jenny sang last night, “Married in a Honkytonk”.

 

HEALTH NOTES

Merck has developed a new pill named Enlicitide, which is expected to reduce cholesterol levels by as much as 60%, according to a new study.

 

Some studies show that regularly eating red and processed meat may increase your risk of pancreatic cancer.  

 

Speaking of cancer. A Gallup survey reveals that 1 in 10 Americans have had cancer.

 

HERE’S YOUR SIGN

 

I’m sure they will be giving me a “thank you” phone call soon.

 

GETTING HOME THANKSGIVING

It could be an adventure. The FAA says there are already 360,000 flights scheduled, the most in 15 years. Another 73 million Americans will be driving. And then there’s then there’s these two guys who will be taking a train, plane, AND automobile to eventually get to the Thanksgiving dinner table.

 

EXPENSIVE TO DRIVE

And get this, the average price for a new vehicle in October was $49,105. Yikes. I think my Dad bought a house for less than that back in the day. Might want to hitch up a buggy to horses to get to Granny’s this Thanksgiving Day.

 

BITCOIN

I read this morning that it’s been a bad month for Bitcoin. Am I the only one who doesn’t really understand Bitcoin? Heck, I thought a Bitcoin was a penny, and now they’re gone. No wonder they say it’s having a bad month!

 

SMART

Jay Leno says that since he dropped all political jokes from his act that ticket sales are up. And he says, “Nobody wants to be lectured”.

 

I discussed this with a funny friend of mine several years ago, reminding him that making political jokes during his show risked alienating a large part of his audience. Not long after, he stopped doing that.

 

Being on the radio for years, I learned that if you are going to do a political joke about the Democrats, make sure you’re next joke is about the Republicans.

 

I do agree with Jay. “Nobody wants to be lectured”. 

 

 

MOSES

 

HOME VALUES

The Realtor folks just listed the top 10 cities that have gained the most value since COVID. 

 

#1 is Knoxville, Tennessee. They’ve seen an 86% jump in value…and in black bear sightings. Knoxville is followed by Fayetteville, Arkansas, Charleston, Scranton, PA, Syracuse, Portland, Maine, Rochester, New York, New Haven, Connecticut, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

 

QUOTE

From Dolly Parton:

“I’m not offended by blond jokes because I know I’m not dumb…and I also know I’m not blonde”.

 

TODAY

I’ll be writing with Kevin Williamson again, the Dad in the family bluegrass band, “Williamson Branch”—Kevin, and a BUNCH of talented girls. He’s surrounded by them.

 

We’ll see if we can’t write something that the family might like.

 

Have great Monday!