BILL BLOG
Friday, January 23, 2026
It’s Friday, and we are bracing for what this weekend brings.
The high in Nashville today will be 38, then it will drop to 21 tomorrow when the snow arrives, and on Monday, the high will be just 18. I’m trying hard not to complain too much as my sister Rita lives in Minnesota and tells me it’s 50 below!
But, in Minnesota, they just deal with the snow and go ice fishing, as they did in Wisconsin when I lived there. Different story here in the south, we panic!
The worry here is being without electricity for no telling how long, with the possibility of an ice storm. But I’ve never seen the forecasters struggle so hard to predict what is coming. This is the best forecast guess I’ve seen so far.
I’ll let you know what happened here come Monday on this Blog, IF we have power and the internet.
YESTERDAY
What a fun song I wrote with Kevin Williamson of the Williamson Branch family band.
This is a wholesome family band that plays bluegrass, mixed with some gospel. And in the past, Kevin and I have written songs that fit what the family does, including a song titled “I Am Thankful” that he told me they performed on a TV Gospel show in Texas a few weeks ago. Good news, and he played me a bit of the song on his recorder, and it sounds great! Hopefully, I’ll be able to post a link so you can watch them perform this on that show come June or July.
But yesterday, Kevin asked if I would tackle a funny idea he had. That was a surprise. And we wound up writing a song called “Margarita Told Me,” which is all about a guy who did some things he would NEVER consider doing, BUT Margarita told him he could…and so he did, with funny bad results. We put the song in a beachy groove, and it turned out great. Very, very fun. I’m glad he saved his funny for me.
LAST NIGHT
Two of my young and talented co-writers played a show last night at a great Irish Pub here in town named McNamara’s.
Alex Miller and Sonny French put on a heck of an entertaining show. Alex, the former American Idol star, is in his early 20’, and Sonny French with the French Family Band is still not of drinking age. Sonny is on the right in this picture.
The two of them will be on a country music cruise next week, and Sonny mentioned he was looking forward to sailing on international waters, as there is no age restriction on alcohol. So there’s that.
But they are both great guitar players and singers, and together they have great on-stage chemistry. They mixed some old country standards with some swing songs, classic songs, and instrumentals. Sonny sang a song the two of us wrote with Aussie Angus Gill titled “Here Comes The SunAgain” that will be on the new French Family Band album coming out soon.
And Alex tore up “Don’t Let The Barn Door Hit You” that I wrote with Paul Bogart and Dan Wilson that was is very first single on Billy Blue Records.
Pretty amazing to see talent that young and THAT good. I was highly entertained last night.
SONG OF THE DAY
Today, I thought I’d share “Face For Radio” which I wrote about my life for many years, being on the airwaves all over the country. The song is almost 100% true and is a crowd favorite when I play it out. I have not recorded it yet, but it was filmed when I performed it on the Jim Parker Songwriter Show in Huntsville a few years ago.
SPEAKING OF JIM PARKER
I’ll be back on the Jim Parker Songwriter show come this March 6, a Friday
night at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville with “Hits & Grins” featuring
myself with my musical friends Victoria Venier, and Steve Dean. Showtime is
6:30 that evening.
HEALTH NOTES
While cancer deaths have declined since 1990 for young people, cases of death from colorectal cancer for that age group have increased, concerning doctors. Scientists are saying that 16% of early-onset colorectal cancer cases are due to a genetic or inherited condition that increases a person’s risk.
A new study is suggesting that the Shingles vaccine not only helps prevent that disease, it also slows down aging.
The top CDC vaccine adviser is questioning the need for a polio shot.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Yep, that usually seems to be the case. Remember what I said about the song I wrote at the top of this blog? “Margarita Told Me I Could”? I think Margarita has convinced a few folks that they should get up and sing karaoke. Pretty sure.
OLD PAINTING
The world’s oldest cave painting has been discovered in a cave on the island of Sulawesi, just off the Australia and Indonesia coastlines. They say it’s 15,000 years older than what was considered the oldest cave painting before this was discovered.
The detail is incredible, isn’t it?!
Actually, it looks more like this.
But, I like the first painting better.
LOT OF GUITARS
A lot of musicians here in Music City own a LOT of guitars. Vince Gill is one. At one point, and maybe even now, his collection is over 150 guitars.
Years ago, Vince had a lot of his guitars stored in a facility near the Cumberland River. A lot of musicians and bands used that facility. And then a flood hit the place, and Vince lost almost all of those guitars. Vintage, valuable guitars that had special significance to him.
His wife, Amy Grant, helped him get over it by telling him, “You only need one to make a living”.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
From comedian Bill Murray:
“Whatever you do, give 100%. Unless you're giving blood.”
TODAY
I have the day off, so I’m going to go hear a little bluegrass music at a big bluegrass convention that’s going on in town, weather permitting. A lot of this will be going on.
And then all eyes will be on the weather this weekend. Hoping for the best.
This weekend has the NFL playoffs, and we will find out which two teams will go to the Super Bowl. I’ll be watching, if we have power!!
Have a great weekend!
Comments
Post a Comment