BILL BLOG
Monday, March 23, 2026
Monday morning, start of a new week. It was 87 for the high yesterday, and just 58 for the high today in Nashville. My wife is convinced that Winter is completely gone, as she hung out two hummingbird feeders over the weekend. I think she’s right.
It was a weekend full of watching March Madness get down to the Sweet 16 teams, and there were some really exciting games. St. John’s defeated Kansas in a thriller, and Iowa took down Florida, the top seed in the tournament. Yep, I did spend some time watching hoops.
However, it was a VERY busy weekend of music and music news as well.
THE WEEKEND
Mine started Friday morning out at “White Acres”. As in the songwriter Brian White.
And yes, my co-writer, Andrea Pearson, walked away with farm-fresh eggs!
Great way to wrap up writing a really cool tune together. Brian has 10 acres with a dog, a cat, chickens, AND a couple of mini-horses.
And, we got a new song to go with the eggs and horses.
AND…WE GOT A SHOW!
Before we left our writing session, Andrea got Brian to agree to do a songwriter show with us at the Listening Room in Nashville, Saturday morning, May 2. This is a morning brunch show at 10:30. The Listening Room is a great songwriter venue, and they serve up great food as well. It’s a fun way to start the day touring Nashville.
SATURDAY
My friend Alex Miller was invited at the last second to play at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for the Songwriter Series, so I drove downtown to support him. It was his first time, and he was excited, as one should be. I remember being very nervous the first time I had that opportunity. It was a great moment for my young friend, and he just slayed the audience seated in the beautiful Ford Theater.
He sang several songs, including his first hit “Don’t Let The Barn Door Hit You,” which I co-wrote with my friends Paul Bogart and Dan Wilson. The Kentucky kid did so great, and I’m sure Alex will be invited back again. Very entertaining.
SATURDAY NIGHT
I sat in with my friend Lauren Mascitti at the Station Inn, where her GREAT band was. Lauren plays this great venue once every couple of months. And Saturday night, the place was PACKED, cheering for my friend.
Rightfully so. Once you hear this girl SING, you want to hear her sing more. She invited me and Janelle Arthur, a former American Idol star like Lauren, to be her guests Saturday night. In fact, Janelle was in the Top 5 the year she competed.
I got up and sang the Ray Stevens cut I had, “Retired,” that I wrote with Brent Burns. Most of the time, I play solo, just me and my guitar. To get to sing it with all of these great musicians behind me, who were cracking up at some of the lyrics, was a treat for sure. Check out this VIDEO of that moment Saturday night.
And Lauren also got our mutual friend Janelle Arthur up to sing a song that she wrote and recorded with Dolly Parton, “Hand Me Downs”. You can imagine how the audience loved hearing Janelle and Lauren sing that song as a duet.
Just a great night of music with friends at the Station Inn.
GREAT MUSIC NEWS
I think this is the first for any song I’ve been a part of. Caroline Owens, who
recorded the song “Telluride” that I wrote with Andrea Pearson, went to number
1 on the Bluegrass Today Grassicana Chart three or four weeks ago. Then, like
all songs, it started slipping down the charts. Last week it was #7.
Well, on Friday, the song went all the way back to #1!
Yep, a first for sure. So happy to be part of this Tellu-Ride.
Here’s a little CLIP showing you how excited Caroline is after seeing the song go back to the top spot.
ONE MORE BLUEGRASS SONG
Lori King just released the song “Tennessee Breeze” last week, which I wrote with Adam Pope. Bluegrass Today wrote THIS about our song. Check it out, and you can listen to the song when you check out the article, as they put a link to our tune in that article. Thanks for recording our song, Lori!
I’M ON YOU TUBE
My sister Rita lives up in Minnesota, where “snow” is a thing. Friday evening, she sent me this.
Yep, I’m on the danged YouTube. I told her it’s proof of how desperate YouTube is for content.
SONG OF THE DAY
I'm choosing the song "Details" today from artist Greg Dumas, a song I wrote with two great bluegrass songwriters Tim Stafford and Becky Buller. The song was born from an idea that Tim had the day the three of us wrote this online, and it was Tim who got the song to Greg. So thank you Tim!
A MUSIC LOSS
We lost one of the great bluegrass singers and writers, Ronnie Bowman, over the weekend in a motorcycle accident. Ronnie wrote some huge hits in his career as well, like “Nobody To Blame” by Chris Stapleton, which Ronnie co-wrote with Chris.
The music community also knew him as one of the nicest folks ever. I witnessed that when I had the pleasure of playing a show with Ronnie in Pensacola, alongside the great Larry Cordle. Ronnie is on the left as you look at this picture.
It was my first and only time being around him, and I hate that, as he was as advertised. Fun, nice, and SO talented. He will be immensely missed by so many. Ronnie was just 64. Prayers for his wife, family, and his long list of friends.
HEALTH NOTES
A major scientific review claims that weed is “rarely justified” to treat anxiety or depression.
A study finds that wine drinkers show lower heart risk than other alcohol consumers.
Healthgrades, a platform for finding doctors, health care providers, and hospitals, has named the 5 safest hospital states for 2026. They picked those who excel at preventing serious, avoidable complications during hospital stays based on 13 patient safety indicators. Those top 5 states are Florida, Texas, Ohio, California, and Pennsylvania.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
I think they REALLY want you to stop.
ROBOT SERVERS
McDonald’s is testing robot servers in China.
Yep. You can get your Big Mac wheeled to you by that guy. Pretty cool. My daughter Heather and son-in-law Casey took my wife Kathy and me to a restaurant in Frankfurt, Germany, when we were there a couple of years ago, and one of those rolled right up to our table with our food. Kind of cool
MORE AI STUFF
Therapists are concerned that their jobs are being replaced by artificial intelligence. Many already use AI chatbots to check on their health and prescribe remedies, and now therapists claim more folks are having chats with their ChatGPT rather than a real therapist.
Hard to resist not going that way because talking to ChatGPT allows you to lie down on your own couch.
SPRING BREAK
In Panama City, police have already issued over 300 citations to kids down there to party. Some arrests have been for “over-the-top twerking.” Uh huh. For real.
This was the view from my condo in Panama City, a year ago, right before Spring Break that year.
I just want you to know that the beach was “twerk” free when I was there. Me? I never twerk as I can’t afford the bill from the chiropractor.
SPEAKING OF COPS
Nashville now has a “Have Coffee With A Cop” program inviting residents to gather with cops at coffee shops at appointed places and times. Good idea. And I think we should be buying.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
From Will Rogers:
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
TODAY
I’m back in the writing room today with my Italian buddy Bill DiLuigi.
Have a great Monday!
Comments
Post a Comment