BILL BLOG
Monday, July 13, 2026
Monday morning, and I’m back in Nashville, with another road trip this morning. More on that at the end of the Blog today.
85 degrees high with light rain in Nashville today. Meanwhile, back in my home state of Missouri, 6 to 12 inches of rain fell in southeast Missouri in what the Governor of the Show Me State calls a ‘1-in-a-1,000-year flooding event’
THE WEEKEND
Friday night, I was back at Great American Ballpark to watch the Reds play the Cubs. And after watching the Reds lose the night before, it was fun watching them beat the Cubbies 4-0.
And I was enjoying the game with great company, Kevin Stone and his wife Lisa, and their three kids, all of them big baseball fans.
Lisa Shaffer Stone was the first girl in our “Hits & Grins” trio with Steve Dean and me.
And to this day, she’s still one of my favorite country-singer-songwriters, though she retired from the business and is now raising her kids along with her husband, Kevin, on their 200-acre farm in northern Kentucky. It was so much fun catching up with them and enjoying a ballgame together, AND catching a great fireworks show after the victory on Friday night.
KATHY’S BOOK SIGNING
Saturday was my wife’s book signing in Cincinnati.
And what a great turnout she had.
A lot of family and friends showed up to either buy her book “Subtle Frequency,” or they brought their pre-purchased book to have Kathy sign it for them. And we met some new friends who are avid book readers, and bought a copy to be their summer read.
Our thanks to Joseph-Beth Booksellers for having us. What a beautiful bookstore it is! And thank to all who came out and bought a copy.
And don't forget, her book is available worldwide wherever you like to buy your books.
CELEBRATING
My wife and I are celebrating that our daughter Heather and her pilot-husband, Casey, are back in the States after being stationed in Germany for three and a half years in the Army.
While we were in the bookstore, we got a text from them telling us they had landed in Detroit. And then shortly after we got home came the text we had been looking for, that they were safe and sound in Phoenix.
Soon, they’ll be in their new house in Yuma, Arizona, for their next tour of duty in the Army, and needless to say, we can’t wait to make a trip there soon to see them.
THE BLUEBIRD CAFÉ
I’ll be back at the Bluebird Café on August 5, hosting the feature round at 9 pm. Joining me in the circle will be an amazing group of writers and singers. Brady Seals, Wil Nance, and Curb Recording artist Mo Pitney. This should be a heck of a musical evening. Remember, every show at the Bluebird sells out instantly. Tickets to the show go on sale one week prior, and I’ll be posting that reminder as we get closer to August 5.
SONG OF THE DAY
Since I was talking about Lisa Shaffer earlier in today’s Blog, here’s a song that she and I wrote titled “Corn” that Darin and Brooke Aldridge recorded. Lisa pitched them this song before I knew Darin and Brooke. And since they recorded that song, they’ve recorded 8 or 9 others I’ve helped write. So thank you, Lisa, for introducing them to me!
HEALTH NOTES
Humanoid robots pulled off a medical first when they successfully removed gallbladders from pigs at UC San Diego.
An urgent warning has been issued as a brain-swelling disease surges in Southern California neighborhoods.
The first two cases of measles here in Tennessee have been reported.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
Got that?
RUNNING OF THE BULLS
Happens every year in Spain.
This year, one runner was gored in the face, and several others were injured. I’m not sure which is crazier. The folks who thought of the idea, or the hundreds who sign up to try to run from a herd of bulls.
I can’t imagine participating. Now, if they ever have a “Running of the Gerbils,” maybe.
ART
Justin Gignac is a “trash” artist. Uh huh. He collected trash from the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding. He then put things like cigarette butts, paper cups, and plastic straws into airtight plastic cubes and sold them. And he sold ALL of them.
I started to make fun of the stupid things people buy, but remembered I still have a Pet Rock somewhere, so I won’t.
DQ CLOSINGS
More and more Dairy Queens are closing. 46 nationwide last week alone. Kind of sad. I grew up with DQ in my little hometown of Montgomery City, Missouri. That DQ store was closed years ago.
I hate that it’s getting darned near impossible to find a Dilly Bar.
And I have a funny Dilly Bar memory. I was in Carthage, Texas, with my friends Lang Scott and Linda Davis to do a show there at the beautiful Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, which Linda was inducted into several years ago.
Lang and I were judges in a talent contest. Before the first contestant got up on stage to sing, one of the organizers dropped by the judges’ table and asked, “Is there anything I can get for you?” I jokingly said, “Yeah, a Dilly Bar.” Everyone laughed, but 20 minutes later, the guy showed up with Dilly Bars for the entire panel.
SPEAKING OF EATING
A Cheeseburger basket is an American staple. Cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke. The price for a basket varies, depending on where you might live.
A cheeseburger basket in Austin, Texas, costs 12.94 cents. But if you order one in Anchorage, Alaska, it will set you back a whopping $28.28.
So if I lived in Anchorage, I might ask DoorDash in Austin to deliver one for me.
THRILLER
The movie Michael is the first biopic ever to make over a billion dollars at the box office. The movie about Michael Jackson is still selling tickets. I can understand why. It’s a terrific movie. You can watch it multiple times, because often you feel like you’re sitting in a concert seat to watch Michael do his thing. Two big “thumbs up” from me.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
From Dolly Parton:
“I’m not offended by blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb…and I also know I’m not blonde."
TODAY
I’m on the road for Freedom Sings USA to Paris, Kentucky, to write with 103-year-old World War II veteran Albert Wess, who fought with George Patton and was in the “Battle of the Bulge.” It should be a moving, and interesting story to write into a song for sure.
Have a great Monday.
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