BILL BLOG
Monday, September 7, 2026
And a good Monday morning from Nashville…good to be back home on Labor Day!
The high today in Nashville will be 91. That will feel comfortable after a week’s worth of 100-degree heat.
THE WEEKEND
Friday morning, our “Evening in the Round” trio made our way from cool Ruidoso, New Mexico, to H O T Midland, Texas.
I’m still calling it New Mexico, even though the President now wants to rename it something else.
It was 105 degrees when Linda Davis, Lang Scott, and I looked out and saw the state bird of that part of Texas.
Our route took us right through Roswell, the town that keeps reminding us that the UFO’s are out there.
This was the second time that Linda Davis, Lang Scott, and I have played this beautiful theater right smack dab in the middle of oil country.
This time we played on the big stage.
But, it was different, as we played on a stage that they put on the big stage, and they put the audience ON the stage with us, which made for a living room environment, our favorite kind of thing.
And that made the evening so much fun. The crowd was just so warm to us, and we had one surprise when Linda asked someone to come out of the audience to sing Reba’s part in “Does He Love You”, the duet Linda sang with Reba that won a Grammy Award. Linda announced on stage that she could hear this one young lady singing along with us on another song, and that’s how she got invited to sing with Linda.
Get this. Turns out, this guest used to sing with Lang at a country music show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when both of them were young!
It was a complete surprise, as Lang did not recognize her until she told Lang on stage who she was. THAT was some kind of wonderful off-script moment. You just can’t plan that kind of stuff. And then she and Linda sang the heck out of “Does He Love You.” A show-stopper.
We could not have had a better time in Midland, Texas. Thank you to Stephanie and her entire staff for making us feel at home in Midland, Texas.
SATURDAY
We drove 8 hours or so across Texas. It’s true what the songs says, “There’s miles and miles of Texas.” We took our time and stopped at a great cheesesteak place in Eastland, Texas, named “Texadelphia.” Philly cheesesteaks with a Texas twist. Delicious.
And I did not miss what the bathroom doors said. Here’s their women’s bathroom door.
And here’s the men’s bathroom door.
After about 650 mile of driving or so, we bedded down in Benton, Arkansas
SUNDAY
We finished the trip home to Nashville, maybe five and a half hours. Good to get home, but boy did I make a lot of great memories with these two over the weekend. Our next two road trips will be to North Carolina, including this one.
AMAZING CHART NEWS
Well, this is a first. Check out this bluegrass chart.
I have 3 songs on this chart in the Top 12! That’s never happened before. “Teardrops In The Ocean” by the bluegrass band Grasstime is #10.
The Dailey & Vincent song, “Moon Shines on the Still,” sits at #11.
And entering the chart for the first time is Kristy Cox’s brand new single, “No Regrets.”
SONG OF THE DAY
So with that, I’m going to make the #10 song, “Teardrops in the Ocean,” that I wrote with Adam Wheeler and Belinda Smith, recorded by “Grasstime, my song for today.
HEALTH NOTES
Researchers have reported in a study that high coffee consumption may be associated with lower bone mineral density in older, postmenopausal women.
COVID-19: The FDA has approved 4 updated vaccines targeting the XFG variant of COVID.
Mabel Dunbar, same last name as my Mother, who lives in Georgia, just celebrated her 112th birthday. She credits her long life to “Never arguing with anyone,” adding, “I listen, and do what I like.”
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
And now you know.
GAS
Experts say the average gas price over Labor Day Weekend is $4.13 a gallon. Wow. That’s the average! No wonder the “Dipstick” Song I wrote got such a LOUD response at the concert I played in Midland this past Friday night.
SPEAKING OF DRIVING
Only 18% of Americans know how to drive a stick shift. And that number is even lower among younger drivers. That just seems impossible for those of us who grew up driving with a stick shift. Three on the column for me, as I learned to drive my Dad’s Ford truck as a kid. I took my driver’s license test in a stick shift, and learned to parallel park with a stick. That’s gone.
Only 0.6 of all vehicles made in the US last year were stick-shift models. Gone like landlines and the Yellow Pages.
DOLLY TRIBUTES
It was heartwarming to see multiple colleges honor Dolly Parton over the weekend at football games. The Tennessee Volunteer band not only spelled out her name but also played “9-5,” and at one point, the entire stadium was singing “I Will Always Love You.” Goosebumps. Well over 100,000 singing along.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
From Oscar Wilde:
“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
TODAY
I have the day to reset and get ready for another road trip later this week.
Thursday night, my Gulf Shores buddy Brent Burns and I will be playing this show in Gulf Shores.
And then Friday afternoon, we play the Biloxi Box Set Music Festival for a bunch of Parrothead fans in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Have a great Monday!
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