Recovering and Cancelling

BILL BLOG Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Tuesday it is! And it’s going to be sunny, with a high of 84 here in Nashville today.

NOTE: (This morning’s Blog is being posted later than normal due to a cold kicking my behind!)

YESTERDAY I spent an entire day again trying to shake a cold and horrible cough that’s lingered for well over a week, forcing me to cancel several songwriting appointments and a baseball trip, and yesterday I had to cancel my spot in this great Freedom Sings USA Retreat in Heyworth, Illinois.

Geez. But I got my old meds, which have been replaced by new meds, so I’m hopeful that will help me kick this thing. I know a lot of folks down with this, and many of them have COVID. That time of year, I suppose.

ROOFING Part of my entertainment yesterday, while I was resting, was looking out the window and watching the crew climb onto the roof of my neighbor’s home to replace the roof, which had been damaged in a windstorm last year. Our roof was replaced from that very same storm last year as well. But this was unreal. Must have been a crew of at least 8 guys up there, and they completed the entire job by sundown.

So I want to thank my neighbor for the free entertainment yesterday.

BILL CODY I also spent some time watching funeral services for my friend Bill Cody. The longtime Opry announcer, TV host, and WSM radio host was remembered in great fashion at the Grand Ole Opry House. That tells you how much Bill was revered by the country music community here…and he surely was.

Vince Gill, Suzy Boggus, and the Isaacs honored him with music. Music he dearly loved. The Isaacs’ performance of “It Is Well” left most of the auditorium in tears.

I had so wanted to be there in person to honor my friend, but this cold would not allow it, so I watched the services that were streamed online.

RIP Bill Cody.

SONG OF THE DAY

PAY OFF THE HOME Getting debt-free involves finding a way to pay off your home. Not easy for everyone. But one young couple in Michigan made it their goal, and they did it in 4 years.

They claim that cutting off their cable and shopping at Aldi is what helped them accomplish that goal. Good for them.

FUNNY From the Babylon Bee staff comes this funny-fake-headline.

“Gez Zer Hospitalized After Going More Than 5 Minutes Without Saying ‘Bro’”

DIRT BAND Sad to see that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be playing their FINAL concert in Colorado on June 18. They’ve been a band for 60 years! Unheard of. I got hooked on them back in college when some considered them to be a “jug” band. I bought their album “Uncle Charlie & A Dog Named Teddy” that included the song, “Mr. Bojangles.” I loved that song so much, I put it on the only album I ever recorded.

Gosh, thanks for the great music, guys, like this little ole masterpiece “Bojangles” that Jerry Jeff Walker wrote.

CELL PHONES AND FLYING A British Airways plane caught fire in the cabin on its way to Vegas after a cell phone exploded and started a fire, owned by one of the crew members. It landed safely, and everyone is fine.

So the prompt, “please put your phones in airplane mode,” means the crew as well…right?

SPEAKING OF MARRIAGE There’s some truth in this marriage wisdom. “Marriage is knowing your wife will ask you to take 150 photos and she’ll only like 7 of them.”

RIDING NAKED Sorry, I missed being a participant in the “Naked Bike Ride” in London this year. It’s the 20th year folks have jumped on a bike with no clothes on over there and pedaled.

Hopefully, none of them were on rental bikes.

QUOTE OF THE DAY From Margaret Smith:

“My uncle Sammy was an angry man. He had printed on his tombstone: What are you looking at?”

TODAY Another day of trying to kick this cold.

Have a great Tuesday!

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Opry Songs

BILL BLOG Monday, June 15, 2026

Another Monday is on us. And it’s going to be a pleasant Monday, with a high of just 78.

THE WEEKEND I spent the weekend battling an awful cold that just won’t let up. So bad that I cancelled a planned trip to Cincinnati to see a couple of Reds baseball games with some buddies. When I cancel a baseball trip? You can bet I’m not feeling well.

My friend Joe Dan Cornett was sitting in my seat when a bird bombed the back of his baseball cap!

I’m taking that as a sign that I was not supposed to be there.

SUN CAN’T STOP THE RAIN

It’s the little song that could. This song, recorded by Laura Leigh Jones, is back on the Bluegrass Today Chart in the #9 slot. It’s been on the chart, off the chart, up and down, and now it’s all the way back up to #9.

Grateful for that bluegrass blessing of a song.

DAILEY & VINCENT Another song, “Moon Shines on the Still,” written with Laura Leigh, jumped to #1 on yet another bluegrass chart.

Thank you, David Pugh, for playing our song so much!

At the same time, the Dailey & Vincent album “A Beautiful Life” went into the racks at Cracker Barrel stores.

That album has the song, “Moon Shines on the Still” on it.

THE FRENCH FAMILY BAND That group was on the Grand Ole Opry Saturday night, and I got a tip from a friend that they were going to sing not one, but two songs I co-wrote on the Opry. And they did!

How about that? They sang their new single, “Here Comes the Sun Again”, and “Empty House”, which I’m a writer on. Growing up listening to the Opry in Missouri, it was pretty surreal to hear songs you wrote being played on that Opry stage this past Saturday night.

SPORTS It was a big sports weekend as the Knicks won the NBA Championship for the first time since a deli was opened in the Big Apple. The Carolina Hurricanes beat Vegas for the Stanley Cup Championship. Hockey in the south…go figure.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Raleigh-Durham for a Freedom Sings USA event, and our driver, Tyrone, was all excited about his Hurricanes. So, Tyrone, congrats to you, my friend.

And then yesterday, Trump held his UFC fights out on the White House Lawn.

OTHER PRESIDENTS?

And that got me wandering, what kind of sports would other Presidents have held out on the lawn?

I’d guess baseball would be the choice for either of the Bushes.

It would certainly be basketball for Obama.

Horseback racing for Reagan, log splitting for Lincoln, and MAYBE rowing for George Washington?

YOU KNOW YOUR COUNTRY WHEN… You get upset with your friend because she scared off a snake you wanted to shoot with your shotgun.

That’s what happened between Miranda Lambert and Ella Langley as they were songwriting and saw a snake. Ella scared the snake off before Miranda could grab her shotgun. Now THAT’S country. And for the record, I’m on Miranda’s side.

QUOTE OF THE DAY From the money-wise sage Warren Buffett:

“Don’t save what is left after spending. Spend what is left after saving.”

TODAY Another day of trying to kick the longest cold I’ve ever had. Geez.

Have a great Monday!

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I'M IN CRACKER BARREL

BILL BLOG Friday, June 12, 2026

Friday morning has rolled in, bringing a June weekend with it. The high today in Nashville will be 87 with some rain showers.

YESTERDAY Another day of rest, and battling a bad cold. The good news is, I’m feeling much better. I cancelled an entire week’s worth of songwriting appointments to take time to recover. That was a really good idea, because I’m turning the corner.

DANG, I’M IN CRACKER BARREL! Pretty exciting. The new Dailey & Vincent album “Beautiful Life” will be available for purchase in all Cracker Barrel stores starting today.

And that album includes their #1 song “Moon Shines on the Still” that I wrote with Laura Leigh Jones!

On top of that, Jamie & Darrin will be visiting several Cracker Barrel stores to help promote this great album that I’m pretty danged happy to be on.

So when you stop for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, pick up a copy of the CD!

BOOK SIGNING My wife, Kathy just will have a book signing in Clarksville, Missouri next Spring. Clarksville sits on the Mississippi River, a small town with lots of charm. And it’s just a few miles up the road from where I graduated High School in Elsberry, Missouri.

Here’s what my wife posted about the event.

CLARKSVILLE, MISSOURI BOOK SIGNING! SAVE THE DATE! The lovely, local coordinator, Bev, and I settled on March 20th, the first day of spring 2027. The event will be held at THE ROAST OFFICE (a fabulous local coffee shop), 107 Howard Street, Clarksville, MO. The tagline there is "Hot Coffee and Cold Insults." LOL! Okay, this is going to be fun! One patron asked if that means we should prepare to be 'roasted.'

Looking forward to joining her back in my home area next March, selling her book.

CRAZY They (whomever they is) say that one in four adults is already being targeted by AI voice cons that mimic loved ones.

So, if you think it’s me calling you to borrow money? It might not be.

BEST SONGWRITERS? That seems to be an impossible task to me, to name the Top 100 Songwriters in America. But that’s exactly what the New York Times tried to do by consulting with 250 “experts.” Here’s their Top 5.

1…Bob Dylan 2…Paul Simon 3…Bruce Springsteen 4…Carole King 5…Billy Joel

Taylor Swift was named the 7th best, and Dolly was #8, while Willie Nelson landed at #10.

Taylor Swift was just inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York last night.

You can imagine how much some fans disagreed with their list. We all have our favorites. Roger Miller would have been on my list. And he didn’t make the Top 100. Emmy Lou Harris is at #100, and though I love Emmy Lou, she has never written that many songs.

Like I said, an impossible task trying to list the “best” songwriters.

QUOTE OF THE DAY From the always clever Will Rogers:

“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”

TODAY One more day of rest, but then tomorrow I’m on the road to Cincinnati to catch a couple of Cincinnati Reds baseball games. That means, of course, I’ll be stopping for some of this.

Then I’m going to try to turn the Reds around. And they do need help right now.

Have a great weekend.

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Song on the Chart

BILL BLOG Thursday, June 11, 2026

Here it is, Thursday morning. 93 hot degrees today in Music City.

YESTERDAY I got some meds from the Doctor to help try and kick this crud I’ve got that’s going through a lot of Nashville right now. Lots of fun. Fortunately, the meds seem to have kicked in, and I’m feeling a little more human today, after pretty much just staying in bed all day long yesterday. Thank goodness.

MORE CHART NEWS I’ve been blogging about the new song, “Here Comes the Sun Again,” recorded by the French Family Band.

I wrote it with Sonny French of the band and his Aussie friend Angus Gill. And we both got to hear Sonny sing it “live” at the Station Inn Tuesday night to a great reception.

Yesterday, Angus found that our song has landed at #2 on a small independent chart. We’ll take it!

Remember, their great new album “Huon to Hickory” will be available this Friday from wherever you buy your music. Great album if I do say so, and you can get a vinyl copy like I did if you like.

COOL GIFT FOR TRAVELERS Earbuds that can translate 164 languages in real time.

And you can get them for just $40 or so on Amazon. Those might have been helpful when I was trying to figure out what the Gelato store owner in Italy was talking about when my wife and I toured that beautiful country.

And imagine how useful these will be if you’re going to the World Cup Soccer games in NYC, with all the languages being spoken from the different countries playing.

SAY WHAT? A couple from New Hampshire is claiming that they were abducted by aliens under hypnosis. Uh huh. “You are getting very sleepy”.

My guess? A hypnotist put them under and then told them that when they woke up they would claim they were abducted every time the hypnotist snapped his fingers. Just a guess.

UNCLE HERSCHEL Don’t mess with old Uncle Herschel. Remember when Cracker Barrel tried to change its iconic logo?

The new CEO who came up with the idea lost her job. And since the company went back to this logo…

There’s been a 23% increase in business.

Leave what’s working alone. And don’t mess with the giant checkers, rocking chairs, and this stupid game.

PEACE Global Peace just released its list of the most peaceful countries in the world. Here’s the Top 5

5…Ireland

4…Slovenia

3…Switzerland

3…New Zealand

And the “most peaceful”? That would be Iceland. (Pic)

Where did the U.S. rank? #134

QUOTE OF THE DAY From the late comedian W.C. Fields:

“Start every day with a smile and get it over with.”

TODAY More rest today, nursing this cold.

Have a great Thursday.

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Quite The Album Party

BILL BLOG Wednesday, June 10, 2026

The middle of the week has arrived. It’s Wednesday, and it will be warm. 93 for the high today.

YESTERDAY Tuesday was all about the French Family Band album release party that was held at the world-famous Station Inn last night here in Nashville. And boy, Stuie, Camille, and Sonny, and the band knocked it out of the park at the Station Inn, which was packed with fans and celebrities cheering them on.

I sat next to my buddy Jimmy Fortune and his wife Nina last night, who has been a champion of the French Family Band since they moved here 6 years ago from Australia and New Zealand. Jimmy often uses Stuie and his guitar player when he’s out doing shows, and Stuie also plays with “Brothers of the Heart,” which Jimmy is also a part of.

This album has three songs I helped write, including the current single, “Here Comes the Sun Again,” as well as “Tennessee to Texas,” and my personal favorite, “Empty House,” which Camille slays. They played every song in chronological order last night “live,” and my young buddy Alex Miller even sat in on one song playing steel guitar, as he did for their album.

I surely feel blessed to call these folks friends. And these friends get to play the Grand Ole Opry this weekend!

SPEAKING OF THE OPRY We lost a dear friend to so many folks. Bill Cody, the long-time morning guy and radio Hall of Famer on WSM radio, passed away at the age of 67.

The news saddened the room I was in last night, as so many at the Station Inn knew him and loved him.

Many years ago, I was hired to take Bill’s place on WSM-FM radio. They wanted to make a change, and I was hired to take his seat. They moved Bill back to WSM-AM, the radio home of the Grand Ole Opry, where he’s ruled the airwaves since. When I first arrived, Bill could not have been more gracious or more welcoming to me, and that’s not always the case when you’re taking someone’s job. It turned out to be the best thing ever for Bill, as WSM is truly where he belonged…and it’s the place he loved.

Several years later, I became the “on call” guy to replace Bill Cody on WSM whenever he went on vacation or needed time off. And it was Bill who had a hand in WSM-AM hiring me. For that alone, I can’t thank him enough. It gave me a chance to work at the legendary radio station, as I had always wanted to.

And, if you listened to the Grand Ole Opry, you heard Bill Cody many times, as he was a long-time Opry announcer.

My heart goes out to his family, his co-workers, and to the many who loved listening to this man on the radio. Rest in peace, Bill.

SOME BETTER MUSIC NEWS I got word yesterday that Kristy Cox, who is singing the “Song of the Day,” just recorded two more songs I helped write for her new album that will be out soon. Thank you, Kristy.

MORE OF THIS PLEASE Major League pitcher Paul Skenes, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, saw some Little League lights on as he was driving to his place in Pennsylvania. He pulled over, sat on the bench, and watched the kids play. And he stayed a couple of hours signing autographs and playing pitch and catch with the kids. You can imagine how excited those kids were.

A reminder that one can never go wrong doing something just plain nice.

CLEVER A neighbor hung their laundry to block the view of the 5 security cameras their new neighbors installed.

Hopefully, for their sake, they live in a suburb with no HOA. Because knowing HOAs, they would probably make one remove the hanging laundry, but NOT the security cameras.

QUOTE OF THE DAY From Zig Ziglar:

“You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum wage work ethic.”

TODAY Well, I’ve come down with a bit of a danged cold, so I’ll be cancelling my songwriting appointment this morning, and will rest up after taking a gallon of Nyquil in an effort to kick this cold’s behind.

Have a great Wednesday!

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Veteran Calvin Scott

BILL BLOG Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Tuesday morning in Nashville. Some more rain today, with flooding expected in many areas. A high of 83 today.

YESTERDAY I had the day off for the most part, and got reset for a busy week that will include four songwriting sessions, an album showcase party, and a trip to Cincinnati to catch a little baseball. I’m keeping my eyes on the Cincinnati forecast, hoping the rain stays away for both of the afternoon games I’m seeing.

ON THE CHART The song “Moonshine on the Still” went #1 on one bluegrass chart recently, the song I wrote with Laura Leigh Jones that Dailey & Vincent recorded.

And now it’s sitting at #2 on the Bluegrass Today chart. Fingers crossed. It would be very cool to have it go to the top spot on two separate music charts.

SAD NEWS Calvin Scott is a wonderful veteran from Marion, Illinois, whose story I wrote into song a couple of years ago titled “Back to Vietnam.” Yesterday I got the sad news that Calvin had passed away.

I am certainly saddened to hear that news, as Calvin was a bright light. And not just to me, but to many in southern Illinois. He was well known in that region and loved.

A few weeks ago, I traveled back to Marion for an “Honor Flight Ceremony” at the Marion Airport. He had been in the hospital, and I was told that he wanted to see his songwriter. I was going to drop by the hospital to see him, but somehow he got out for the day and did come to see me, and hear me sing his song one more time.

I’m told that they are going to play that song I wrote with him at his funeral. What a wonderful man who served our country and made others feel good in his presence.

DON’T DO THIS!

A father dangled his son upside down trying to retrieve a baseball that stuck over the home run wall in St. Louis this past Sunday in a game between the Reds and Cards. Security rushed down and ended that in short order. C’mon Dad! Your son is not a “Claw” machine.

AND DON’T DO THIS EITHER A guy in Brazil jumps into the rapids trying to retrieve the cell phone that he dropped. The phone was gone, and this guy was lucky he pulled himself out alive.

These kinds of stories, like the two above, are the reason my friend Brent Burns and I wrote a song titled “I Don’t Want to Die That Way, that will be on Brent’s next album.

THEM AND US Actress Meg Ryan is selling the little getaway home she owns in the Hamptons for just 15.25 million.

That may sound like a lot, but the home comes equipped with a hot and cold DOG shower. Uh huh. That alone makes one want to buy it. Right?

QUOTE OF THE DAY From the late Yankees manager Casey Stengel:

“The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate you away from those who are still undecided.”

TODAY My co-writing friend Rick Lang, who lives out east, is in town this week to write songs, and I’ll be joining him this morning at my publishing company to chase a new song to add to our growing catalog.

TONIGHT I’m looking forward to being at the Station Inn in Nashville tonight as this great family group plays songs from their new album, and I have three songs on it, including their brand new single “Here Comes the Sun Again” that I wrote with young Sonny French from the group, and our friend Angus Gill. Should be great fun.

Have a great Tuesday!

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"Grace"

BILL BLOG Monday, June 8, 2026

Here comes another Monday. 82 with some rain, and maybe a thunderstorm today in Music City.

THE WEEKEND Friday morning, I headed for the airport. A Lyft picked fellow songwriter Bill DiLuigi and me up to take us to BNA in Nashville. The driver arrived in a brand new self-driving Tesla. And he never put his hands on the wheel all the way to our airport. Amazing. This was my second ride in one, and now I’m convinced I could see myself in one.

Early Friday afternoon, I landed in Raleigh-Durham for our Freedom Sings USA retreat, held at the VA Center in Durham.

I’ve been in a few VA’s writing with soldiers. The VA Center here is beautiful, well-maintained, and the staff we worked with were terrific. Including Manaca Gilmore, who headed up our event. She lost her eyesight in battle in Iraq and is one of the most uplifting, positive folks you could ever meet. And a heck of a singer herself!

There were three other songwriters on this trip besides me. Steve Dean, Bobby Tomberling, and Bill DiLuigi. We gathered with the staff and the 4 veterans we would be writing with. Mine is Larry…

We had a little lunch, got to know each other, played a couple of songs for them, then went to the hotel for the rest of Friday evening.

SATURDAY All of the songwriters went to different rooms at the VA here, as I did with my chosen veteran Larry Gaines.

Larry had two eventful years in the Army. Drafted, he went for training to be a mortarman in Louisiana, ready to ship off to the jungles of Vietnam. But he caught pneumonia during training, and by the time he was well, the unit he had trained with had been shipped off, and he went to Germany instead. And it was there he encountered rampant use of drugs. Somehow, he managed to avoid drugs, but got hooked on alcohol as a coping mechanism that he has battled the rest of his life. Despite that, he has a certificate from Duke and other Universities, has worked many big jobs, but kept his alcoholism to himself.

He told me that traveling with his wife to over 130 countries and music therapy at the VA Center here in Durham have helped him deal with the problem.

He had trouble sleeping from some of the incidents he observed in Germany. A young soldier leaped from his window, high on drugs, and took his own life. Larry had checked on him earlier, thinking he was okay, only to find out that after he was gone, the young man jumped. He carries that image with him.

Larry and I certainly hit it off. And I admire him. His song is titled, “Grace”

Grace keeps blessing me, grace keeps helping me Grace has been a guiding light I have battled demons I still battle demons when I try to sleep at night If you’re asking me, how I’m still here today This is what I’d have to say Grace, grace, God’s grace

SATURDAY NIGHT I performed Larry’s song Saturday night in the VA Chapel along with all the other songwriters. Every song was great, every veteran? Even greater. 4 great soldiers were honored in the chapel.

AND THEN… This morning, I received this e-mail from my veteran, Larry Gaines:

Hello Bill,

What a pleasure to meet you and work with you!

Everyone that I shared the song “Grace” with just absolutely loves it! They are adding it to their Country playlist, using it in men’s and women’s Bible studies, playing it in church, sharing with other veterans, etc. One person asked me if it was ok to have it played on Sunday morning Christian radio.

I hope “Grace” continues to be with you, guide and bless you!

With deepest gratitude!

The kind of stuff that makes a songwriter feel pretty great.

I’m betting that’s true.

QUOTE OF THE DAY From Unknown:

“Every family has that one weird relative. If you don’t know who it is, it’s probably you.”

TODAY I’ve got today off to reset and get ready before a very full week of songwriter, followed by a baseball trip this coming weekend to see my Reds play.

Have a great Monday!

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Anniversary Evening

BILL BLOG Friday, June 5, 2026

Friday morning, the first weekend in June is on us. And once again, my guitar and suitcase are packed for a flight later this morning. More on that at the end of today’s Blog.

Getting warmer in Nashville today with a high of 86. Warmer where I’m going. In Durham it will be 92!

YESTERDAY My wife and I celebrated our anniversary. Thanks to all who sent “congrats” and kind words. I managed to find something that my author wife loved, so I felt like a winner yesterday.

THEN LAST NIGHT We celebrated a little by going out to hear my friend and frequent co-writer Caroline Jones perform at the world-famous Station Inn.

She was so great, as was her bluegrass band, who just tore it up last night. Another friend and co-writer, Andrea Pearson, sat at our table, and we got to hear Caroline sing our #1 song we wrote for her, “Telluride”, and that was a very cool moment.

The packed house, full of bluegrass fans and industry folks, was totally into what Caroline was doing on stage, as we were.

Thanks for a wonderful evening, Caroline.

FRENCH FAMILY BAND Their new album is out next week, which I have three songs on, including their just-released single, "Here Comes The Sun Again", that I wrote with young Sonny French from this great family band, along with our mutual friend Angus Gill. And this is cool. The album will be available on vinyl. I'm planning on getting them to autograph a copy for me at their album release party on June 9 at the Station Inn in Nashville.

FOLLOW THE MONEY 1/3rd of America’s wealth is now tied up in the stock market, which is up past 51,000 with a surge of almost 900 points yesterday. Geez. Once again, I wish I had invested more in the market than I did in those Beanie Babies when my daughter was young, thinking they’d be valuable one day.

Not yet. If you need one? I’m your guy.

TATER Martha Stewart has a baked tater.

A restaurant at the Foxwood Casino in Connecticut will sell you one for just $97. It comes stuffed with all that stuff you see. Crème fraiche (whatever that is), chives, and bacon lardons. (whatever those are)

Nope. Not for me. For me, if a tater doesn’t come with gravy, it’s just not much of a tater.

DON’T FORGET Today is National Donut Day. Forget the diet for one day, pick up a dozen glazed, and go to town.

I always think about Vince Gill when I think about donuts. I was the emcee at his golf tournament many years ago, just south of Nashville. Off the 9th hole, Vince had a mobile Krispy Kreme trailer set up. Now that’s a country music star who loves a donut!

QUOTE OF THE DAY From Robert Strauss:

“Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired. You quit when the Gorilla is tired.”

TODAY I’ll be on a bird to Raleigh-Durham shortly with Freedoms Sings USA.

Tonight, as well as tomorrow, our group of songwriters will be working with veterans at the VA Center there.

Tonight, there’s a Meet & Greet, followed by a short songwriter concert. Tomorrow, each of us will write a song with a veteran, which will be followed by a free concert on Saturday night where we perform those “just written” songs.

Looking forward to being in North Carolina later today.

Have a great weekend!

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Anniversary Day

BILL BLOG Thursday, June 4, 2026

And it’s Thursday morning, and time to pack for a flight tomorrow morning to Durham. More on that at the end of today’s Blog.

A high of 86 today in Nashville.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY I’ll be celebrating another anniversary with my beautiful wife, Kathy, today.

Happy happy anniversary to my wife Kathy, whom I met in Cincinnati all those years ago while playing a gig with my band. She walked in, and that was it.

And now, she’s the author of a book titled “Subtle Frequency.” Yep, I’m a lucky man. Love you, baby. (Pic)

YESTERDAY It was an exciting Wednesday. I got my ears lowered—a truly exciting day. Last night was a little more exciting.

CMA FEST It begins in earnest today. Nashville has been invaded once again with a kazillion country music fans, here to party, go to Fan Club parties, catch concerts by all their favorite artists, and more. I can’t quit calling it Fan Fair, though they changed the name to CMA Fest many years ago. (Pic)

CMA Fest is the weekend that brings the most folks down to Lower Broadway, where all the honkytonks are. In a year, over 10 million people are down there.

I covered the event for a lot of years as a radio broadcaster. When I was in Milwaukee on WMIL Radio, every Fan Fair season we would load 4 or 5 buses full of fans, and hang out and do our show “live” here in Nashville. Folks like Faith Hill would drop by our broadcast table. (Pic)

It’s a huge event now, and seemingly anyone who has never worn a cowboy hat or owned a pair of boots will by the time the weeks are done. Then they’ll go home and probably never wear either again.

These days, I stay close to the house and put my feet up. But welcome to all the fans, and thank you for dropping a ton of dollars into our local economy.

MAKING A COMEBACK That would be all in one record player, with vinyl being hot again. Like those big old floor consoles.

A new one costs $4,000. Wow. They were pretty cheap when I was growing up and dropping needles on records.

My biggest memory of that console kind of player was staying up most of the night, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a pair of headphones on, discovering Jimmy Buffett for the first time. A friend could not believe I had not listened to him yet, and gave me Jimmy’s first three vinyl albums.

His first one, “White Sport Coat & Pink Crustacean.”

His second one, “Living and Dying in ¾ Time.”

And one of my favorite albums of all time, “A1A,” had the song “Pirate Looks at 40,” which I played over and over that night.

I have vivid memories of those old, big floor console record players with built-in speakers. And I still have all three of those albums that helped launch the Parrot Head movement.

A NEW TOP DOG Amazon just passed Walmart to become the Fortune 500’s top company, a place Walmart had held for the past 17 years. Over the last reporting period, Amazon made 717 BILLION dollars. Up 12% from a year ago.

I know the Whyte House has helped Amazon get there. They should send us a check to say, “thank you!”

GARTH You can make money in the music business, especially if your name is Garth Brooks. He’s looking to sell his music catalog for 2 BILLION dollars.

His catalog is worth slightly more than mine. Slightly.

QUOTE OF THE DAY From Dale Carnegie:

“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”

PACKING No writing today, so I’ll spend some time getting a guitar and a bag packed for a flight tomorrow to Raleigh-Durham for another Freedom Sings USA weekend.

TONIGHT My dear friend Caroline Owens and her great bluegrass band are playing at the Station Inn here in town, so I’m going to get to hear her sing her recent #1 song, “Telluride,” that I wrote with Andrea Pearson. Should be great fun.

Have a great Thursday!

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A New Song With The "Quacker"

BILL BLOG Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Here comes the first “Hump Day” of June, it’s Wednesday. The high will be 84 today in Music City.

YESTERDAY Wednesday was a day for pivoting. I was scheduled to write with the great Jimmy Fortune, but Jimmy called and could barely talk as he’s down with something. We decided to stay away from each other and reschedule for another day.

But a long-time friend, Gerald Smith, had sent me a song that was mostly written, and he wanted to fine-tune a little, so we wound up online and finished that idea.

It was great seeing Gerald, “The Georgia Quacker,” as we had not written together for a very long time.

HERE COMES THE SUN AGAIN I mentioned yesterday that The French Family Band had just released their new single, “Here Comes The Sun Again,” which I wrote with Sonny French from the band and our mutual friend Angus Gill. I also mentioned that they had filmed a video of the song. That’s been released, and you can find it easily now on YouTube.

There’s quite an Australian connection with this song, as Stuie, the Father, is from Australia, as is Sonny, and Mom Camille is from New Zealand. And our co-writer, Angus Gill? Also from Australia.

I’m happy to be their lone American in the creation of this new single.

SONG OF THE DAY Hurricane season has officially kicked off. And that means you do NOT want to see this guy anywhere near your coastal town. (Jim)

And with that, here’s the Brent Burns tune we wrote about him, “Jim Cantore.”

STRING CHEESE If you watched American Idol, you saw that Hannah Harper won. She is from a bluegrass family.

Judge Carrie Underwood became a big fan of hers when she sang her original song, “String Cheese” during her audition, and she proved what a fan she was when she sang the song with Hannah on the Grand Ole Opry stage this week, Hannah’s debut on the Opry. Quite a moment for the new young star.

UBER LEAVE BEHINDS The publication “Outkick The Coverage”, just listed a weird Top 5 list of things left behind in an Uber.

Here ya go.

5…Breast milk (Uh huh)

4…A sack of marbles (so when they tell the guy he’s lost his marbles…they mean it.)

3…A brand new mini-fridge.

2…A Donny Osmond group photo. (Invaluable!)

And coming in at #1 of things left behind in an Uber?

1…Two trees (don’t ask)

CMA FEST That begins officially tomorrow here in Nashville. Hundreds of thousands of country music fans are invading town to see their favorite stars.

It actually kicked off with a celebrity softball game, this year raising money for the “Folds of Honor” program. It’s a non-profit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of America’s fallen or disabled military service members and first responders.

A bunch of country music and other celebrities play in the game, and I did too for a couple of years when I was doing the morning radio show at WSM-FM here in Nashville. WSM-FM would play against the WSIX radio team.

It was always great fun to be part of that event.

QUOTE OF THE DAY From Helen Gurley Brown:

“Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.”

TODAY Nothing really big on the calendar today. I’ll be the “do” guy working with the “honey do” list I suppose.

Have a great Wednesday.

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