April 1 2021

April 1, 2021

Hi Gang:

I tried to come up with a good April Fool’s joke to start off this month’s newsletter, but I couldn’t think of a thing. So none of what you are about to read is made up…it’s all true. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Thanks for joining us.

And thanks to all who checked in following our severe Music City weather last week just to make sure my family and I were all right. The bottom floor of my office was flooded, but other than that we’re all fine. Lots of damage in our town, though. Between tornadoes, bombings, and floods, it seems that for the past year Nashville has been in the cross-hairs of bad luck. Hopefully, things will change soon.

I told you in our last newsletter that I had a big announcement that I couldn’t make until March 24th, and many of you wrote in trying to guess what it might be. Nobody guessed correctly.

By now, though, many of you have heard that my song and Connie Smith’s 1964 recording of “Once A Day” has been selected by the Library of Congress in Washington for induction into the National Recording Registry as an “audio treasure worthy of preservation as part of America’s creative legacy.” The Library wanted to make the announcement themselves on March 24th, and I was sworn to secrecy until that time.

This is an incredible honor for a little three-chord country song that I wrote in the front seat of my car at a four-way stop in the Nashville suburbs almost 60-years ago. And it came from the very first recording session Connie Smith ever had on her way to a Hall of Fame career. And now to think that it will be resting alongside compositions from George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, and others. It was the only country song selected for 2020, and I am highly honored and thrilled.

As you know, I still love writing songs even after all these years, and I still get excited when one of my compositions gets recorded. The reigning Bluegrass Entertainer of the Year, Joe Mullins, has just recorded a new song with his Radio Ramblers that Jerry Salley and I co-wrote called, “Go Spread The Gospel,” and it will be in Joe’s new gospel album coming in early May. For some reason, I’ve never written very many religious songs although I have recorded bunches of them. But I really like this one, and I hope you will enjoy its up-tempo feel and up-beat message. Joe and the guys did a great job on it.

In other news, I want to thank those of you who joined us for our first Facebook Live Chat back on March 20th. We had over 3,000 messages from people all around the world, so many, in fact, that they overloaded my computer and shut us down for awhile. We had to regroup at my webmaster, Stephanie Orr-Buttrey’s, house where we stayed on for almost an hour. I really enjoyed it, and can’t believe how many of you have asked us to do it again. So…to prove that we really do listen when you speak, we will be chatting with you again on Saturday April 24th at 2 p.m. Nashville (Central) time. Spread the word and let’s beat our terrific March turnout. I might just bring my guitar along this time…so there’s no telling what we’ll end up doing!

Several of you have written lately wanting to know if we are planning anything special for our fans and fan club members in connection with my 60th Anniversary at the Grand Ole Opry coming up July 17th. Yes, we are working closely with the Opry management, but due to the pandemic and all the restrictions, everyone is having to move slowly. Nobody knows today just what the situation will be in July, but we are working on group seating and a meet ‘n greet after the show. Stay tuned, and when we know more I’ll let you know.

I was almost through writing this letter when I got an invitation from the folks at the Mike Huckabee Show to come be their guest announcer the weekend of April 10th. I’ll be substituting for Keith Bilbrey, and it should be fun. With all the great announcing voices in Nashville, I’m not sure exactly why they reached out to me, but I’m glad they did. You can catch the show on TBN Saturday night April 10th and again Sunday night April 11th. Check for local times in your area.

Folks have also been asking me if I went to Spring Training with the Braves down in Florida this year, which is my usual springtime ritual, but no, I didn’t get to go this time. I’m getting my baseball fix, though, by watching some college and high school games in and around Nashville. Our local Vanderbilt team is the defending College World Series Champion from 2019, and they are fun to watch. The regular major league season opens today. Shouldn’t it be declared a national holiday??

The latest from my grandson, Gabe, is that he has finished his series of radiation treatments and he now has a little over six weeks to rest up before his bone marrow transplant in May. Thanks one more time for all your prayers, your wearing the Team Gabe t-shirts, and all the positive vibes you continue to send our way. My family and I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know.

Enjoy the April showers (as long as they come in moderation)…hope they bring lots of pretty May flowers…and we’ll see you back here again next month. I wish for each of you a Happy and Blessed Easter, and I thank you for everything.

From Bill

May 1 2021

Hi Gang:

And here’s wishing you a merry, merry month of May!

It’s starting off merry for me because I just found out we’ll be returning to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry this month….Tuesday night May 18th to be exact…for the first time in six months. I just hope I remember the words to my songs and which end of the microphone to sing into!!

The COVID restrictions have been lifted to the point that I can return with my full band, and it’s hard to know if I’m more excited or if my band members are. We’ll only be on once in May as they try to ease other Opry members back into the rotation as well, but they have promised us more appearances leading up to my 60th Opry Anniversary on July 17th.

And speaking of that very special occasion, the Opry is offering our fans not only group seating that night but a discounted ticket price as well. To sign up and be part of this exciting evening, go to www.opry.com and click on the July 17th show. Enter promo code BILL60 and follow the instructions. You will receive a 20% discount on your tickets and be seated (socially distanced, of course) with others in our group.

It still depends on the COVID restrictions as to whether we will be able to have a fan club meet ‘n greet after the show, but I’m hoping we can. Stay tuned, and I’ll pass that information along as soon as I receive it.

In other news, I just got word that the studio where I like to record these days is opening back up this month, and I’m hoping to book some recording sessions within the next few weeks. I can’t wait to make some new music for you. And the opening of the Bill Anderson Exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame has been moved from November 19th and will officially open on December 3rd. I’m told that date is set in stone, and I hope that it is. We’ll have more information on the Exhibit as the time approaches.

I’m sorry our Facebook Chat scheduled for April 24th didn’t get to happen as planned, but it was totally out of our hands. About ten o’clock that morning, I was checking Facebook messages and everything was fine. A little before noon, Stephanie Orr-Buttrey, our website manager, called and said we were in trouble. Our Facebook page had suddenly disappeared and she was unable to get it back up and working. She quickly posted the cancellation notice that most of you received, and we had to start looking for a Plan B.

Assuming that Facebook will cooperate, we’re shooting for an evening Chat on Thursday May 20th at 6 p.m. Nashville (Central) time. Hopefully, lots of you will be able to join us then. Taking our most recent incident and coupling it with our first Chat when my computer blew up, let’s hope the third time will be the charm.

As most of you know, May 25th is the scheduled date for my grandson, Gabe’s, bone marrow transplant, and our family continues to appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers. Gabe will actually go into the hospital on May 19th to begin preparations for the transplant. His donor, his sister Hallie, will have some pre-testing done on May 7th. This procedure is the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel for the Anderson’s, as Gabe has been fighting a rare form of cancer for over ten years. Please keep your prayers going up on everyone’s behalf, and I’ll keep you posted as best as I can.

In other family news, Gabe’s older brother, Blake, graduates from high school on May 15th. No word yet on exactly where he’ll land for college. Sisters Hallie and Sophie have both been named to next year’s cheerleading squad at their middle school, and Hallie has been elected Student Council President. I am one proud PawPaw!

Guess I should stop popping the buttons off my shirt and let you get on with reading the rest of our newsletter. Thanks for your continued support and friendship, and we’ll see you back here again next month.

Still,

From Bill

March 1, 2021

Hi Gang:

I don’t know if March came in like a lion or a lamb in your corner of the world, but I hope you are safe and well wherever you are. It’s good to be visiting with you again through the pages of our fan club newsletter. Thanks for staying connected.

I went out and got my second COVID vaccination shot early last month then spent a week…as many of you did…trapped inside my house thanks to the ice and snow that paralyzed much of the south and southwest. My power stayed on, my water continued to run, and I was very fortunate, especially compared to some of my friends out in Texas. I sure hope those of you down there are doing better. The good news is that Spring is just around the corner!

Lots of you have been asking when the band and I plan to go back on tour, and I’ve made a decision in that regard: The earliest I might be back on the road will be 2022. I have asked my agent to clear my slate for this year for a couple of reasons. First, of course, is COVID-19. I’m not sure that any of the venues where we were scheduled to perform will even be able to have crowds this year anyhow, and even if they are, I don’t think I would want fans and friends of mine to take any risks by coming to our shows. New variants of the virus are popping up all over the place, and it’s evidently not out of steam just yet.

Second, is the situation involving my grandson, Gabe. He began his radiation treatments in early February, and from now until at least the end of July, things are going to be anything but normal in my family. I simply cannot picture myself riding on a tour bus hundreds of miles from home while my grandson is in the hospital receiving a bone marrow transplant, my granddaughter is in there, too, as his donor, and my family is needing me to help out with the million and one other things that will have to be taken care of at the time. It’s just not something I can do, and I appreciate very much your understanding. I’ll miss you guys for sure, but right now my family has to come first.

Hopefully, I can do a few things music-wise without having to leave town. When the Opry opens back up to the point where my band can go and perform with me, I plan to return there. And, of course, I’ll be celebrating my 60th Opry Anniversary July 17th. I’ve agreed to record an episode of Larry’s Country Diner this summer, and they can’t crank up the recording studios soon enough to suit me. I’ve got lots of new music I want to put down. Plus, I’ll be opening up my closets and my scrapbooks and my guitar cases when the Hall of Fame comes to collect memorabilia for my exhibit scheduled to open in November. So, I might not be travelling, but I’ll be busy.

Starting on Saturday March 20th, which just happens to be the first day of Spring, I am going to begin a series of live Facebook chats with you and fans like you all around the world. I want to do one of these every month while I’m not on tour just so we can stay in touch. We’ll have more information headed your way shortly, but meantime mark March 20th at 2 p.m. Nashville (Central) as the time for our first get together and plan to join us if you can. We’ll visit and talk about all kinds of things.

Thankfully, a few things are happening on the songwriting front as we wait for life to return to normal. Ray Stevens has just released a new album on Curb Records called, “Great Country Ballads,” and he has included an amazing version of “City Lights.” That song has been recorded dozens of times over the years, but nobody has ever done it quite like Ray. I hope you’ll check out his recording on whatever platform you get your music.

As you’ll see in our photo section, I got together with two of my favorite people last week, Bobby Tomberlin and Lance Miller, for my first live co-writing session in exactly a year. We had a great time laughing and catching up, although with the masks I told them I couldn’t see a word they were saying! The best part, though, is that we ended the day with a pretty darned good new song.

I have another piece of songwriting-related news I’m anxious to share with you, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy until March 24th. We’ll have a special announcement then, so be on the lookout for it.

I’ve got to change the subject and play proud PawPaw here for a minute and tell you that my grandson, Blake, was named to the All-District high school basketball team as voted on by the coaches, and with a season record of 21-5 his team qualified for the State Tournament. They traveled to Knoxville for the opening round, but unfortunately lost their first game in overtime. Nonetheless, it was a great season, and I’m awfully proud of Blake and his friends for all they accomplished.

Gabe is into his fourth week of radiation treatments now in preparation for his bone marrow transplant in May. Thanks to all of you who ordered the Team Gabe shirts in support of his journey and for all the prayers that you’ve been sending up on his behalf. They are appreciated more than you know.

Have a great month of March, and thanks for your continuing support of me and my families….the biological one and the musical one. Stay in touch, and I’ll try my best to do the same.

And remember…every day is a good day to have a good day.

From Bill

February 1, 2021

Hi Gang:

It’s hard to believe that it was one year ago this month that I played my last show on the road…in Wittenburg, Wisconsin, February 9, 2020. The night before we had performed in Wisconsin Dells, and we stayed over after the show because Wittenburg was not that far away. We didn’t count on the fact that eight inches of snow was going to fall while we slept.

We plowed through it on our tour bus the next morning, arrived in time to set up and do a sound check, but I told everybody we’d be playing to a bunch of empty seats. “Nobody is going to come out in this weather,” I said. Imagine my surprise when every seat in the theater was full. I’ve said it for years – country fans are the best fans in the world! And I miss every one of you!

We haven’t been back out on tour, but quite a few things have been going on just the same. The Grand Ole Opry has decided that they will celebrate my 60th anniversary as an Opry member on Saturday night July 17th, and here’s hoping things will be such that a whole bunch of you can come celebrate with us. Dan Rogers, the Opry manager, told me he did some research and the typical 60th anniversary gift is the diamond. I told him he could give me the diamond at Yankee Stadium!

The Country Music Hall of Fame has also confirmed with us that the Bill Anderson Exhibit, which was originally scheduled to open in 2020, is still on the books for a November 19th opening in 2021. Again, hopefully by then we’ll all feel freer to travel about, and I’ll look forward to seeing many of you at what promises to be one of the true highlights of my life and my career. The exhibit is scheduled to run until March, 2023.

With thoughts toward putting the pandemic in my rear view mirror, I had my first COVID vaccine shot January 12th, and I’m scheduled for my second February 9th. The biggest problem I ran into was all the other 75 and 80-year old drivers out getting their vaccinations on the same day. Most of them probably hadn’t driven in at least a year, and the parking lot resembled bumper cars at the county fair. Nobody could park straight, and a few could barely see over their steering wheels. I told someone I might survive the virus, but I wasn’t too sure I’d survive the ride home!

Many of you continue to reach out and ask what you can do to help get Country’s Family Reunion back on the air at RFD-TV, and my answer is nothing. Unless something unforeseen happens, I don’t think those shows will ever be on broadcast television again. The good news is that you can still stream the episodes on Country Roads TV and, of course, many of you have the DVD’s you have collected over the years. Just enjoy those…for the good times.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful responses my family and I have received in regard to the news I shared last month about my grandson, Gabe, and his upcoming bone marrow transplant. Many of you tell me you have ordered and are wearing the Team Gabe shirts, and we appreciate your support more than you know. Since we last visited, the timetable for Gabe’s procedure has been moved forward into May in order to allow time for him to have a series of radiation treatments that the doctors feel will greatly enhance his chances of never having his cancer return. Those treatments will begin Feb. 8th and could last for up to eight weeks. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks so much for your prayers and your concern.

Elsewhere in my personal world, my son, Jamey, has been called back to work at Delta Air Lines where he will begin training to pilot the 737 airplane in April. My grandson, Blake’s, high school basketball team currently has a season record of 16-3, and will soon be headed into tournament play. Last I checked, Blake is the leading rebounder on the team and #2 in scoring. Due to COVID restrictions, I’ve had to watch most of his games via streaming. I’m just sad that this is his final season.

I hope each of you will continue to stay safe, stay well, and stay in touch. And remember it’s always a good day to have a good day!!

Thanks for everything….

2 Comments

Ron Smith
April 4, 2021 @ 7:49 pm

another major award to be added for Kennedy Award someday Hi Bill it’s Ron
Ron Smith
April 4, 2021 @ 7:46 pm

wow another award once day….Just another reason why you should be honoured by the Kennedy Centre. oh hope a white box came in the mail. Hi Bill it’s Ron

April 1, 2021

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