FANCLUB
NEWSLETTER
FROM BILL
Hi Gang:
And thank you, thank you, thank you!!
In all my years in the music business, I have never received as much positive reaction to anything I’ve done as I have these past few weeks to the release of both the recording and the video of “Someday It’ll All Make Sense” with Dolly Parton.
Your social media posts, your texts, your e-mails, your cards ‘n letters, have been overwhelming, and I just wish I could thank each of you personally. There’s no way to explain how it touches me when you say how the song touches you….illustrating one more time the undeniable power of music.
Dolly has been unbelievable in her support as well, calling our working together “the most meaningful fun I’ve had in years.” Trust me…that goes both ways! She is the ultimate professional, and by her lending her undeniable talents to this project, she has caused it to receive much wider exposure and acceptance than it could have possibly received otherwise. I told her we need to get matching socks and go on the road!
Oh, and have you heard that an acoustical/bluegrass version of the record is coming later this month? The official category in which it will be released is called American Roots, and it features great musical talents like Sierra Hull on mandolin and her husband, Justin Moses, on fiddle and dobro. With their unique touches added to the existing musical bed, it gives the song an “earthiness” (is there such a word?) that Dolly and I both love. The recording and lyric video are scheduled to be released to both the bluegrass and the country/gospel markets on August 19th.
Thanks, too, to those of you who have ordered and continue to order the “As Far As I Can See” album from which this song came. In addition to other, more traditional outlets, it’s the first record of mine to ever have been on sale in the racks at CrackerBarrel. I’m told it goes great with ‘taters and cornbread! You can even order up second and third helpings if you’d like!
With all the excitement swirling around our new music I haven’t said much about my 61st Anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry which came back in mid-July. I appreciate so many of you remembering it, though, and I continue to be a proud member of this most special country music family. I’ll be onstage there this month on the 2nd, the 12th, the 13th and the 27th.
A great young country singer and songwriter, Bradley Gaskin, has released a song he and Jim “Moose” Brown and I wrote a few years back called, “Sunset And Wine,” and you can listen to it by going to https://songwhip.com/
And for any of you who may be in or around Nashville later this month, I’ll be doing a songwriters’ evening at the Bluebird Cafe with Bobby Tomberlin and Buddy Cannon on August 24th, and another round with my fellow Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Steve Dorff, at the City Winery on October 4th. If you’re going to be here on either of those dates, mark our shows down on your calendar and come see us.
And don’t forget our “As Far As I Can See” exhibit which continues into next year at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
I hope you’ll all staying safe in the heat and away from the renewed Covid outbreaks taking place all around the country. At one point in July, there were five people in my family and business organization testing positive for Covid. Even my doctor contracted it and had to cancel one of my appointments. Fortunately, none of the cases was serious. The heat, however, is extremely serious, and I hope you are continuing to take all the recommended precautions and staying cool. Thankfully, we finally got a little rain to bring down the temperatures a bit in Whisperville.
Have a great month of August, and we’ll see you back here in September. Thanks again for continuing to be the best group of fans anybody could be lucky enough to have.
Hi Gang:
And thank you, thank you, thank you!!
In all my years in the music business, I have never received as much positive reaction to anything I’ve done as I have these past few weeks to the release of both the recording and the video of “Someday It’ll All Make Sense” with Dolly Parton.
Your social media posts, your texts, your e-mails, your cards ‘n letters, have been overwhelming, and I just wish I could thank each of you personally. There’s no way to explain how it touches me when you say how the song touches you….illustrating one more time the undeniable power of music.
Dolly has been unbelievable in her support as well, calling our working together “the most meaningful fun I’ve had in years.” Trust me…that goes both ways! She is the ultimate professional, and by her lending her undeniable talents to this project, she has caused it to receive much wider exposure and acceptance than it could have possibly received otherwise. I told her we need to get matching socks and go on the road!
Oh, and have you heard that an acoustical/bluegrass version of the record is coming later this month? The official category in which it will be released is called American Roots, and it features great musical talents like Sierra Hull on mandolin and her husband, Justin Moses, on fiddle and dobro. With their unique touches added to the existing musical bed, it gives the song an “earthiness” (is there such a word?) that Dolly and I both love. The recording and lyric video are scheduled to be released to both the bluegrass and the country/gospel markets on August 19th.
Thanks, too, to those of you who have ordered and continue to order the “As Far As I Can See” album from which this song came. In addition to other, more traditional outlets, it’s the first record of mine to ever have been on sale in the racks at CrackerBarrel. I’m told it goes great with ‘taters and cornbread! You can even order up second and third helpings if you’d like!
With all the excitement swirling around our new music I haven’t said much about my 61st Anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry which came back in mid-July. I appreciate so many of you remembering it, though, and I continue to be a proud member of this most special country music family. I’ll be onstage there this month on the 2nd, the 12th, the 13th and the 27th.
A great young country singer and songwriter, Bradley Gaskin, has released a song he and Jim “Moose” Brown and I wrote a few years back called, “Sunset And Wine,” and you can listen to it by going to https://songwhip.com/
And for any of you who may be in or around Nashville later this month, I’ll be doing a songwriters’ evening at the Bluebird Cafe with Bobby Tomberlin and Buddy Cannon on August 24th, and another round with my fellow Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Steve Dorff, at the City Winery on October 4th. If you’re going to be here on either of those dates, mark our shows down on your calendar and come see us.
And don’t forget our “As Far As I Can See” exhibit which continues into next year at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
I hope you’ll all staying safe in the heat and away from the renewed Covid outbreaks taking place all around the country. At one point in July, there were five people in my family and business organization testing positive for Covid. Even my doctor contracted it and had to cancel one of my appointments. Fortunately, none of the cases was serious. The heat, however, is extremely serious, and I hope you are continuing to take all the recommended precautions and staying cool. Thankfully, we finally got a little rain to bring down the temperatures a bit in Whisperville.
Have a great month of August, and we’ll see you back here in September. Thanks again for continuing to be the best group of fans anybody could be lucky enough to have.
LATEST NEWS
ASK BILL
1) Most performers only have a handful of songs they perform, but you have written over 400. How do you remember the words to all these songs? Do you practice singing the ones you are going to perform on stage at home during the week?
If you listen to the Opry regularly, you know that I don’t always remember the words to my songs…even the ones that I’ve written. Sometimes my mind goes as blank as the sheet of paper was the day I sat down to write the song on it! Nowadays, we have to turn in our Opry song selections several days in advance, so I do have time during the week to run over them in my mind and sing them in the shower if I want to. In the past, I would sometimes not decide what to sing until I got to the dressing room. This way is better…even though I have fewer excuses when I forget.
2) I’ve been wondering what Eddie Stubbs is doing since he retired. Can’t believe he’s doing nothing. I thought maybe you would know.
When Eddie took early retirement from his announcing duties at WSM and the Opry, he seemingly put the music business and all its people in his rear view mirror and left us there. I can’t find anybody who knows where he is or what he is doing. I have been told that there are some health issues in both his and his wife’s families in their home state of Maryland, and that he and Debbie have been spending time up there, but that’s only hearsay. I hope he’s doing well and most of all that he’s happy.
3) Is it true that you once parked your bus overnight in an unscrupulous promoter’s driveway pending payment due you and the Po’ Folks Band? Or is this just an old wives’ tale?
It is absolutely true. The promoter had left the concert hall and driven home without paying us what we were due for the show. I found his address, and instructed my bus driver to go to his house, pull in the driveway, and block any access coming or going. We stayed there all night. When the sun came up the next morning, the promoter suddenly “found” the money he had “forgotten” to pay us, and we went merrily on our way. Ain’t show business wonderful!!
Our Question Of The Month comes from Gary in Oklahoma: You have worked in almost all areas of the entertainment industry in your distinguished career. If you had been granted one wish to change something in any part of the industry that would have enhanced or made your career more fulfilling what would it have been?
First, it’s hard to imagine a career that could have possibly been any more fulfilling than mine has been, but what an interesting question. I guess if I could have changed anything within the industry, though, it would have been to speed up the timetable on a few things. For example, when I first got into the business there were only 80-something radio stations playing country music. Today there are several thousand. It might have been nice to have had that kind of exposure back in my early songwriting and singing days. The CMA Awards did not come into existence until the late sixties. It would have been cool to have had them a few years earlier when my records and songs like “Still” could have contended for the top honors. Same for the Grammy’s which did not even have a country music category until 1964-65. I’m certainly not complaining about anything, but in my next life I might try to be born a little later.
Quickies: Do you have any favorite gospel songs or performers past or present? I couldn’t begin to list all my favorite gospel songs, but some of the early country/gospel performers like Molly O’Day, the Bailes Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, and the Blue Sky Boys were the ones I enjoyed the most growing up. I was wondering if you have any band members that have been with you from the beginning. If not, who has been with you the longest and are they still with you? All of my original Po’ Boys have passed away now…Jimmy Gateley, Weldon Myrick, Jimmy Lance, and Snuffy Miller. Les Singer has been with me since 1981, longer than anyone, and even though his health prevents him from performing these days, I still consider him one of us. Do you get a percentage or any money for your display at the Hall of Fame Museum? No. I get paid by the smiles I see on people’s faces when they exit the display…and when they tell me how much they learned and how much they enjoyed it. That’s all the payment I need. Were you at the Opry in 1984 when Onie Wheeler died on stage? And how is his daughter, Karen Wheeler, doing these days? I know she had cancer a few years ago. No, I was not there, but Onie was always a favorite of mine as is Karen. Unfortunately, Karen has suffered a couple of strokes recently and is not doing all that well. All of us need to keep her in our thoughts and prayers.
Thanks for another great batch of questions this month, and I hope you’ll keep ’em coming. Send them to me in care of askbill@billanderson.com and remember if yours is chosen our Question Of The Month you’ll receive any item of your choosing from our online store. See you back here next month.
LATEST PHOTOS
My longtime guitar player and band leader, Les Singer, and his wife, Lizzie, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on July 15th, and the next day hosted a get together of family and friends in their new hometown of Franklin, Kentucky. We ate some good food and laughed at a lot of old road stories. Next to me in the picture, left to right, are Lizzie, Les, and our former steel guitar player, Mike Johnson. Football season is almost upon us, and my alma mater, the University of Georgia Bulldogs are the defending national champions. Jeannie Seely gave me this picture of Uga, the Georgia mascot, and I’m encouraging him to lead the ‘Dawgs to another championship season. I hope he was listening! The bottom picture was taken the day we filmed our video for “Someday It’ll All Make Sense.” L. to R.: Danny Nozell, Dolly’s manager; Dolly; me; Trey Fanjoy, who produced and directed the video; and my manager, Lee Willard. What a special day it was!
LATEST JOURNAL
I am shocked and saddened along with the rest of our country music community over the passing of Naomi Judd. I’ll never forget meeting her for the first time when she was a contestant on a TV game show I was hosting. I asked her to identify herself for the audience and she said, “My name is Naomi Judd and I am a nurse from Franklin, Tennessee. My daughter and I sing together, and someday we hope to make it in country music.” I was looking so forward to recalling that moment with her on Sunday when she and Wynonna were to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. She was one of a kind and will certainly be missed.
Bill Anderson
