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/bradleygaskin/sunset-and-wine. It’s definitely “country,” and I hope you’ll like it. I’ve got several other songs I’ve written that have either just been recorded by other artists or getting ready to be. I’ll keep you posted as they become available.
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.