November 4 2014

November 4, 2014

admincw From Bill 2014, Bill Anderson, From Bill, newsletter, november, old army hat, whisperin

November 4, 2014

Hi Folks:

And thank you so much for remembering my birthday on November 1st. So many of you reached out to me via e-mails, birthday cards, text messages, and through Facebook and Twitter to let me know you were thinking of me, and it meant more than you’ll ever know. Kind of like Senior Discount Day at the grocery store…it makes getting older not quite so bad!

November is going to be a wild and crazy month in and around Whisperville, starting with the “World Premiere” of our “Old Army Hat” video on Veterans Day, November 11th. I know, most of you are saying you’ve already seen the video so how can it be a world premiere? Well, it’s new to the viewers of CMT, and that network is going to feature it for the first time on their CMT Pure channel and on their web site, so they can call it a “World Premiere” if they want to! You can find more information at CMT.com. I hope lots of you will be tuning in.

I’ll be appearing on the Big D & Bubba nationally syndicated radio show on Veterans Day morning as well as on the PGA Golf radio channel. Then that afternoon, I’ll be performing at my grandkids’ school as part of their annual salute to the Veterans. I’ll top off the day by singing “Old Army Hat” on the Tuesday night Opry from the Ryman.

Later that week, on November 14th, I’m going to return to my alma mater, the University of Georgia, to help make a big announcement regarding my new book which, hopefully, will be coming out next year. I can’t reveal too many of the details just yet, but it’s very exciting and includes much more than just news about the book. Stay tuned.

Oh, and they’re going to let me stay over on Saturday the 15th and sit in the President’s Box for the Georgia-Auburn football game! For me, that’s the icing on the cake and the cherry on top!

We’ll be going down to the Orange Blossom Opry in Weirsdale, Florida, for the first time in several years on Saturday November 29th, and I hope lots of you will come see us. That’s always a fun place to play because we see so many of our “snow bird” friends who head south for the winter as well as our friends and fans who live in the area year-round. As always, we’ll have a matinee performance as well as a night show.

Our November Grand Ole Opry dates include the 7th, 8th, 11th, 21st, 22nd, and 25th. Remember we go back to the Ryman this month, and the Saturday night shows include two performances.

Here’s wishing each of you a Happy Thanksgiving on the 27th. My family and extended family will be gathering at my house once again, and that’s always one of the highlights of my entire year. I hope you get to spend your Thanksgiving with the people who mean the most to YOU.

Take care, and stay in touch. Thanks for being the greatest bunch of fans and friends a guy could ever have.

Still,

From Bill

September 1, 2022

Hi Gang:

Welcome to September and the last of the hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer.

I don’t know about you, but after all the heat and dry conditions we’ve had around Whisperville lately, I’m ready for some soft autumn rains and cooler temperatures. Bring ’em on!

We’re starting off the month excited about the release of the acoustical/bluegrass version of my and Dolly Parton’s duet, “Someday It’ll All Make Sense,” which has just come out. Your comments have been very encouraging so far, and I appreciate knowing that you like it. As I’ve told you before, our vocals are the same as on the country version, but the instrumentation on this cut is mostly unamplified and to me it sounds more intimate. Sierra Hull and her husband, Justin Moses, have provided the perfect touches on the mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and dobro. If you haven’t heard it yet, I hope you’ll check it out on our website (www.billanderson.com) and the other places where you stream and download your music.

Oh, and there is also a lyric video that accompanies this new version. It will be released on my website and YouTube channel at 9 a.m. Central time on Friday September 2nd in conjunction with my appearance on Coffee, Country, & Cody, the morning show on WSM Radio and Circle TV. I hope you’ll join us for that if you can.

Otherwise, things in my world are relatively quiet. You folks down in Texas might have been hearing a song lately that I had a hand in writing called, “Damn Sandwich.” It’s in the Top 20 on the Texas music charts by a girl named Jordan Rainer. I know the title sounds a bit off-the-wall, but don’t judge it until you hear it. I wrote it with Bobby Tomberlin and a young writer named Matt Wynn. I hope you’ll find the humor in it, and hopefully its popularity will spread beyond the Lone Star state.

I was all set to tell you that a Circle Network TV show I recorded a few weeks back with Clint Black was going to air this month, but Clint just called and said it’s now scheduled for November 5th. It’s an hour-long conversation between him and me just talking about all kinds of things, and I think you’ll enjoy it. I’ll remind you again a little closer to the correct air time.

And while I have your attention, don’t forget about our exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame when you’re planning your next trip to Nashville. It is scheduled to run into March of 2023. And our latest CD, “As Far As I Can See,” is available through our online store and at most CrackerBarrel locations across the country.

On the personal side, I will be taking a little vacation time this month, heading to the ocean to stare at the water and watch the dolphins swim by. I will be back in town and back on the Opry September 24th and again on September 27th.

Thanks for continuing to ask about my grandson, Gabe, and for continuing to keep him in your prayers. He turned 18 on August 6th, and has started attending in person classes at school for the first time since the pandemic. It’s his senior year, and we’re all so hopeful that he’ll be healthy enough to enjoy it. Don’t stop remembering him and his fight against cancer. Your prayers have helped to get him this far.

For those of you in the United States, I wish for you a safe and happy Labor Day weekend…our last official taste of summer. After that it’s back to school for almost everybody, back to work, and back to the drudgery of watching football and getting ready for the baseball playoffs. It’s rough, but somebody has to do it! Thanks again for your continued kindness to me, and we’ll see you back here again in October.

From Bill

August 2, 2022

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.

Hi Gang:

And thank you, thank you, thank you!!

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.

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.

From Bill

July 1, 2022

Hi Gang:

Well, I guess if we’re going to start off a new month with a problem this is a good problem to have:

We have sold completely out of my new CD!!

By the time you read this our supply should be replenished, but for the past several days we’ve been jumping through every hoop we could find trying to locate some copies to fill the orders backing up in our office. The label has been struggling, too, as even their pre-orders out distanced anything any of us envisioned. Like I say, it’s a nice problem to have, but it’s a problem just the same.

Thanks so much for your incredible response and for your patience. As soon as a new supply comes in our front door, I’ll be autographing them and Judy will be shipping them out the back. Above all, don’t stop ordering. This is only temporary!

Also by the time you read this our new video featuring Dolly Parton should be just about ready for viewing as well, and I sure hope you like it. The editing process has taken a bit longer than we planned, but last I heard it was 98% finished. The song, “Someday It’ll All Make Sense,” is already playing on quite a few radio stations around the country and the response has been extremely positive. I’m hearing reports of it not only being played on the classic country stations but on some gospel and some bluegrass channels as well. People are telling me that it’s a message that needs to be heard during these crazy times, and I hope it speaks to each of you in a positive way.

Speaking of gospel radio, I got a very pleasant surprise last week when the gospel song I co-wrote with Jerry Salley, “Go Spread The Gospel,” showed up as the #1 bluegrass gospel song of the week in the Bluegrass Today popularity charts. I told you a couple of months back that the reigning Bluegrass Entertainers of the Year, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, had recorded it and I’m thrilled with the success it is enjoying. If you haven’t heard it check it out here.

It sure was fun having so many of you in town last month for CMA Fest, and the day I spent signing my new record at the Universal Music booth was one of the true highlights for me. I saw many of you that I hadn’t seen in years, and enjoyed renewing old friendships and making some new ones. I’m told we had one of the longest autograph lines in the building…my aching hand told me that if nothing else! To all of you who took the time to stop by, thank you.

I was on the Opry three consecutive nights…Thursday, Friday, and Saturday…and after the Friday show, Universal Records and the Opry co-hosted a meet ‘n greet backstage with me and Bill Cody. Folks who bought the new CD from the Opry gift shop that night were invited to join us, and we had a ball. Fans came forward and asked questions, Bill Cody was his usual warm and wonderful self, and I didn’t want to stop when our time was up. In fact, I didn’t…I kept saying “Let me tell just one more story.” Somebody finally had to turn the power off!

From the personal corner of my world, I had a wonderful Father’s Day with my three children and a few days later was able to celebrate my son, Jamey’s, forty-fourth birthday. Where did the years go?

We’re scheduled to be on the Opry the 2nd, 12th, and 16th of this month. Tune us in or come see us if you can. I hope those of you in America will join me in celebrating Independence Day with a grateful heart, and that we’ll see you back here again in August. Stay cool.

November 4, 2014

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