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FromBill-btn

October 4, 2022

Hi Gang:

If you’ve been a reader of my monthly newsletters for any length of time then you know my next words are going to be, “Welcome to my favorite month of the year!” I say it every October, so why should this year be any different?

And if you’re new to our little chats, you’re probably wondering what’s so special about the tenth month of the year. Well, to begin with, the weather starts to cool, the leaves begin to turn, and for a sports junkie like me there’s no more exciting time than when the baseball playoffs and the new football season collide. It’s probably the only month of the year when I get my money’s worth on my cable bill!

Of course, it’s a great month in country music too. The Grand Ole Opry celebrates its 97th birthday on October 8th, the Hall of Fame inducts its three newest members on October 16th, and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame adds its latest class on the 30th. And I’m looking forward to taking part in each of those events.

I’ll be performing on the Birthday Celebration show at the Opry, I’ll be joining many of my fellow Hall of Fame members in attending the Medallion Ceremony at the Hall, and I’ve been asked to induct my buddy and songwriting partner, Steve Wariner, into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. I’m working on my speech already, trying to figure out how to capture Steve’s creative greatness and share it with the audience in my allotted three minutes of time. It won’t be easy, but it’s an honor to be invited to try.

We’ll be continuing to try and make the world aware of my and Dolly’s record and video this month, too, with a special Opry performance on the 18th. The multi-talented Sierra Hull, who is featured prominently playing mandolin on the bluegrass version of our song, is scheduled for an Opry appearance that night, and she, along with her equally talented dobro-picking husband, Justin Moses, have agreed to hang around and join me on an acoustical version of  “Someday It’ll All Make Sense.” I’m really excited about this, and hope you’ll make a note to tune us in.

The only thing better would be if Dolly herself were to show up. Who knows? Maybe someday.

I’m always thinking of ways to try and make our monthly newsletters more interesting for you, and the other day, while thumbing through some old fan club journals from years gone by, it struck me that perhaps I should start including a “This Date In History” section like many newspapers and online publications do. I’d call ours “This Date In Whistory,” and include tid-bits from my career in years gone by. For example:

This Month In Whistory: 42 Years Ago October, 1980. I had just begun a new television adventure and I wrote: “In all the television I’ve ever done…including my own show for nine years, the talk shows, the variety shows, the game shows…I have never had reaction to match that which I’ve received off ONE LIFE TO LIVE. People who have never heard of Bill Anderson, the country singer, are coming up to me in airports, at hotels, in shopping centers, and just about everywhere else I go saying they saw me on the soap opera…or as most of them put it, ‘on MY soap opera!’ No telling where that will all lead, but ain’t it fun?” And I had October concert dates listed for Owensboro, Kentucky; Dover, Ohio; Wilmington, Ohio; Boca Raton, South Miami, Ft. Myers, Tampa, and Orlando, Florida. 

Great memories…and the best part is that we are still making new ones!

Here’s wishing you and yours a great month, and I’ll see you back here around the first of November. Hmmm….that date has a familiar ring to it. I wonder why.

Thanks for everything…

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FromBill-btn

March 1, 2023

Hi Gang:

I told you in our February newsletter that I was scheduled for some elective surgery on February 27th and that I’d be taking the month of March to rest and recuperate.

Well, that procedure was postponed, and I have very little news to report in this month’s letter. So I’ve decided to use the time and space to catch up on a whole bunch of questions you have submitted to our Ask Bill column these past several weeks. I still can’t get to them all, but this is a good sampling.

I plan to resume my monthly letters in April when I’ll have news about some new old music that we’re about to make available. What is “new old” music? You’ll have to join us here next month to find out. Meantime, enjoy!

FromBill-btn

February 8, 2023

Hi Gang:

Well, I had hoped to start off our February newsletter by telling you that I was safely home from California with my first-ever shiny new Grammy Award tucked up under my arm. But, alas, a funny thing happened on my way up to the podium.

They gave “my” Grammy in the American Roots category, where I had been nominated for my performance on “Someday It’ll All Make Sense” featuring Dolly Parton, to Aaron Neville. Aaron is a great artist, very deserving, and I offer him my congratulations. Sure, I’m disappointed, but I’m not heartbroken by a long shot. It was a thrill to have been nominated. 

Had I won the Grammy I had planned to thank a whole bunch of people who contributed so much to the effort. Since I didn’t get to do that onstage, I’ll do it here: Dolly, you made the record come alive with your great voice and styling, and I can’t thank you enough for laying it all on the line for me. Cheryl Riddle, thank you for making sure Dolly heard the song in the first place. Thomm Jutz, thank you for producing a great record. Bobby Tomberlin and Ryan Larkins, thanks for allowing me to co-write this amazing song idea with you. Rusty Gaston, from Sony Music Publishing, thank you for believing enough to take the record to Cindy Mabe at UMG Records…and, Cindy, thanks to you and your incredible team for working so hard to get us the Grammy nomination. It was a team effort from the get-go, and I couldn’t be prouder or more grateful to you all.

And to each of you, my fans and my friends, thanks for your love and support. I’m just sorry I couldn’t have rewarded you with the prize you were helping me seek.

My trip to the west coast was not a wash-out by any means. My son, Jamey, found an empty seat on a Delta airplane and flew out to join me for the festivities. Between his hectic schedule and mine over the years, we haven’t had the chance to do many things like this together, and it was a hoot sharing such a special time with him. Now I’ve just got to go to work and try to create something good enough to get another nomination next year!

In other news, I’m anxious to go back to the Opry House this month for my first shows there since the new backdrop and new sound system have been installed. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the upgrades, and I’m anxious to see and hear them for myself. We have two scheduled appearances this month, on Valentine’s Day Tuesday the 14th and the following Saturday February 18th. Come see us if you can…tune us in if you can’t. 

I feel I should mention that our exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame is heading into its home stretch with a closing date of Sunday March 19th. Many of you have said you still hope to come see it before it closes, so I’m just reminding you. It was open the entire year of 2022, and I’m happy to tell you that more people attended the museum this past year than any year in history. I’m proud to have perhaps been a small part of that.

I won’t be performing anywhere in March due to a minor elective surgical procedure I have scheduled for February 27th. If all goes as planned I will only be in the hospital overnight, and will be recouping at home for a few weeks after that. So I’m stacking up on books to read and movies to watch. As always, your positive thoughts and prayers on my behalf will be most appreciated.

Enjoy as best as you can these final few weeks of winter, keeping in mind that Spring will be here before we know it. Thanks for all of your continued kindnesses to me, and I hope to see you back here as early in March as possible. My best to you all.

FromBill-btn

January 3, 2023

Hi Gang:

And Happy New Year!

I wish each of you twelve months of health and happiness here in 2023. After a couple of wacky years dealing with Covid, inflation, and all kinds of other distractions, let’s hope the roads smooth out and we can return to some sense of normalcy in the days ahead. I hope you had a great Christmas, and I appreciate your  joining us for our first newsletter of the New Year.

Christmas was anything but normal for those of us in Whisperville. Five members of my family tested positive for Covid during the holidays, and then sub-zero temperatures, snow, and wind chills of minus 20-degrees invaded us. Like many of you, we had to spread our Christmas family time across an entire week, but I learned to be flexible years ago when I was on tour so much of the time. This was just another small pothole, and I’ve hit lots of those over the years.

I spent much of my time reading your letters, notes, and Christmas cards, and I thank you for every one of them. Your messages were very kind and thoughtful.

As we move into a New Year I find myself looking over my shoulder at the year just past, and while lots of good things happened in 2022, there was a large dose of sadness as well. Seems like every time I turned around I was having to say goodbye to somebody special in my life.

Peter Cooper, the co-author of my 2016 autobiography and the prime architect behind my exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame, died unexpectedly December 6th, the result of a fall. He was only 52-years old. He and I bonded from his early days in Nashville as a reporter for the Tennessean newspaper. After all, we were both journalists from South Carolina who loved country music and baseball more than just about anything. We went to the Braves Spring Training together, to Nashville Sounds games on many occasions, and once even snuck away to Green Bay, Wisconsin, to watch his beloved Packers play that other sport at Lambeau Field. Working on the book and the exhibit with him were truly labors of love. He leaves behind a 13-year old son and a lot of hurtin’ hearts…including mine.

And then a few days before Christmas, I got word that Charlie Monk, the self-proclaimed Mayor Of Music Row and a friend of mine for more than fifty years, had passed away as well. Many of you were familiar with Charlie as the morning DJ on Willie’s Roadhouse on Sirius/XM radio. Charlie was one of those guys who made everybody he came in contact with feel better simply by smiling and saying hello. Music Row won’t be the same without our Mayor.

Looking ahead, our February newsletter will probably be a few days late because I hope to include some news and a picture or two from my trip to the Grammy Awards Feb. 5th out in Los Angeles. Whether I win or not, receiving the nomination is a great way to begin the New Year. I haven’t been on a commercial airline flight since Covid broke out in 2020, though, so wish us smooth skies and safe landings.

Right now I don’t plan to go back on tour this year, but I do have some interesting projects in the works. Among other things, I hope to write a bunch of new songs, make a new record or two, and continue to perform as often as possible at the Grand Ole Opry. There’s excitement in my family, too, as my son, Jamey, begins a new phase of his career at Delta Air Lines by moving up to pilot their largest planes, the 757 and 767. My grandson, Blake, is going on a six-week mission trip to Prague, Czechoslovakia, for Crusade For Christ in May, and grandkids, Gabe and Greta, will both be graduating from high school that same month. Gabe’s health continues to hold steady, and we continue to thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers on his behalf.

Well, I’m about out of time and space, so stay warm, stay safe, and as always, thanks for everything….