Bill Anderson's Blog, page 5

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Opry star, Keith Urban, and his actress/wife, Nicole Kidman, were backstage a couple of times in December, and Sheryl Melvin and I got to visit with them on one of their visits. They were going home to Australia for Christmas, then Keith had to be back in Nashville to headline our city’s big New Year’s Eve celebration a week later. He laughed when I told him I couldn’t imagine Santa Claus in short pants, but Christmas is a Summertime event Downunder. With all that traveling and the criss-crossing of date lines and time zones, I wouldn’t blame Keith and Nicole if they slept ’til February!

Christmas is always a family time for me and my three children….who are anything but children anymore. Terri, Jenni, Jamey, and I gathered around the tree at Jamey’s house one more time this year, and it was just as special as ever. I couldn’t imagine Christmas without them…and my eight grandkids who stepped back long enough for this picture to be taken.

Christmas is also about memories, and our third picture this month provides plenty of those. This was Christmas 1983 when Jamey was five years old. He and I had been asked to help with the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program that year, and in this picture Jamey is drawing the name of an under-privileged child who was counting on the “angels” in our community to provide a Christmas gift for him or her that year. So far as I know, the Angel Tree program continues in Nashville, and I’ve always appreciated the fact that I once was asked to be Honorary Chairman of the event. 

12/29/24

Bill Anderson with Rosalynn Carter and Jimmy Carter

I remember my dad telling me when I was a young boy that a person from the Deep South would probably never be elected President of the United States. And then how he and I both lived long enough to see him proven wrong when Jimmy Carter, from Plains, Georgia, ascended to the White House back in the seventies. His election was a source of pride for all Georgians. Mr. Carter was a great humanitarian, and I was fortunate to have been around him on two memorable occasions. Once was during his time in office when he and Mrs. Carter hosted the CMA Board of Directors at the White House, and the other a few years ago at the Grand Ole Opry when this picture was taken. As a fellow Georgian, I was proud to have stood alongside our state’s most distinguished citizen. May he rest in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Anderson, Rosalynn Carter, Emmylou Harris

Ask Bill – December 3, 2024

1) I am an avid listener of the Opry. Sometimes there are two shows on a Saturday night. What do you do between shows?

On two-show nights, the Opry usually provides a backstage food spread for us…sandwiches, fruits, and snacks…so my band and I usually partake of some of the goodies after our first performance. I visit with our friends and backstage guests, and if there’s a good ball game on TV, I’ll often watch it in my dressing room….all the while fighting the urge to take a nap!

2) How much control does a songwriter have after an artist or recording label decides to record their song? Do they have any say on the instrumentation, tempo, length of song, etc.? Also, how does this work if a song is co-written?

There is no set rule on this, and it varies from writer to writer and artist to artist. Some artists and their producers welcome the songwriter’s input…others do not. If the writer has strong feelings about the arrangement he or she wants on their song, the best way to express those feelings is by recording a full-blown demonstration record of the song before they ever even submit it to be recorded. The artist is not bound to follow the demo, but it’s a road map for them if they choose to use it. The only difference in a co-written song is that the other writers can offer their suggestions as well.

3) Is there one holiday season in your life that stands out from the rest? Comical? Musical? Sentimental? Crazy? Eventful? Sad? Just whatever pops into your mind.

Since we just celebrated Thanksgiving, I’ll start there. The first two that pop into my mind are the year I spent Thanksgiving outside the United States and couldn’t find turkey and dressing on the menu in any of the restaurants where I was. I ended up eating and being thankful for wienerschnitzel. And the year in the early seventies when I rode on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in a wind chill of minus-17 degrees! I’ve never been so cold in my life! As to Christmas, when I was eight years old my family was moving from Columbia, South Carolina to Decatur, Georgia, and our new apartment was not ready. So we made a pit stop in Griffin, Georgia, and spent the holidays with my Anderson grandparents. They had extra high ceilings in their old house, and my Grandpapa brought home the tallest Christmas tree I had ever seen. It was there that I learned the truth about Santa Claus (I was a slow learner) and spent one of the happiest and most love-filled Christmasses of my life.

Question Of The Month: This time Tammy in Wisconsin makes a great point for the holiday (or any other) season when she asks, “I’m wondering how you feel about new country music? There seems to be a lot of hostility toward new country music from classic country fans, but I don’t really understand it. I listen to Willie’s Roadhouse every day, and my favorite artists ARE classic country, but I don’t have any bad feelings against new country. Isn’t there room for both to co-exist peacefully?

Yes, Tammy, there certainly SHOULD be….and I love your approach. The world would be a better place if people everywhere would make room for other people’s thoughts, ideas, and preferences whether they choose to embrace them or not. I’ve said many times that the only thing constant about music is that it’s constantly changing. When my generation came along in the sixties, we didn’t do things the same way that Ernest Tubb, Eddy Arnold, Roy Acuff, and others did them before we got here. And they hadn’t done them the same as Jimmy Rodgers, Gene Autry, Bradley Kinkaid, and others had done before them. But there was no more need for country fans to get angry back then than there is today. Our listening devices still come equipped with on and off switches and volume controls. Turn off or turn down what you don’t want to hear. Live and let live (look up THAT old song title someday) and the world will be a better place for us all.

Quickies: Why don’t you do a podcast? I’ve never thought about it. What kind of podcast would you like for me to do? Once in an interview and in one of your books you mentioned “special people” in your life. Do you have time to compose a song about “special people?” If I wrote a song about all the special people in my life it would be the longest song ever written! And every day and every year it would grow longer. I just hope those people know who they are and how much they are appreciated even without the song. I have many old CD’s, artist’s books, picture books, etc. that I need to find a home for. I can’t throw them all away, and it’s hard to find anyone who wants the stuff. Do you have any idea what I can do with them? I get this question quite often, and my best suggestion is to contact the library at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum and tell someone there just what you have. If it’s some items they don’t already have in their collection, I can assure you they’ll be interested. You might also check with schools, libraries, and museums in your local area. Being a little younger than you at 74, I was taught young to remove my hat indoors. I would like to hear how you feel about all the singers and performers wearing hats onstage? Performers from all genres of live entertainment have worn various types and styles of hats onstage since back before the vaudeville days. I’ve always just considered them part of a performer’s costume. I certainly don’t think there’s anything disrespectful about it. Have you ever had an embarrassing musical moment when you forgot the words to one of your own songs when singing in public? Yes, and I’m not alone. Every songwriter/performer I know has forgotten the words to one of their own songs at one time or another. In fact, the great Harlan Howard once said, “If you’ve never forgotten the words to one of your own songs then you’re not writing enough songs!”

Thanks for a whole bunch of great questions this month, and I hope you’ll keep ’em coming into the New Year. Send yours to me at askbill@billanderson.com and I’ll try my best to answer. Remember, if your question is selected as our Question Of The Month, any item we have for sale in our online store is yours absolutely free. I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon.

December 3, 2024

Hi Gang:

And welcome to our twelfth and final newsletter for 2024.

With Thanksgiving and all those Black Fridays in our rear view mirrors, we can focus now on Christmas and the New Year ahead. Is it just me, or does the time fly by faster than it used to?

It’s been an exciting last quarter of the year what with the release of our new EP, new single, and new video. So many of you have written to say how much you are enjoying all three, and I appreciate it. The lyric video for “The Last One I’ll Forget” has drawn a lot of favorable comment…many of you telling me that it reminds you of special people in your own individual lives…and that’s what I was hoping it would do. Even after all these years, I continue to be amazed at all the many ways music connects us. Thanks for taking the time to share with me your own special stories.

I got an early Christmas present this year. One of my new songs has been recorded by, believe it or not, Barbra Streisand! I can hear you saying, “But she’s not country!” and you’re right. But she has recorded it with somebody who is….Tim McGraw!…and it’s scheduled to be released in Barbra’s new album of duets early next year.

The song is, “I Love Us,” which is also the lead track on my own EP, “Forevermore,” and which I co-wrote with my friend and producer, Steve Dorff. I’ve never heard Barbra or Tim sound any better than they sound together on this amazing recording. I’ll tell you more as the release date (somewhere around Valentine’s Day) approaches, but for now I hope you’ll enjoy the excitement with me.

You know, it’s amazing how many major artists outside of the country field have recorded my songs over the years. People ranging from Bing Crosby and Dean Martin to Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Walter Brennan, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, and now Barbra Streisand to name only a few.  I have truly been blessed.

I am blessed, too, to still be a part of the Grand Ole Opry as it heads into its 100th year in 2025. The entire Centennial Celebration will be extra special to me, knowing that I’ve been an Opry member longer than anyone in its illustrious history. This month I’ll only be performing twice, December 7th and the 14th, so that my band and I can have some holiday time with our families, but we’ll start the New Year off with a bang…opening the first show of 2025 on Friday night January 3rd at the Ryman. Fasten your seat belts…next year is going to be quite a ride!

I don’t have any special Christmas plans other than to spend as much time as possible with my family and friends. We had a great family gathering at my house for Thanksgiving, and to me that’s the best part of this time of year…being with those I love. I wish peace, love, and happiness for you and yours during this season…and a big Happy New Year to you all. I hope to see each of you back here for more in 2025. Meantime, thanks again for everything.

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What a fun night it was at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony last month. I got to sit at the table with two special friends, songwriters, and Hall of Fame members….Steve Wariner and Buddy Cannon. I inducted them both into the Hall….Buddy in 2021 and Steve in 2022. We had a great evening telling old war stories and watching some of our friends and fellow songwriters join us as Hall of Fame members. That dinner and show is always one of my favorite nights of the year.

November was birthday month in Whisperville, and we did a lot of celebrating. My family took me out for a steak dinner on my birthday, November 1st, and you can tell from the smiles that we all enjoyed it. Then on November 7th, my granddaughter, Sophie, and I celebrated our birthdays together with our annual ice cream and cake party at her house. Birthdays aren’t so bad when you can make good memories along the way.

It’s always a fun night when I get to step into the Circle at the Grand Ole Opry House. Those Opry nights are going to be more special than ever in 2025 as America’s longest running radio show turns 100 years old! I hope you’ll come celebrate with us whenever you can next year. Over 235 shows are on the schedule. We’ll look forward to having you be a part of as many of them as possible.

Bill Anderson Debuts Official Lyric Video for “The Last One I’ll Forget” from New EP, Forevermore

An Emotional Tribute to Everlasting Love Now Available to Stream and Share

NASHVILLE, TN — Today, country music legend Bill Anderson released the official lyric video for his moving new song, “The Last One I’ll Forget,” featured on his latest EP, Forevermore. With a profound message of enduring love, the song tells a heartfelt story of devotion that endures, even as memory, vision, or hearing may fade with time.

Co-written with Hall of Fame songwriter, Steve Dorff, and performed by Anderson with his unmistakable warmth and insight, “The Last One I’ll Forget” expresses a love that defies the limitations of age and memory. Through tender lyrics, Anderson captures the idea that one special person can remain unforgettable, regardless of what else life may take away. The lyric video, now live on Anderson’s official YouTube channel, brings these emotions to life visually, allowing fans to connect deeply with each poetic line.

“This song reflects the kind of love that stays with us no matter what,” Anderson shares. “I wanted to capture the depth of how it feels to hold someone close, even when time changes so much.”

Watch and Share
Fans can now watch, sing along, and share “The Last One I’ll Forget” on Bill Anderson’s YouTube channel. The official lyric video beautifully underscores the song’s theme of unbreakable bonds, adding a new layer of emotional resonance to Anderson’s heartfelt delivery.

Forevermore, Anderson’s latest EP, is also available on all major streaming platforms. This collection of new songs, each exploring themes of love, memory, and timeless connections, is a powerful reminder of why “Whisperin’ Bill” continues to be one of country music’s most beloved voices.

For more updates, exclusive content, and upcoming releases, visit www.BillAnderson.com and follow him on social media.

About Bill Anderson
A true icon in country music, Bill Anderson has shaped the genre with his poetic lyrics, memorable melodies, and a career that spans over seven decades. Known affectionately as “Whisperin’ Bill,” he has recorded numerous hits, earned prestigious awards, and is celebrated as both an artist and a songwriter whose work resonates across generations.

Bill Anderson Gives Keynote At TCIA Annual Conference Lunch

Bill Anderson was the keynote speaker at the TCIA Annual Conference lunch on Oct. 29. During the event, Kevin Doherty of Dickinson-Wright PLLC interviewed Anderson about various aspects of his long career and how the country music business and the Grand Ole Opry have changed throughout the years. Anderson connected with the insurance business audience by sharing that both his grandfather and his father were insurance agents, while also reminding them that the Grand Ole Opry itself was founded by an insurance company.

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My family and I gathered off the coast of Georgia last month for the wedding of my granddaughter, Caroline Robeson, to her longtime fiance, Jacob Hall. It was a simple but beautiful ceremony in a rustic wedding chapel near the ocean, followed by a festive reception afterward. As I write this, Caroline and Jacob are honeymooning in Mexico.

I give a lot of credit to the guy in this picture with me, Steve Dorff, for what you are hearing on my new EP, “Forevermore.” Steve and I wrote five of the six songs together, and he did an incredible job playing keyboards and producing the understated but beautiful music on the record. He encouraged me vocally throughout the recording process as well, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Steve and I are both University of Georgia Bulldogs, and we were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on the same night in 2018. Hopefully, this is just the first of many more projects we will be involved in together. He has become a dear friend.

I recorded my upcoming radio show for the Outlaw Channel at the new Sirius/XM studios in downtown Nashville. I couldn’t resist having my picture taken afterward in front of the downtown Nashville mural that greets visitors in their lobby. Our program will air the weekend of January 17, 2025. Photo Jason Davis/Getty Images.

November 1, 2024

Hi Gang:

I thought I’d take time out from reading all your beautiful birthday greetings today to catch you up on a few of the happenings here in Whisperville.

First, thanks for remembering me on my special day. I am so blessed to have made it this far down the road and to have so many wonderful people walking alongside me. Thank you.

I especially thank you, too, for all your kind words and comments about my new music from the EP, “Forevermore.” You’ve been very generous in your praise, and I appreciate it. Be sure and check out the letter from the fan in Florida in our Ask Bill section. It confirms in a new and touching way the undeniable power of music.

We have a lyric video in production for the song, “The Last One I’ll Forget,” which is the first single from the EP. Hopefully, our team will have it finished shortly so we can share it with you on all our social media platforms.

Most of you have probably been hearing and reading about the Grand Ole Opry’s plans for 2025 when we’ll be celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the show. As the Opry’s longest standing member, they have honored me by asking that I sing the first song on the Opry’s first show next year which will be on Friday night January 3rd at the Ryman.

Right now, I’m thinking I will combine two of the Opry’s most iconic songs, “Wabash Cannonball” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” into a medley. I have even written a couple of new and very special verses to “Circle,” tying the song into our 100th celebration. What an exciting year we are about to have with over 230 Opry shows!
I hope you can come be a part of some of them.

The Country Music Hall of Fame loaded up their trucks and returned most of my memorabilia to me from the “As Far As I Can See” exhibit a few days ago, but I gave them permission to keep several items which will become part of a permanent exhibit sometime soon. As soon as I know the details, I’ll pass them along. I’m excited to know some things of mine will be permanently showcased as part of one of the Hall’s many incredible displays.

I recorded a four-hour disc jockey show for Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country channel a few days ago as well, and I enjoyed that. It’s always fun to go back to my radio roots. The show won’t air until the weekend of January 17th next year, so I’ll be reminding you again as the time approaches.

It’s been a strange fall without my Atlanta Braves going deep into the baseball playoffs, but so far my Georgia Bulldogs football team is continuing to make me proud.  I just hope they can keep it up.

Have a wonderful month of November…a warm and blessed Thanksgiving later in the month…and we’ll see you back here in December. Thanks for everything…

Ask Bill – November 1, 2024

1) How did you come up with the book title, “I Hope You’re Living As High On The Hog As The Pig You Turned Out To Be”?  I was looking for a title that said “country” and at the same time said “humor”, and a couple of songwriting friends of mine, Billy Edd Wheeler and Steve Clark, had written a song by that name. It had never been recorded, but the title struck me as just what I was looking for. I reached out to them and asked if I might borrow the title for my book, and they gave me permission. I gave them credit in the book. After twelve printings and over thirty years, I’d say it turned out to be a pretty good fit.

2) I am absolutely loving your new Forevermore EP as every song is pure perfection! I’m curious, though, about the recent duet you recorded with Crystal Gayle. Will it be on another upcoming project? Can’t wait to hear it!  I guess I jumped the gun in announcing we would be recording together, because, unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Crystal had agreed to sing with me on the song, “I Love Us,” but as the recording date approached she became ill and unable to sing. We were on a deadline with the record company to turn our project in, and we had to move forward with the song as a solo. I hated that I missed the chance to sing with this special and talented lady, but who knows? Maybe another opportunity will come along one of these days for us to do something else together. I hope so.

3) My first time seeing you live was in Salem, Ohio, at Ponderosa Park in the early 1970’s. Sadly, the campgrounds and stage is no longer in operation. What was it like performing in that rain or shine venue?  I have many good memories of Sunday afternoons and evenings pickin’ and grinnin’ at Ponderosa Park and several other similar venues back in the day. I must have especially enjoyed Ponderosa Park, though, because I performed there for 15 consecutive years, and they gave me a beautiful engraved plaque to prove it! Along with venues like Sunset Park and Williams Grove in Pennsylvania, Buck Lake Ranch and Mockingbird Hill in Indiana, and many more similar places scattered across the country, Ponderosa was a staple of every country artist’s touring schedule in those days.

Instead of a Question Of The Month this time I want to share with you a letter I received a couple of weeks ago. Guess we can call it our Letter Of The Month. It just illustrates the power of music in the midst of whatever our circumstances might be. It comes from Del in Florida and it really touched me: Your “Forevermore” EP was especially helpful these past few days, Bill. I had downloaded it in early October, but my first listening was as Hurricane Milton passed over Sarasota this week. When the eye hovered, it was deadly quiet save for your songs about serenity, safety, and the love of others. My wife of nearly 50-years and I sheltered in place and listened on the music player’s ear buds. Even as the worst of the storm followed, your voice was better than bourbon or melatonin to sooth! Thank you. No, thank YOU, Del. What a beautiful letter…and it reminds me all over again of the reason why I do what I do.

Quickies: Back in ’94 you and Vicki Bird did a show in Connellsville Pennsylvania, and she pulled me onstage to sing with her. Later she gave me two autographed pictures which were stolen along with her address. I was wondering if you could in any way get me her address again so I could write her? I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard anything of or from Vicki Bird in years. She was from West Virginia and a regular on Hee Haw from 1989-1991. I have no idea how you might contact her. Anybody know? Are you ever going to play your Martin guitar again? I honestly don’t know. I got it back when my display closed at the Hall of Fame, but it would take a very special occasion for me to break it out and play it in public again. But then again, I try to never say never. I enjoyed your old TV shows back in the sixties. Will these shows ever be put on DVD? No, not unless a really good lawyer shows up to negotiate the contracts and he or she promises to work for free! Only a few episodes of those shows exist today, and virtually all of my guest artists have since passed away. That means the administrator of each artist’s estate would have to get involved so that the estates could share in the monies generated from these shows. That, my friend, would be a legal nightmare, and I’m too old and too tired to get caught up in all of that! How come we never got to see Johnny Cash or any of his family on the Family Reunion shows? I guess it’s because they were never on there.

Thanks once more for your questions this month, but I need to tell you we’re running a bit low and need some good new questions for December. Get curious and let me know what’s on your mind. Send your questions to askbill@billanderson.com and I should be able to get to them right away. And don’t forget that our Question Of The Month wins the sender any item of their choice from our online store absolutely free. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!