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.