Ask Bill – February 02, 2026

1) Have you ever had a song that never really charted on the radio yet has been a fan favorite?? Oh yeah…bunches of them. Some of the most recent ones include “When A Man Can’t Get A Woman Off His Mind” by Gene Watson, “The Last One I’ll Forget” from my latest EP, and my duet with Dolly, “Someday It’ll All Make Sense.” That one never made the popularity charts, but earned a Grammy nomination. Go figure. The charts are nice, and I wish all my songs ended up there, but acceptance by the public is, to me, what’s really important.

2) In watching Country’s Family Reunion, one of the most interesting characters to me is Del Reeves. He was a great entertainer and an incredible stylist. Do you have any special memories of Del and do you think there will ever be another act like him? I first met Del in somebody’s garage studio in Modesto, California, when he was booked for a session and the drummer didn’t show up. Del put a stick and a brush in my hands and said, “Here…you’re the drummer today!” I came to learn over the years that his personality was just like that. He constantly flew by the seat of his pants. I can still see him and Jeanne Pruitt “assisting” the flight attendants by helping them serve meals on a trans-Atlantic flight from London to New York. One minute he was impersonating Roy Acuff and the next he was Little Jimmy Dickens. The passengers were totally bewildered. Will there ever be another like him? I seriously doubt it.

3) Here’s a memory test for you: In May, 1962, you toured some cities in Canada with Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Roy Drusky. Do you have any interesting Patsy stories from this tour? You are not testing my memory at all. That’s one of the most memorable tours I’ve ever been a part of. First, because of the fact that we flew to Canada in Roy Drusky’s private plane which was exactly like the one Patsy and Cope were killed in less than a year later. Second, because we worked four or five shows without getting paid a dime, and finally because Patsy stood toe-to-toe with the promoter and stormed off the tour. She told a packed house in Toronto that we hadn’t been paid and “there ain’t gonna be no show!” I wrote about it in great detail in my first autobiography. You don’t forget tours like that one!

4) Our Question Of The Month comes from Karen in Arkansas and is an interesting one: Recitation is too big a word for me. I call them story songs. They shaped my emotional and spiritual life since I was about ten years old and first heard Hank Williams as Luke The Drifter. Story songs helped me to process sadness and made God real for me. The spoken parts in your “Still” and Elvis’ “Are You Lonesome Tonight” defined romantic love and loneliness long before my first broken heart. “No Charge” helped me understand the sacrifice and love my parents had for me and what I would one day have for my own children. Where are the story songs today?

Wow, what a beautifully worded letter. And you probably know without my saying that it hits home for me. I love the story songs, and became excited the other day when I heard that a major star is looking for some new ones to record. At the same time, I agree that there aren’t very many being written and released today. Musical tastes and trends come and go, and in recent years country hits seem to be aimed more at drinking, partying, and folks having a good time than about pictures from life’s other side. It wouldn’t take but one solid story song hit, though, to unlock the genre and make it sound fresh and new again. Story songs helped attract me to country music as a youngster, and I’d love to see that happen again for someone in the next generation. Hopefully, it will.

Quickies: My wife and I took an Opry cruise with you and several other entertainers some years ago and we had a great time. I wonder what your opinion is of such cruises. Did they give you a chance to unwind…sort of a working vacation? I have probably been on 20 or more “working cruises” throughout my career, and I’ve always enjoyed them. The only problem was just when I was starting to relax or just when I wanted to go ashore, it seemed as though it was always time to rehearse or get ready for a show. But that was fun, too. I’d love to be on one of those warm weather excursions right now!! In your early music business days, did you ever feel like giving up and going home? No, because when I moved to Nashville I felt as though I WAS home. Times weren’t always easy, but it seems whenever I would get discouraged something good would come out of the woodwork to encourage me all over again. I finally decided I was where the Good Lord wanted me to be and, fortunately, I was able to stay. Where did the name “Outlaw” come from for country artists like Waylon, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and others? I have heard that a lady named Hazel Smith, a writer, publicist, and overall country music lover came up with that handle. If so, she did a good day’s work!  Bill, I have been wondering if you can play a pedal steel guitar? No, but I sure love the sound of one being played by someone who can!  I have seen pictures of you with a Martin D28 guitar. Do you ever plan on playing it again on the Opry or using it in photos? How many Martin’s do you own? My first Martin was a late fifties model that I bought at the Hank Snow Music Center here in Nashville for $185. That’s the one you’ve probably seen on album covers, in publicity photographs, and heard on my original recording of “Golden Guitar.”  I have another Ryman Edition Martin that was given to me by the Opry on my 50th anniversary as a member, and not long ago some special fans and friends gave me one of the very few “sunburst” Martins…one with a rare dark finish. I’m told they only made a limited number of those and that they have been discontinued. Martin is probably the best acoustical guitar made, and I feel very lucky to own three of them. You have written so many songs. Have you ever been asleep and awakened because of a dream, jumped out of bed, and started writing? Do you keep a note pad near you to jot down your thoughts? I used to keep a note pad by the bed along with a small cassette recorder, and many is the night I would wake up with a song idea and rush to record it or write it down. Trouble is, when I woke up the next morning I either couldn’t read my handwriting or my song idea was the worst piece of garbage you might imagine. I finally gave up and decided songs are best written when the writer is wide awake!

So, before I put YOU to sleep, I’ll sign off for this time. Thanks for all your questions this go around, and don’t hesitate to send us some more for March. Contribute our “Question Of The Month” and receive any item of your choosing from our online store absolutely free. Stay warm as winter continues, and we’ll see you back here again next month.