Bill breaks for a "Kodak moment" while doing a recent interview for Performing Songwriter Magazine. Pictured with him are his personal manager Lee Willard (left) and editor Bill DeMain (right).

Country Music Hall of Famer & award-winning songwriter Whisperin' Bill Anderson, who is a graduate of the University of Georgia, is being inducted into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity's Hall of Fame on February 2nd. Ceremonies will take place at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

Designed to showcase its alumni, the HOF induction is awarded exclusively to members of the Beta Lambda Chapter who have made a mark in their profession, in philanthropy, or in the Fraternity itself. Anderson's presentation will be made by Georgia's Governor Sonny Perdue. more!

By Chuck Dauphin
Music News Nashville

In a career that has been going strong for five decades, Bill Anderson has always managed to succeed in whatever career avenue he has chosen. From writing to recording to even hosting TV network game shows (Fandango, The Better Sex), he has managed to carve out one of the most successful careers in show business. The County Music Hall Of Fame member recently sat down to chat with Chuck Dauphin about his new Bluegrass project, WHISPERING BLUEGRASS. more!
 

Bill Anderson and Jamey Johnson attended the ASCAP party that was held on Tuesday, December 18. ASCAP threw a much belated party for Buddy Cannon, the only ASCAP writer of the trio, for the song, “Give It Away.” The song went No. 1 in Billboard on Sept. 30, 2006. It was subsequently voted song of the year by the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association and is currently in the running for two Grammy awards: best country song and best male country vocal performance.
 

Bill will host a one-hour Artist Confidential special on XM satellite radio's Channel 2 (XMX) on Monday January 7th.

The special features conversation and music with Trisha Yearwood with emphasis on acoustical music from her new album.

This program will repeat throughout the entire day. It was recorded in the XM performance hall at Lincoln Center in New York City October 10, 2007. more!
 

By Doug Gruse

Nobody has made a movie about the life of Nashville veteran Bill Anderson, but it's probably only a matter of time

The country music legend, who first hit the charts in 1958 with the Ray Price single "City Lights," is thriving after nearly 50 years in the industry. When most musicians would be thinking about retirement, Anderson is at the top of his game. more!
 

"Give It Away," co-wrote by Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon & Jamey Johnson, has been nominated in the BEST COUNTRY SONG category.

The 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on "GRAMMY Sunday," Feb. 10, 2008, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and once again will be broadcast live in high definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Michael McDowell has written a remarkable article about Bill Anderson for Blitz Magazine's website and it is recommended reading for anyone who is a true Whisper fan. As Bill himself notes "It plows LOTS of new ground....and it plows it awfully well!" more!

Kyle Cantrell recently interviewed Bill Anderson at XM's Nashville studios in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the two discussed each cut on Bill's new CD project "WHISPERIN' BLUEGRASS".

"Track By Track with Bill Anderson" will air exclusively on Bluegrass Junction, XM Channel 14/DirecTV channel 812 at the following (Eastern) times:

Monday, December 17...9:00am
Thursday, December 20...8:00pm
Saturday, December 22...4:00pm
Wednesday, December 26...3:00pm  more!

The Academy of Country Music will host the "Academy of Country Music Song of the Year Show" to be held at the Bluebird Café in Nashville on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 9:00 PM. The event, which benefits the Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund, will feature the winners of the 2007 Academy of Country Music Award Song of the Year, "Give It Away," writers Buddy Cannon, Bill Anderson and Jamey Johnson.

This is the first show and hopefully one of many the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC will host at the historical Bluebird Cafe. The Bluebird Cafe is known internationally for presenting the best original country and acoustic music seven nights a week. more!

The man who is famous all over the world for whispering -- Bill Anderson -- was literally SHOUTING for joy in downtown Nashville last night (Nov. 7th) when he won the CMA'S Song of the Year award for "Give It Away", which he co-wrote with Buddy Cannon and Jamey Johnson. The song was recorded by George Strait.

After accepting the award, Anderson entered the press room and in his own quiet (whispering!) manner he simply stated "Ya'all have been letting me do this for 50 years and I just want to THANK YOU."

On top of winning the award for Song of the Year, Bill additionally walked away with the honor of being the first sitting member of the Country Music Hall of Fame to have written a CMA Song of the year that was also recorded by a fellow Hall of Famer (George Strait).

In 2005, Bill was a writer on his first CMA Song of the Year Award for "Whiskey Lullaby", which was recorded by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss.
 

The Gospel Music Channel will present an exclusive national broadcast of the 2007 GMA Dove Awards, staged earlier this year in Nashville, with its premiere showing on November l0th at 7 PM Central time.
Re-broadcasts will air throughout the month of November. Check www.gospelmusicchannel.com for a complete schedule in your area.

As many of you will recall, it was during this show that Whisperin'
Bill won his first Dove for "Jonah, Job, and Moses", which he co-wrote with Tia Sillers.

That same song also has those two writers in the running for "Best Gospel Song" in the forthcoming Grammy Awards, in addition to making The Oak Ridge Boys contenders for "Best Gospel Performance". more!
 

On country music’s most prestigious night, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum welcomed the newest members of the Hall of Fame on October 28 during an emotional, music-filled Medallion Ceremony featuring family, friends, close associates and fellow Hall of Fame members. Legendary broadcast personality Ralph Emery, contemporary country kingpin Vince Gill and all-round entertainer Mel Tillis accepted their gold medallions in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford Theater in a three-hour celebration filled with laughter, tears, memories and warm embraces.  more!

Whisper fans can catch Bill several times on CMT's "Insider" TV show being interviewed by singer-songwriter Jennifer Hanson. The show premieres on Saturday, November 3rd at 2:00pm (Eastern).

Re-runs are scheduled for: (all times Eastern)
November 4th....@ ll:00am
November 5th....@ ll:30am
November 6th....@ l:30pm
November 7th....@ ll:00am more!
 

An Overlooked chapter in Country Music history was finally given its due honor on Oct. 17th, when Whisperin' Bill presented Jimmy Dean with the 2007 Bill Anderson Heritage Music Award to honor the man who originally took Country Music to prime time TV -- in such major markets as DC and NYC -- where a television show built around Country Music had never been produced before.

 In making the presentation, Anderson noted "I feel Jimmy's contributions to country music have never been fully recognized by the Nashville community, and it's time for us to do so."  And that's exactly what happened --  last Wednesday night at the Belle Meade Plantation -- when friends and fellow artists helped deliver the LONG OVERDUE  words of thanks and appreciation. more about Jimmy Dean. For more about the event! Click Here

DIY to the Rescue, the DIY Network series known for teaching homeowners how to address their home improvement dilemmas, is coming to the home of country – Nashville's Grand Ole Opry – to help celebrate eight decades of music with a backstage makeover. The network dedicated to do-it-yourselfers and home improvement documents the transformation of four dressing rooms at country music’s Bill Anderson, Dierks Bentley, and many more share their thoughts on the history of this respected institution.  No. 1 attraction in a one-hour primetime special, DIY to the Rescue: Grand Ole Opry, premiering Sunday, Oct. 7 at 9 p.m. ET. more!

It was the Bill & Bill Show when Whisperin' Bill made a guest appearance on Bill Cody's GAC-TV Master Series show, which was taped at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville. The program premieres on October 7th at 11:00am Eastern. more!

Re-runs will air: (all times Eastern)
October 10th - 10:00am and 3:00pm
October 15th - 8:00pm
 

Bill entertained a lively audience at Tuesday, September 11th's Opry Show! Bill performed several songs including his CMA nominated hit "Give It Away" and the ACM award winning song "Whiskey Lullaby." Check out a few pictures from the show!

CONGRATULATIONS BILL! "Give It Away", penned by Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon and Jamey Johnson has been nominated for Song of the year in the 2007 CMA Music Awards.  Tune in to see who wins November 7th on ABC. more!

XM Satellite Radio has launched XMX-Channel 2, which will be dedicated to repeat broadcasts of XM's own original programming, thereby allowing listeners to catch up on episodes previously aired on the show's home channel.

XMX's August & September show line-up will include "Bill Anderson Visits With The Legends" and is scheduled to run exclusively every Tuesday throughout the entire day, beginning on August 7th. Anderson's guests that day are Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner and Willie Nelson.

Remaining Tuesdays in August will present the country music Hall of Famer visiting with Marty Stuart, Earl Scruggs, Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Kenny Rogers and Charley Pride, along with special tributes to Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Patsy Cline.

At the same time, brand-new episodes of "Bill Anderson Visits With The Legends" will continue airing Tues-Thurs--Fri-Sat-Sun in its regular timeslots on the show's home channel XM-10, America.

Tune in to CMT on August 12th and 13th for a special Southern Fried Flicks with Hazel Smith and her guest Bill Anderson! Hazel and Bill cook up several recipes from the Whispers From The Kitchen cookbook which is a collection of recipes sent to Bill by his fans. The show premieres August 12th at 8:00 PM EST.

Whisperin' Bill Anderson returned to his "adopted" hometown of Commerce, GA to help WJJC radio commemorate it 50th Anniversary on June 27th and he is seen here with station manager Rob Jordan during their "on air" celebration. A young journalism major at the University of Georgia in 1957, Anderson was the first broadcast personality ever heard by WJJC listeners when the station signed on for its first day of broadcasting 50 years ago.

The man who signed WJJC Radio onto the air nearly 50 years ago will help the Commerce radio station celebrate its 50th anniversary next Wednesday morning with a live remote broadcast from Spencer Park.
Few other radio stations that morning will have a DJ who’s a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, but country music legend Bill Anderson will don the headset for at least two hours, 50 years to the day from when the Jackson County area first heard his voice on WJJC.
“We just thought it would be kind of interesting, being as he was the first voice heard, to have him come back and do it again,” said Rob Jordan, station manager. more!

Bill made a guest appearance June 11th on Ralph Emery's new RFD network television show, Ralph Emery Live. The show featured Bill, his music, and live telephone calls from fans for a full hour. Ralph's show airs every Monday night at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

Kudos to Whisperin' Bill Anderson, who holds the distinction of having had a fan club booth at the CMA Music Festival (Fan Fair) every year since it's inception in l972. Additionally, Anderson has always been there to personally sign autographs, with the exception of one year, when he was hospitalized for a severe back ailment.

Brad Paisley treated his fan club to a private performance at the Ryman Auditorium during CMA Music Fest 2007
and two members of the Kung Pao Buckaroos -- namely, Whisperin' Bill and Little Jimmy Dickens -- also appeared
on stage with Paisley, as shown here in a photo taken by Michelle Ross.

The Buckaroos, as you maybe already know, are a band of legendary brothers and one sister (Dolly Parton!!), who
have helped add a touch of off-beat humor to some of Paisley's past & present musical productions.

By BEVERLY KEEL
Tennessean

ACM officials didn’t bring to the press room the songwriters of George Strait’s “Give It Away,” so I tracked down Bill Anderson at the Universal Music Group after-party to get his response to the song’s win for Song and Single of the Year.

“When they called out the song, I just suddenly went back to the day we wrote it,” he says. “We were over at Buddy Cannon’s office, sitting around a little round table. Jamey Johnson said, ‘I’ve got an idea, but I don’t know what to do with it.’ We just started kicking it around a little bit.

“Everybody thinks that it was my idea, the talking part on the record, because I’m known for the talking stuff. But that was Buddy Cannon’s idea. When we won that award, I just went back to that day and thought, ‘Boy, you don’t ever know how a day is going to turn out.’ ”