It’s a snowy day in Nashville, Tennessee! We got about 6-1/2 to 7 inches of snow today,  it’s beautiful and clinging to the trees and the ground! So don’t ever say that Nashville doesn’t have snow, because it’s here!

I’ve been doing a lot of “Songwriting Rounds” in Nashville. I guess that’s where it’s at? I’m proud to be a songwriter, I just wish I could get a cut by a major artist! (Don’t we all!) Sometimes I write one song after another. Then there will be days, weeks and months before I write another one. I’ve been doing these songwriter rounds for about 4 years and haven’t even got a bite! Ha! I’ve written over a 100 songs, and if I do say so myself, “they are good songs!” I’ve been trying to keep them current with what’s happening today! Along with songwriter’s nights, I’ve been singing with the “Next Generation”. That’s the sons and daughters of Country Music Legends! We did  the TV Show; “Second Generation Country Family Reunion Show” on RFD TV . We’ve performed at different places, and we had our own show at 3rd & Lindsley last year at Fan Fair. But we do shows all year round. We are waiting to do a cruise of our own! Oh come on! Lol!

I’m still writing on my book, so don’t be surprised if you turn around and it’s done! Haha! If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll finish writing that book!

I lost my daddy 31 years ago, May 26, 1984. He was singing two new songs that he had written; “There’s Heaven To Gain, Hell To Lose” & “Mama Rang The Dinner Bell”. The Nelson Brothers (A.J. & Doyle) came to my house on Thursday and they were rehearsing the two new songs. I had just come in from buying my daughter Stacia, all the trimmings for her birthday, May 25th. This was a rare occasion for the Nelson Brothers to be singing with daddy. They had started out with daddy in the early 50′s, and they were called; “Onie Wheeler & The Ozark Mountain Boys”. All of us kids thought we were cousins, growing up with the Nelsons! We didn’t know until we were grown that we weren’t cousins at all! What a frightening thing that was to find out! So the Nelson Brothers had not sang with daddy in a while. Daddy had surgery in February of that year for an aneurysm. He was fidgety because of not working, so Roy let him work the Opry a little bit. But this was daddy’s own thing. He had worked two shows with Roy and now he was going to do the Gospel hour of the show at the Opry. He sang one song, and then started singing “Mama Rang The Dinner Bell”, and just slumped over on stage with the microphone still in his hand, he hit the monitor with his head. He died in the circle from the old Ryman Auditorium. I was so busy greeting everyone at the funeral that I didn’t have time to think! I was watching the Music City News Awards show on TV, and that’s when I really began to cry! Because I saw what everybody else saw; my daddy slumping over on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry! I had never looked at it like that! That weekend that daddy passed away was Memorial Day Weekend. When Memorial day rolls around each year I’m saddened for all the soldiers that we’ve lost, but I’m also saddened for losing my daddy. I told Roy Acuff at the funeral; “you’re gonna have to find a new way to get out of this world because, daddy just took yours!”

Oh my, I don’t know where the time has gone. It seems like summer was here and gone in a flash! I can’t remember opening our pool! Sorry for not posting more on my blog, but it seems that I’m more busy now than I have ever been! I do “Songwriter’s Rounds” at the Maxwell House Hotel once a month, plus all the other songwriter’s rounds that I do in between! I work a few show dates. But one of the best things in my life right now is the “Next Generation”! That’s the son’s and daughter’s of country music legends! We did the “Second Generation” Family Reunion Show a couple of years ago, and I’m privileged to be a part of that group. We are doing “Country With A Cause” at the Nashville Palace on December 10, 2015. That’s to provide family’s that are underprivileged, with a Christmas this year! There will be myself, Melissa Luman, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Robyn Young and Ron Williams. That’s the “Brat Pack”! Then there’s Leona Williams, Buddy Jewel, Bobby G. Rice, and Billy Yates. Lulu Roman will be hosting the event. I’m sure there’s going to be lots more people added to the roster. I worked the Wilson County Fair for the “Umpteenth Time” (don’t know how many years I’ve worked it, maybe 10 or 11). Had as my special guests, my brother Danny Wheeler! He tore the house up! Mr. Joe Rucker was my guest, and nobody sings “Farewell Party” like Joe! He was fabulous! And then for my very special guests, Russ and Becky Jeffers! Wow! They put on a show like no one has ever! They were absolutely wonderful! Thank you Russ and Becky! I’m going to go down in history for my songwriting, not for being an artist, for my cookbooks, or as a book writer. I’m going to be known as a songwriter if it kills me! And it probably will! Ha! But I’m never too old to walk up on that stage and receive “Writer of the Year” or “Song of the Year”. I don’t have any aspirations of being a star, those days are gone! But I have one goal, and that is to write a hit song. I’m never too old for that!

Hi everybody! I know that I haven’t been diligent in keeping up with my blog. Between traveling for fun and working here in Nashville, it’s been so busy! We went to Texas for a while this winter so I took a month off from my “Songwriter’s Round” at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel. But remember I do the songwriter’s round once a month at the Maxwell House along with my brother Danny Wheeler and three other talented songwriters! You’ll never know who they will be until I announce it. Another thing that has kept me busy, busy, busy, is the “2nd Generation” or the “Nashville Brat Pack”, as we call ourselves. This is the sons and daughters of Country Music Legends! We have filmed two Shows on Larry Black’s “Country Family Reunion”,  on RFD TV. The last one was called “Country’s Family Reunion 2nd Generation”. We have so many sons and daughters of the great country legends that I don’t want to mention any of them by name, because I might leave somebody out and that’s not fair to them. We are working the Nashville Palace on April 2, 2015 and we are working 3rd and Lindsley on June 11, 2015. Remember Fan Fair (as I call it!) starts on that day. So folks will be in town for this. It starts at 7:00 p.m. Danny and I are still working on our Duet Album, and I’m in the studio putting down the songs that I wrote. And let me say….that I am working on my book! I know, I know! It’s been a long time and with my songwriting, studio, shows and everything (I have a lot of excuses don’t I?) it doesn’t leave me much time to write. BUT I promise to work on it. I’ve gotten a lot of feed-back on writing the book, people telling me to get on with it, so I will! Hahaha! And I’ll try to do better on the “Blog” thing!

I know that I haven’t been up to date on my website. But here’s an attempt to do just that. I have been so busy. I have to say a special thanks to all of my high school buddies, the “Juliettes”. They have been remarkable in all of my singing venues! I have been doing a lot of “Songwriter’s Rounds”, and they have practically been to every one. I work once a month at the “Millenium Maxwell House Hotel” just off of Rosa L. Parks Blvd. here in Nashville. I just got through working the (biggest Fair in the state of Tennessee) Wilson County Fair. And we truly had a “Captured Audience”! Ha! But I saw a “lot” of my friends there and family. I do hope that you all go to my Facebook page, that’s where all the pictures are of what I’ve been doing lately. I will be working the Maxwell House Hotel August 28, 2014. Please come to see me, and I apologize for not keeping ya’ll up to date on everything. I will do better!

I know that ya’ll haven’t heard from me in a while, but like usual, things get so busy around here! We had a wonderful Christmas with our families. We stopped having New Years Eve parties at our house because it was just too much trouble to clean out the 3-car garage!!! So….we started having Christmas parties right after Christmas and just before New Years. You usually find that people are available for this, but then another problem evolved! All my singin’ and pickin’ friends are doing the Opry! So….we decided to just keep on doin’ it anyway. As it turned out, there were about 55-60 people here anyway! It was so much fun! I’m still doing a lot of “Songwriters’ Nights”, and will let you all know when those events are coming up. Just go to the website to find out anything you want to know. We are not going to Florida or Texas this year to perform, because there’s too much going on here. I am going to take a break with my husband Glen to go to Alaska sometime this summer! Wooooo-whooooo!!! So until you hear from me again. Ya’ll take care and God Bless You,  each and every one!

October is “Breast Cancer” month and I am so thankful that God has let me live to tell all about my survival. A good friend of mine, Tom Grant & I wrote a song about cancer survival, because we both had cancer. It is called “I’m Gonna Beat This Thing”. (The song is on my album “Too Good To Be Bad” that you can purchase on my website.) This was on a Wednesday, and we were suppose to perform at Summit Hospital on Friday. Tom had an idea and he knew how much I love to write songs, and I was a survivor, so he asked me to write it with him. He asked me what I said the most, while I was taking chemotherapy. And I said, “I’m gonna beat this thing!” The song is the best I’ve ever had the privelege of being a part of. It is a beautiful song. My cousin uses it as their theme song in her Breast Cancer Survival Group that meets once a month. I just want to take this opportunity to tell everyone that is a victim of this terrible disease to stay strong, never give up, try to eat (even though it’s hard, my husband and my kids brought me broccoli, cauliflower & carrots instead of flowers!!!!!!) It’s hard, and you’re going to be so weak, but just believe that God will see you through it. I had breast cancer at the age of 38, I thought I was too young, but this disease doesn’t discriminate! No one in my family had ever had cancer. So I was the first, and I had a radical mastectomy. But that was then, and this is now! I’ve been fine all these years. I may have been too young to have breast cancer, but I’m very strong and still surviving. I would like for the American Cancer Society to use this song, because it is so inspiring for anyone going through this.  Amen!

Sorry I haven’t been on my blog page for a while. But it has been a very busy summer to say the least! As you can see by my “Itinerary Page” I’ve been working a lot, not counting all the trips we have made out of town that’s not on the Itinerary. I have been to Florida twice since September 15th. I went to Destin, Florida with four of my girlfriends from Mt. Juliet High School. Just got home October 8th. We had a blast!!! The pool is closed at home and we’re gearing up for winter. My brother Danny and I (hopefully) will have a new album of duets cut by December. And I’ve asked my brother to sing with me at the Mt. Juliet Homecoming celebration on October 27, 2012. It’s down the Old Railroad Bed Road behind the Presbyterian Church. I will be doing “Songwriters Night”,  Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at the Commodore Lounge inside the Holiday Inn off of West End Ave. in downtown Nashville. Then on December 11th I will be singing for the Shriners Christmas party with Melvin Sloan. It’s been an amazing year so far, and I am so thankful for everything, and I believe that God has truely blessed us . See you next month. That will be “Turkey Month”.

I hope you all have had a wonderful summer so far. Tennessee had a drought going for a while there. Our grass died and lots of our trees…..and oh, the garden. Then the rain came, and everything is green again. Thank you Lord! I was privileged to sing on stage with some great songwriters recently. Mr. Jerry Foster, who has written so many hits, and the great Marty Raybon, who use to sing lead for Shennandoah, and Mr. Joe Rucker! Joe sings so good, and he played guitar for me. I’m just not polished enough yet to play guitar for myself. But, I’m working on it! We have been bom-bar-ded (don’t know exactly how to spell that! heh! heh!) with family reunions this month. It’s always great to see family members you haven’t seen in a while. The one I always look forward to is my “Wheeler Cousin’s Reunion”.  We rent a lodge on Kentucky Lake and the guys bar-b-que chicken in the back on the lake side. They bring their own bar-b-que pit, and the kids ride jet skis, and ride pontoon boats. After we eat, we put on skits. We sing, we play guitars, mandolins & banjo’s, we pantomime records and sometimes we do skits of favorite TV shows, such as The Andy Griffith Show or Gilligan’s Island. It is so much fun. The next thing I have coming up will be the Wilson County Fair on Monday, August 20, 2012. Opening for David Frizzell. Ya’ll stay cool now, ya’ hear?

It’s that time again! I will be performing at the “Wilson County Fair” again this year. I love our fair because there is so much to do, and Fiddler’s Grove is so down-home country. It’s the biggest fair in the state of Tennessee. My performance will be on Monday, August 20, 2012. The show starts with Tom and Beverly Grant at 6:00 p.m. I will go on sometime after that and do 6 songs. I will be performing a cancer survivor song that I wrote with Tom Grant called “I’m Gonna Beat This Thing”. The next performer will be the great David Frizzell! You’re gonna love this show, so please come out and support us. Can’t wait!!! And don’t forget that we are performing on the “Miss Leona Sloan” stage in Fiddler’s Grove over by the mules making ice cream on a treadmill! See you there!