NASHVILLE, Tenn. – CMT Music is now airing Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry member, ‘Whisperin’ Bill Anderson’s viral holiday video “Waffle House Christmas” The video is “scattered, smothered and covered with famous faces (USATODAY.com)” and has already amassed more than 3 million views.
CMT MUSIC AIRTIMES:
Dec. 16 in 7pm ET hour
Dec. 17 in 8pm ET hour
Dec. 18 in 4pm ET hour
Dec. 19 in 5pm ET hour
Anderson, who is going to be celebrated with an extensive exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2020, continues to find new ways to celebrate the season and bring artists together. The star-studded video for “Waffle House Christmas,” features cameos from Kid Rock, Tanya Tucker, Gretchen Wilson, Jeannie Seely, Joe Denim and Ira Dean. Click here to watch the video on CMT.com.
Anderson is re-releasing “Waffle House Christmas” on all digital platforms after another historic year for his career. This year the Georgia Music Foundation awarded Anderson with the Flamekeeper Award, which honors an artist who has “kept the fire burning” for the state of Georgia. The third annual Dottie West Birthday Bash also honored Anderson in October.
The music video tells the story of a family whose Christmas dinner goes awry so they head to their nearest Waffle House for a family feast where some of music’s most notable personalities fill the restaurant. Kid Rock, Tanya Tucker, Gretchen Wilson, Jeannie Seely, Joe Denim, Ira Dean, Kelly Ford and a Waffle House restaurant full of ‘brand new friends’ joined Anderson for the video, which was filmed outside of Nashville.
“We dined on Waffle House staples…’grits and eggs and raisin bread’ along with ‘hash browns covered and smothered’….and we laughed ourselves silly portraying the take-over of a Waffle House restaurant by a rookie cook and a displaced family on Christmas Day. My thanks to everyone involved. I just hope you will enjoy watching the madness as much as we enjoyed creating it,” Bill Anderson shared.
“I’ve never had this much fun at a Waffle House! Bill Anderson is one of my heroes and he’s written some of the greatest songs of all time. Of course, only he could come up with such a clever song like ‘Waffle House Christmas!’ And we had such a blast behind the scenes with Kid Rock, Gretchen Wilson and Jeannie Seely,” Tanya Tucker added.
“I am so grateful that I was asked to be involved in something like this. I’ve been such a fan of Bill Anderson for so long. And I get to hang out with my heroes! I also had a Waffle House uniform in my closet from a television special we did several years ago, so it’s been a lot of fun being part of this music video,” said Gretchen Wilson.
“This has been an amazing experience!” exclaimed Jeannie Seely. “Bill Anderson is always coming up with great ideas. And corralling me, Tanya, Gretchen and Kid Rock all together for a music video at Waffle House has got to be one of the silliest, most fun things I’ve done in a long time!”
“Waffle House Christmas” is off Anderson’s latest release, Anderson, which marked his 72nd album release. Anderson was produced by Bill Anderson, Thomm Jutz and Peter Cooper, recorded and mixed by Jutz at TJ Tunes with assistant engineer Andy Kern and mastered by Alex Mccullough at True East Mastering. Three of the tracks were penned solely by Anderson, who has written charted songs in each of the past seven consecutive decades, while the additional tracks feature venerable singer-songwriters including John Paul White formerly of The Civil Wars and country music outlaw Jamey Johnson. Click HERE to download Anderson.
For more information on Bill Anderson visit BillAnderson.com or follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT BILL ANDERSON:
Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry titan Bill Anderson is the rare songwriter whose first major label cut went to No. 1 on the charts, was named Song of The Year and sparked a writing career that is currently in its seventh decade. The song, “City Lights,” was written when Anderson was a 19-year old Georgia disc jockey and became a career-defining hit for Ray Price in 1958. The song opened doors for him in Nashville, leading him to signing with BMI and Tree Publishing. Anderson was far from a one-hit wonder. He followed “City Lights” with country standards like “Tips Of My Fingers,” the GRAMMY-nominated “Once A Day,” “Saginaw, Michigan,” “That’s What It’s Like To Be Lonesome,” “I Missed Me,” “Cold Hard Facts Of Life,” which earned him another GRAMMY nomination, “Mama Sang A Song,” the crossover smash, “Still,” and countless others. He was voted country Songwriter of the Year six times during his first decade in Music City. His success continued into the 1970’s with award-winning hits like “Slippin’ Away,” “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking,” “I May Never Get To Heaven,” and the disco-flavored, “I Can’t Wait Any Longer.” The 1980’s saw Anderson’s chart-topping career take a hiatus as he became a TV network game show host, spokesman for a national restaurant chain and a nonstop touring Grand Ole Opry performer. In the 1990’s he came roaring back with a vengeance, however, as he seriously turned to co-writing for the first time. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, his collaborations with the newer generation of Nashville tunesmiths resulted in hits like “Wish You Were Here,” the GRAMMY-nominated “Two Teardrops,” “A Lot Of Things Different,” for Kenny Chesney, “Which Bridge To Cross (Which Bridge To Burn),” for Vince Gill and two CMA Song Of The Year trophies for “Whiskey Lullaby,” with Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss and George Strait’s “Give It Away,” in 2005 and 2007 respectfully. He continues to write today with songs like Brad Paisley’s “Dying To See Her.” For more information, visit BillAnderson.com.
