Hello all,



Recently, my wife and I left our corporate jobs and opened a food truck in
the Appleton area of Wisconsin. The hours have been long, but we are having
the time of our lives. We have never been happier, which makes Bill's
passing, and the times he had struggled with mental illness and addiction
very relevant to me. I lost a very close friend due to bi-polar disorder
and both my wife and I are recovering alcoholics. We frequently say that
the real reason we have all the blessings in our life is because our
obsession with alcohol was lifted. My heart aches for anyone who never
feels the serenity of having that obsession lifted.



One of the nice things about owning your own business, for me anyway, is I
get to choose the music. I loaded all of Bill's music onto my iPod and we
are playing all Bill for the entire week. I noted Bill's passing in our
weekly newsletter and added it to our whiteboard daily menu. Maybe it will
make some new fans, but mostly it is for me. During the years when I was in
my own struggle with addiction, Bill's music was part of the soundtrack of
my life. I hadn't listened to Bill for a while, or many of my CDs lately,
as my life has been very busy. It is such a blessing to be able to hear
these great songs again, rediscovering old favorites and hidden gems. The
perspective of my own life, and now the end of Bill's, gives each song an
added relevance that gives me great joy and a pang of sadness.



I first saw Bill in Webster, WI. The review of the show may still be on
Ron's site. After the concert, I asked Bill to sign my copy of the
"Standing Eight" CD booklet. He opened it and corrected the spelling of his
name, then autographed it. When I mentioned that it must be a drag to have
your own record company spell your name incorrectly, he smiled, looked up
and said "Nah, happens to Keith Richards all the time".



I just want to say how much Bill's music meant to me and how I put him in
the elite fraternity of songwriters that I have had the pleasure to find and
listen to. One of the missed experiences we will have to endure is not
hearing Bill's perspective as he continued to age. Like Warren Zevon, Bill
had the ability to make the universal personal and could show us how
everyone's experiences are similar on a grand and unique level.



Thanks for everything, Bill.



Jay Barnes
Kangaroostaurant LLC
920-277-8173
<http://kangaroostaurant.com/> http://kangaroostaurant.com/
<http://twitter.com/#!/kangaroostauran>
http://twitter.com/#!/kangaroostauran
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