A WORD FROM BILLY ARNOLD
Hey everyone!
Thank ya'll for checking out my website :). To my family and friends, thank you for your support and fellowship over the years.
My music career has had its ups and downs just like any road in life we choose to follow. It's because of all the encouragement and support that I have received from you that has assured me I'm on the right road. It has been a long road for me to get where I am. It's had incredible highs like the feeling of seeing a standing ovation after you've poured your heart out on stage, or seeing a family at a charity event whose child is going through cancer treatments, and they tell you with tears running down their face, that you've made a difference in their life, that your support and your songs have eased their burdens if even for one night. I want all of you to know that you've made a difference in my life. You are the reason for why I push on.
My career has had incredible lows as well, but with every low spot I've faced I've turned to God in prayer and turned to my family and friends for companionship. Thank you for being there for me. For everyone who doesn't know me, I hope we can change that and I'll start by telling you a little bit about me.
I grew up in central Florida, I come from a poor family, but I'm am very proud of that. My parents worked hard and I learned from an early age to appreciate what you have in life. What seems like very little is probably all you really need. This next part is probably the part that really defines who I am. I am very thankful, plain and simple. I don't think you can truly have faith without being thankful for what you have. It's not that I don't try to better myself, it's just that I'm not going to look past all the blessings God has given me to worry about having more. I have found that when you learn to see what all God has really given you, it's hard to want more. I love to spend time with my 3 daughters, I am very proud of them. I love to hunt, fish, and enjoy anything outdoors. I have spent a lot of nights around a camp fire with my guitar singing only the good ol' country songs me and my friends love, like an old Merle Haggard song, or a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band classic. I've spent countless nights floating down the river with a trot line out and a rod over the side of the boat. On the really hot nights me and my buddies will fish awhile and then jump in and swim. I write a lot of my songs while I'm in my tree stand deer hunting. I love to laugh and make people laugh :).
I have played music from Florida to Maine and from Georgia to Nevada and all kind of places in between. I've spent a lot of my life in south Alabama. Alabama feels as much like home to me as anywhere I've been. I've had the chance to meet thousands of great people along my music road and what a gift it has been for me to do so. I grew up thinking my grandfather was the greatest man on earth, I called him Popa and he meant the world to me and though he's in heaven now, he still means the world to me. I will always miss him and owe him for spending so much time with me. He worked hard his whole life and just growing up around that alone teaches you something. Aside from that he believed in doing what's right over doing what's easy, he believed in family and in God and i still strive to be more like him. To me my grandmother was also the greatest grandmother on earth :) She was truly a lady. I called her Mema and she was honestly the most unselfish person I have ever known. She would always put others before herself. I know I'm partial but even if she wasn't my grandmother I would have seen her as one of the greatest people I've ever met. I miss them so much :( I want you to know a little about me so I feel like you should know some of the things that have meant the most and have had the most impact on making me who I am. My mom is a cool person :) she has a laid back personality and has always been easy to talk to about anything. She always told me "you can talk to me about anything as long as you tell me the truth." She raised me right and I'm thankful for all she has done for me. My dad and mother divorced when I was only one year old, so I didn't really spend much time with him. We have a pretty good relationship now and there are a lot of things I respect about him. My step dad was a very quiet and hard working man. He is a good man and I'm thankful for all he did for me growing up.
Another person who spent a lot of time with me is my uncle Chuck. Between him and my Popa they really filled a void in my life. They taught me to hunt and fish and always leave things better than you found them. I left home when I was 18 and I've been on my own ever since. It's been really hard at times just like for anyone, but my upbringing taught me to dig deep when times get tough, and these are some of the people who showed me that.
Well...I've opened myself to all of you the best way I can...I know I ramble on so thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I hope that you know a little more about me now and I look forward to knowing more about you.
God bless you all and thanks again,
Billy .

