 Wendell Grigsby and I have been friends for over thirty years. Wendell had a band and was working the honkytonks from Salton Sea, Coachella, Indio, the Desert Towns of Southern California. He let me get up and sing with his band at the Desert Cocktail Lounge in Indio. He liked what I was doing and gave me a gig. Wendell was playing the clubs at night and working a day gig as well. This didn't leave much time for him to spend with his family, so he gave me his band & his gigs at several honkytonks in and around Indio. Wendell also got me my first publishing gig as a writer with a company in Palm Springs which lead to my first record deal. We went down to Hollywood and recorded my first session. Bobby Lee Trammell was running a company out of Orlando, Florida called Soundcot Records, owned by business tycoon Glen W Turner. Mr. Turner invited me to go with him down to Hollywood once when he was on the Steve Allen Show. That was my first ride in a Rolls. Wendell has always been supportive of my music. In about 1996 or 1997 I had been half owner in a company with Hank Cochran. The company was "Hank and Me Music". Hank decided that he wanted to buy me out. Which that story gets too involved to go into. Anyway, I needed some help & someone that I could trust. I called Wendell and asked him if he was interested in starting a new publishing company. He said he'd like to do that and wanted to know what we should call the new company. I said, how about Grigsby & Burns Music? He said, how about Burns & Grigsby Music, so we went with that. Wendell lives part time in California and part time in Jonesboro, Arkansas. When I can't find him that usually means that he is on a boat deep sea fishing. I suppose one way to sum up our friendship is "There's No Friends Like Some Old Friends". -Billy Don Burns
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 Wendell & Billy Don
Enjoying the view.
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