If you talk to my elementary music teacher, Karen Bristle; my piano teacher, Kathy Abrahamson; or my parents, Jim and Mary Lou Busta, they will tell you that I wrote songs as a kid, but after the age of 10, I kind of stopped. I did write a song for a Jim Busta Band recording while in college for I felt we needed a schottische and my friend Jim Cox mentioned writing a song for him, so I did. Then when I started playing button box, I wanted a song that featured my brother, Chad Busta, on drums and me on button box, that is when I wrote “Out the Window.” And SqueezeBox recorded the song in 2009, after performing it on national TV on the Big Joe Polka Show.

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This past April, the opportunity came along to write a polka for a Warner Brother’s film, “The Mule,” starring Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper. I wrote four polkas in hopes one would work.  Who knew that the one and only Clint Eastwood would like  “A Day to Say Thank You" a song that I wrote the chorus and instrumental for. And many people don’t know how well this man knows his music. Did you know the music studio at Warner Brothers studios in California is EASTWOOD studios? Do you know Mr. Eastwood plays the piano and used to play the saxophone? He also is a composer and his songs have made it into his movies.

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Now going back to the song “A Day to Say Thank You.” I wrote the song while traveling down I-90 as a passenger on the way to a gig in South Dakota. I wrote the music out in numbers in my notes on my iPhone. The lyrics were also written at that time. And somehow, they stuck. A day later I wrote it out on paper at 5am while eating breakfast at a hotel before our gig in Arcadia, Iowa. A few days later, a verse was written to enhance the song. I am happy to say this song made it into the movie.