A Conversation with Bo Bice – HuffPost 5.17.10

Mike Ragogna: What’s Bo Bice up to lately?

Bo Bice: Well, we’re about to have our press tour, and I’m going to be gone for a couple of weeks. I’ll be in New York, L.A., doing all the TV runs for a while, doing some press for the new album. Right now, I’m at home and in the studio for the day, got a little bit of packing to do to get ready for the trip. I had a photo shoot last night, so I was up until about 2:00 am doing it. We’re just running the candle on both ends, but we’ll make sure that what’s in the middle, what’s left, are the important parts.

MR: Let’s get into your new album, 3. “Keep On Rolling” is a strong southern rock anthem about everybody just trying to get by. Overall, do you feel that’s sort of our state, everybody just trying to get by?

BB: The song really is about–your correct in a sense–all of us, you know what I mean? “Don’t know how the bills will get paid…nobody I know got it made in the shade.” I mean it’s pretty much everybody’s touched by this economy and the things that are going on. I think it’s important to have anthems out there to let people know, “Hey, it’s still cool, man. We’ve got to keep on rolling down this road and keep our head up.” So, this makes our country beautiful. It’s full of people that just want to make it through whatever we’re going through.

MR: Your album also is filled with good souls, like those in “Good Hearted Woman.”

BB: I tell you what, man. That one’s written about my mom in the first verse, my grandmother in the second, and my wife in the third. It really is. I love the wife, I do man. That was one of the songs I wrote by myself, and it was very much one of the autobiographical songs, especially the words. It has a very special place in my heart.

MR: Obviously, you’re a real family man. You’ve got three kids, and your most recent child, Ean Jacob, was born this year.

BB: Ean Jacob, that’s right.

MR: What’s it like having a house full o’ Bices?

BB: Well I always joke my wife has four kids ’cause when I’m home, I’m the other kid. I respect their mother so much, she’s awesome. She’s the foundation of this family, man, and we’ve watched these little guys growing up so good. They’re such good-spirited little boys. My favorite part of it is getting to live out my dream and what I do in life, and writing music and performing. I’m blessed to have fans. I get to be a family guy, and that’s taking the place of so many things in my life that were impeding me from living at my best potential.

MR: Many performers find it hard to balance parenthood with their careers.

BB: You truly have to become selfless as a parent. I think that’s probably the first thing that you have to do be a good parent, total submission to selflessness. Just raising them up…they’re more important than any kind of things to hang on the wall or accolades or trophies. You know how it makes us feel good when we get a pat on the back? I tell you, the biggest pat on the back is I get to see these little boys growing, smiling, living with respect. I love it.

MR: In “Different Shades Of Blue,” your line about mistaking a neon bar sign as a light of hope is quite touching. This song seems to be about someone coming from a place of challenge.

BB: You hit the nail on the head. You can see the video in your head, that’s really cool that you caught on to that. I wrote “Different Shades Of Blue” with a friend of mine named Greg Barnhill. I think as writers we delve into…well, it’s almost like therapy. It truly is. You’re kind of your own therapist, and you’re delving into the things that really scarred you. You know, I’ve used this phrase a few times especially after what we’re going through this year with the flooding in our beautiful city of Nashville: Taking tragedy and creating triumph. That’s really what you’re doing. You’re trying to write a song that is about experience, that’s what makes it genuine, yet that is identifiable by everyone. They go, “I felt that. They wrote that song about me, and that one relationship with this person.” That’s where, I think, the craft of songwriting comes in. I truly do, man.

MR: On 3, you cover a lot of genres including country, southern rock, and blues rock. You’ve also got potential country hits. The mix doesn’t seem strategic, more like just “Bo Bice.”

BB: There’s never one day that we sat down and we said, “Okay, let’s try and write something. We’re going to get it on rock radio or country radio.” For me, I think, it’s just where the music’s going. When you have all these different pieces of what Bo Bice is, I think it makes it a lot more intense for the listener. It’s like giving them a concept album without their being a concept. Or maybe the concept is just letting the artist be what they love to be. I’m really happy with it man. I’m excited. And we were able to hook-up songs like “Long Road Back” with iTunes for flood relief. We’re going to donate proceeds to Second Harvest, The Red Cross, and The Salvation Army. It’s really cool, man. We’re able to do some good with this album, enjoy it, and also get to play the music we love.

MR: “Wild Roses” is a ballad reminiscent of The Band. Were you influenced by them?

BB: Oh man, you better believe it! Every bit of the music I play is a tribute to the people that came before me. I’m not like embarrassed to talk about my influences or anything like that. The Band, Leon Russell? I’m a big fan. I think you also get the Charlie Daniels influence in what I do…The Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, The Black Crowes, Lenny Kravitz, Faces, James Gang, all the stuff I’ve listened to. I’ve listened to all kinds of music, from country to rock to classical music. I love classical music. So, I just I’m a lover of the craft. I think it shines through in a lot of this music. Just trying to accentuate my music with the influences I’ve had.

MR: What do you think is the major way that you’ve have changed since the days ofAmerican Idol?

BB: I think I have a different perspective, you know? My kids came into the picture, I became a husband. I take being a husband and a dad seriously. You’re never going to find Bo Bice cheating on his wife, that’s not the stuff that happens. I’m in a pact with my wife to raise these boys up right and to teach them how to respect people. That’s a part of being a man, honoring your morals. It doesn’t mean I’m perfect. I fall. But I try to be a great example for folks, and live by that example. You know, I stub my toe, I cuss too. I have bad days. But I live for providing for my family, and I try to do that in a way that shines a light, to where people support us, and support our music because of what we stand for.

MR: What is your advice to kids who want to record and perform?

BB: Well, I always tell them just practice hard. That’s one of my dreams, to someday try and open up like a school of rock, to help these kids out because music is a beautiful, beautiful art form with so many different outlets like dancing, writing, painting, and so many other things. I think they need encouragement to get involved with all of those things…do all of those things in school, work hard in school, and know that you’re working towards something. Work real hard, and if you ever get the opportunity to go on American Idol and you do well, the very next day after you leave that show begins a lot of hard work. So, just stay on top of your game and always treat people well. That’s the best piece of advice I can give anybody. Treat people like you want to be treated. Don’t ever expect it back. See you out on the road!