Bo Bice: "Never give up"

As you’ve no doubt already heard, Bo Bice will be a part of Ashland’s Poage Landing Days Saturday, September 18th. Bo is scheduled to take the Main Stage at 8:30 p.m.

In Tuesday’s “Herald-Dispatch,” you can read some of my interview with Bo. But because there’s SO much going on this weekend, some pretty good stuff ended up on the cutting room floor, including Bo’s advice for musicians starting out in the business and his answer to the question I ask all “Idol” finalists…

First of all, I should say that Bo is a lot of fun to talk to. He’s the kind of guy you could see yourself just sitting around and shooting the breeze with until the wee hours of the morning. He’s never forgotten where he came from and he’s truly grateful for all of the opportunities that have come his way.

Currently, he’s promoting his new album, “3.” Bo describes it as a “concept album without a concept.” Bo reminisced back to the days of records when you didn’t skip songs, you just played the albums through. “When you put the needle on the record, you let the side run, flipped it over and then let the other side run. Nowadays, you have iPods and you can shuffle play. ‘3’ is back to one of those albums you let play from the beginning. It tells a story, almost a little like a journey.”

“3” has different types of music, including rock, country, southern rock, southern gospel and pop. Bo said he thinks it’s easier in the iPod age to put together an album like “3” because people are used to shuffling all types of music. “No one’s asking, ‘What’s this guy trying to be?’ It’s really cool.”

Speaking of iPods, Bo shared with me some of the stuff on his right now. “I’ve got ‘Ave Maria,’ Beethoven, the Wiggles, the Backyardigans, to Johnny Cash to Trent Reznor, Stone Temple Pilots, to Carrie Underwood.”

Since Bo’s been through a lot already in his career, I asked him what advice he would have for someone just starting out. His first reaction was to laugh and say, “You wouldn’t want to take my advice, Angela. People don’t want my advice.” But then he proceeded to give me some pretty good stuff.

“Practice, practice, practice, never give up. Never set a time limit on what you want to achieve. Never give up. You have to believe in what you’re doing and work hard every single day. Sometimes people won’t hear what they want to hear and then they’ll close their ears. But instead of being a drama queen, you need to appreciate it. It’s all about constructive criticism, whether it’s a club owner or Simon Cowell. It’s hard to do, but it’s easier now that I’m a bit older.”

Then, I asked him the question I ask all “Idol” finalists I’m lucky enough to interview: What is the #1 question people still ask you about the show. And, no surprise, he told me it’s “Is Simon really a jerk?” But then he told me the other two most popular things people say to him about “Idol”: “I love that a cappella song you did [“In a Dream”] and did you and Carrie Underwood ever date?” Bo just laughs that last one off. “I love Carrie,” he told me. “She’s like a sister to me.”

Finally, I gave Bo one last chance to put a good plug in for the concert, and he told me “If you want to have a good time and share the love of music,” his concert was the place to be. “We’re kid friendly. They’ll have as much of a good time as the parents and grandparents.”

The Main Stage will be located near 1509 Winchester Avenue in downtown Ashland. There is no admission fee for the concerts. Chelsea Field takes the stage at 6 p.m., followed by Earl Thomas Conley at 7 p.m. Mark Wills will follow Bo at 10 p.m.

Photo Credit: Saguaro Records