Bo’s been keeping very quiet lately – quiet enough to make me more than a little antsy. But we’ve just gotten a slight clue what he’s been up to, courtesy of our pal Andrea Young.

Fiddle-Mania- session for the uber-talented, Bo Bice today. Great people, great fun!

I don’t know if they were recording or just practicing, but hey. If it takes two violins and a viola, it must be something good.

Good news for fans of blue-eyed scruffy-haired southern idol boys – Bo Bice and Bucky Covington will be sharing a stage in March:

Country music/Autism Speaks fans: join me March 13 at Margaritaville in Nashville to see Ty Herndon, Bucky Covington, Bo Bice, Mocking Bird Sun, and Katie Chance singing for my favorite cause. Tickets are $5. Bring your friends!!!

There’s no guarantee they’ll do a song together, but here’s hoping – you know these guys are a hoot when they get together.

Bo Bice who just played the Opry for the fourth time in the last year is in the studio working on a country record. This is the first time ever that he’s made a full blown country record that will be worked at country radio.

He will be appearing in a documentary about the historic Nashville flood that includes Charlie Daniels and Lee Ann Rimes, and he is wrapping up shooting for a new reality show, Demented Cycles (Orange County Choppers meets Nashville) with Montgomery Gentry.

I kind of thought 3 was Bo’s first country album. But whatever – it does sound like he’s got a lot going on, and it’s only January. I’m eager to see how all these projects shake out. In the meantime, he’s a video of that Everything performance that I can embed. I think I enjoy hearing Bo’s voice bouncing off the studio walls even more than the mic’d up verison.

Bo Bice performed a new song called Everything on Nashville TV station Fox17’s Tennessee Mornings Tuesday. Bo, who lives in Nashville, is working on a country album there. He’s also going to be featured in an upcoming documentary about the 2010 Nashville flood and a new reality series called Demented Cycles.

Bo sure got his hands dirty for flood relief, helping out his neighbors, volunteering for cleanup efforts and at food banks, performing in numerous benefits, donating song proceeds, and even winning $50K for MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief on Don’t Forget The Lyrics. I can’t think of anyone more suited to appear in a documentary about the event and its aftermath.

American Idol starts up again this week, so the show’s alums are making the interview rounds. Bo was on Tennessee Mornings today, where he’s always a hit with the anchors…

Fox17
Good Monday Morning! Gearing up for a visit from Bo Bice!! (He is one of our favorites) Tune in!!

Nick Paranjape
One of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet! Thanks @OfficialBoBice for another great performance

Kelly Sutton
he is one of the nicest people ever. LOVE HIM!

the weatherman…

Craig Edwads
I agree with you Nick! He is one of the really good ones!!

and the audience…

OMG! OMG! OMG! Kelly!!! Bo looks INCREDIBLE!!! I LOVE HIS NEW LOOK! I could listen to him all day…you are soooo freakin’ lucky, girl!!!

Bo and Benji Harris turned in a really nice performance of Everything. I can’t embed it, but you can watch over on the station’s website.

Spend Valentine’s Day Weekend With Bo

Bo would like to extend a special invitation to you, to join him at his home for a Valentine’s Day dinner, on Saturday February, 11. Bo and Caroline will host 20 guests for a special Valentine’s dinner. Along with a delicious homemade meal, each guest will receive a box of chocolates, a rose, and a group photo with Bo.[...] Tickets for this once in a life time event are available to Bo Bice Fan Club members for $250 per person.

That’s not an invitation anyone ever expected Bo to make – he’s always asked fans to leave his home alone – so of course the forums are buzzing with excitement and speculation. I can’t explain it or afford it and I’m not sure what to make of it. But I can pretty much guarantee that it will be a hoot. Bo’s known for his warmth and hospitality, and he does love his peeps. Plus you know there’s bound to be singing.

Bo just knocked it out of the Grand Ole Opry. He started with a favorite from his first album, Valley of Angels, and followed it up with what will likely be the first single from the next one, Everything. Years and genres apart, original vs cover, but they fit together beautifully. Well done, Bo!

Bo started off this week singing the national anthem before the start of the Gator Bowl, and he’ll finish it by taking the stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Nice work if you can get it!

I haven’t found any video of the anthem, but we’ll all be able to listen to the Opry broadcast on Saturday – it streams online and on the radio. Here’s the schedule (central time):

7:00 – 7:30
Jimmy Dickens
Jeannie Seely
Andy Gibson

7:30 – 8:00
Mike Snider
George Hamilton IV
Connie Smith
Bo Bice

8:00 – 8:15
INTERMISSION

8:15 – 8:45
John Conlee
Jean Shepard
Edens Edge
Opry Square Dancers

8:45 – 9:15
Riders In The Sky
Bobby Osborne &
The Rocky Top X-Press
Doyle Dykes

Sometimes the performers get shifted around at the last minute, so tune in early just to be sure.

This year I’m not going to even try to sum it all up in a thorough review with a clever theme, make list of highlights, or post a collection of videos and pictures. What I have done, after 6 years, is just now figured out that I can expand the archive list over there on the left sidebar to show more than the last few months (duh!). So you can all skim through the year yourselves if you’d like. (I bet you’ll be surprised at how much went on – I am.)

What I’d really like at the end of this crazy year is to hear from all of you. What stood out for you in 2011, good and bad? Which Bo song, performance, or experience was your favorite? What surprised you this year, and what do you hope for in 2012? You know, write my blog for me, please, because I’m too loaded down with Christmas cookies, birthday cake, and catching up on Downton Abbey to do it myself.

I’ll start with one moment that really spoke to me this year –

Bo Bice performing Crimson Red, White & Blue @ Bama Rising from satinsummer on Vimeo

It’s at least half of Bo’s dreamspace all at once – up on stage in the state he loves, playing with people he admires, giving all he’s got to help others in need. It’s Bo singing in front of the kind of crowd he deserves, getting back the kind of love he gives out. And it’s so much of my experience with Bo – straining to connect with him through the static of a cellcert, jumping to a conclusion about something only half-heard, and in the end falling in love all over again with his voice, his passion, and his poetry.

Andrea met Bo through D. Scott Miller a couple of years ago. She’s recorded some of her own music at Bo’s studio, and also performed with him at least once before:

That’s Andrea at Rockhound on the left, Kady Malloy on the right.

Here’s Bo and Andrea hooking up on Can’t You See at the Country Cares Flood Relief benefit in 2010.

I’d love to hear these two collaborate again. Their voices blend so well, and it’s all the more impressive knowing how quickly this came together. Andrea posted on December 8th that she’d “Just finished up a session for Bo Bice- my god, what a voice he has!” and the song was up in bandbox the next day. And while I’m at it, I also say great work on the arrangement and production, D. Scott. This is one of Bo’s best recordings. Of all time!