Jonathon Cain(Journey) ,Bo Bice,Rachel Thibodeau & CJ Wallin …. WOW! All at preview party….whattanite!

Just met Bo Bice. Even dreamier in person. SIgh…

Even better, Bo’s also going to be performing at the festival at the end of the month.

Country star Trace Adkins, American Idol favorite Bo Bice and Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain are among the songwriters helping Nashville’s Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival expand its horizons for the 2010 installment, which takes place March 30 through April 3 at eight Nashville music venues.

Bice and Cain were on hand at the 2010 Tin Pan South preview party Tuesday afternoon at The Rutledge, where organizers announced the line-up for this year’s festival. Like many of the festival’s biggest names — including country stars Kathy Mattea, Heidi Newfield, Julie Roberts and Steel Magnolia — Bice and Cain are artists who are famed for their performing skills as well as their writing.

I’m so happy for Bo - I guess this makes him a legitimate songwriter who plays his own instruments.

The details of the schedule will be posted tomorrow on the festival’s website.

Saguaro wants everyone to stay informed and the last few weeks we’ve had some street week changes.

Here are the latest release dates:

Bo Bice Different Shades of Blue 5/25/10

Yes! Yay! EEEEEE! Hot damn!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Saguaro Road Records is a great label for Bo to team up with. It’s a fairly new imprint of Time-Life music that’s been signing up independent artists and giving them national promotion and distribution. The roster includes Edwin McCain, Joan Osborne, Lonestar, MarK Chestnutt, Marc Cohn, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless, and now Bo.

“Named after the picturesque and particularly stalwart southwestern cactus, Saguaro Road Records will focus on artists that have a uniquely American, roots oriented sound.” Yep, sounds like Bo.

Congratulations Bo, and thanks for naming the album after one of my favorite new songs. We can’t wait to hear it!

CarrieDSmith: “Watching my man work @rysmithdirector shooting @OfficialBoBice, its going to look great!”

On Tuesday, Bo will performing at the launch party for the Tin Pan South Songwriter’s Festival. I’ve got my fingers crossed the party will include the news that he’ll also be singing at the festival itself later this month. Those new songs of his - definitely songwriter festival-worthy.

At the end of the week, Bo will be showing off his dancing/golfing/poker skills at the Toyota Skinner Roundup for Charity.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion driver and Volusia County resident Mike Skinner announced today that the 4TH ANNUAL TOYOTA SKINNER ROUND UP FOR CHARITY Presented by Rue & Ziffra Personal Injury Attorneys will take place on Thursday, March 11, and Friday, March 12, at Daytona International Speedway and Spruce Creek Country Club in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Among the celebrities to help raise funds to benefit Volusia County charities include jazz & blues superstar Stacy Mitchhart, “American Idol’s” Bo Bice, NASCAR Drivers Ron Hornaday, Steve Park, Tommy Baldwin, and Rick Crawford. Over the last three years, celebrities and the community have joined Mike in raising over a half a million dollars for area charities.

In between, there’s an uncomfirmed rumor floating around that Bo may be taping an appearance on a new cooking show with Emeril.

“The Emeril Lagasse Show” will feature one of America’s most popular chefs as he has never been seen before. Each week, Emeril will welcome celebrity guests, musicians and entertainers to break news and break bread as Emeril shares his world, his friends and his passions with the studio audience and viewers at home. A house band will be on set, playing live music and interacting with Emeril, guests and audience.

This is a little sketchy, so don’t be setting your dvr just yet. But Bo is a musician and he does like to cook - that can’t be a coincidence, can it?

Bo’s all dressed up with places to go - I’ve got a good feeling that this is just the beginning. Grab a friend if you want, come along, you can join me for the ride.

I got my hair trimmed and fitted for the photo shoot this weekend. New CD, New Sound, New Look, Still The Same Bo, though…

I’ve never been very interested in the Grow It/Mow It debate. I think Bo’s old enough to wear his hair the way he wants and as is clear from the photo, he’s very handsome either way. But I couldn’t be happier right now, because this sure feels like a sign that Bo’s getting down to the nitty gritty with his new album. Now maybe I can stop pulling my hair out in frustration from the waiting.

Did a BG Vocal On My Buddy Daryl’s Tune “Dove & A Barbwire Fence.” Good Luck D!

Daryl is Daryl Burgess, Bo’s co-writer on Wild Roses and Who Knows What. He seems to be working on a bit of an eclectic album, judging by this post on his facebook page from last December.

Daryl Burgess had one of those cosmic nashville moments today..i recorded the Jordinaires for my album Still Life ..i close my eyes and listen and i’m shot back to the 50s and sixties to the birth of rock and roll ..Hound Dog.. Heartbreak Hotel ..Only The Lonely ..Crazy..Walkin After Midnight..they were there ..thats the sound..it doesn’t get better than this kids thanks guys for turning jaded jagged stone to warm fuzzy goo..db

An album featuring Bo Bice and the Jordanaires? That’ll be worth a listen.

I wonder if this might mean that Bo’s wrapped up recording on his own album, giving him time for side projects and hanging out with his buddies? Especially since Ryan Smith, Bo’s go to man for photos and video, tweeted this today -

Then back to nashville for an exciting photoshoot with my dear friend and talented @officialbobice

An exciting photoshoot? Could that be for album art or PR?

There’s a type of song Bo writes now and then, pensive and autobiographical. Taken just as songs, they aren’t remarkable. They tend to be slow and meandering, without especially clever lyrics or catchy hooks. They don’t play to those universal themes of good times or bad love. Even among the most fervent Bo fans, they’re an acquired taste. For some they’re too country, for others too campfire. I don’t listen to most of them more than once or twice. But now and then, there’s one that gets to me.

Here’s an old favorite that was on Bo’s last two albums, Sinner In A Sin. (The video is a little shaky, but it’s worth just closing your eyes and listening.)

Bo’s said that SIAS is the closest thing to an autobiography he’s written.

Good Hearted Woman is a newer song, one that’s a lock to be on his next album.

A few weeks ago in Vienna, Bo introduced Good Hearted Woman this way:

I wrote this song right after my first son was born. I was recuperating from surgery. It was the craziest thing, because everything I’d ever wanted had been handed to me on a silver platter. I went from being a guy that played in bars and clubs to overnight being in front of millions and millions of people. And then I had something hit me out of the blue, something that I never thought would happen. His name’s Aidan Michael Bice. It made me really take account of the things that are important in life. For me God and family stands strong. I wrote this song for my beautiful mama, wonderful grandmamma, and my gorgeous wife.

I didn’t care for either of these the first time I heard them. Or the second time, or the third. But for some reason, I kept listening. One of Bo’s latest songs, You Take Yourself With You, has followed the same path.

I wrote this song with my friend D. Scott Miller. We were sitting around in my studio, talking about just leaving home you know. How strange it was, we’re many years apart but our stories are so similar. Because when you gotta leave, you gotta leave. For me it was like, almost 18, having to tell my mom that I was going to be going home. For him it was a similar story, a dusty road that he had to take to get out of that town. No matter how far you go, you always have to look at yourself in the mirror each day. You wake up every day and you see yourself. So my buddy and I, we wrote this song, and it’s just about keeping things right up here, and right in here, and always remembering where you came from.

Idol fans are fond of declaring that their favorite can sing anything. I’ve heard it plenty from Bo’s, too. “He can sing the phone book.” “I’d listen to him sing the dictionary.”

But Bo can’t sing anything. Corner of the Sky, anyone? Brown Skin Girl? Closer To The Heart? Bo’s one of those musicians who has to feel it to mean it. Give him a song he doesn’t like, that doesn’t fit, that he has to sing to a karaoke-style track, and it just doesn’t work.

But give Bo a song that he believes in, that he loves, that speaks to who he is, and he can elevate the mundane to something special. You don’t just hear his voice, you hear his heart. I think that’s why songs like SIAS, GHW, and YTYWY got the best of my better judgment, and ended up on my ipod. It’s not just that they curl up in the richest part of his range. It’s that they feel like a genuine piece of who Bo is. They aren’t for everybody, but for someone like me who’s still more than a little smitten, they’re irresistible.

click images to enlarge

Everyone who’s posted seems to have had a great time –

Stagehands:

Bo Bice got some chops ( as well as some mighty appreciative fans). Well done!

Casual fans:

At the end of You Take Yourself With You the lady behind her (not a peep) just let out a huge sigh and said WOW. It was like she was just holding her breath and at the end was spent.

I never knew Bo could be so funny. His in between banter was so natural. Sometimes touching when he talked about a song he wrote for the birth of his firstborn to really funny when he talked about many of his life situations or just interactions with the crowd. It was just him on guitar and one other guy who could really pick on the guitar, mandolin and some other instrument I’m not really sure what it was. Bo has such a great tone to his voice and it’s really powerful. I’m not sure why he hasn’t made it bigger. This was the 3rd year in a row he’s come to Wolftrap and they seem to love him. I bought his 2nd CD and DH got one of his Bo Wear bandannas.

BO BICE PUT ON A AWESOME SHOW AT THE SEAGLASS TONITE , WELL WORTH SEEING AND NOTHING LIKE HE WAS ON AMERICAN IDOL , HE IS DOING HIS OWN THING AND IS AMAZING , LOVES THOSE GUITARS !!!

I just saw Bo. On the beach in sandals. In the winter. LOVE IT.

Peeps:

OMG! I’ve returned to heaven! I love, love, love the new songs!!

When he came back out he talked about Ean and having three boys at home. Saying it was the first time back out without Caroline being pregnant, then added, I mean with three kids at home. He said he wanted to sing a song for Ean and started Time In A Bottle. Good heavens! I have never seen him more beautiful. It was so heartfelt and emotional. Each time he stepped away from the microphone, he just put his hands behind his back and lowered his head. Listened to Bart play, then stepped back to microphone, gently grasp the stand with both hands, closed his eyes and sang again. Then step back…. His smile at the end was radiant.

And even Bo:

Tupelo Music Hall. Great Venue, Great Crowd. Thanks to all our fans who keep us out here doing what we love.

It sounds like a great run. I’ve got my fingers crossed it’s given Bo the last bit of energy and inspiration he needs to finish up the new album. After listening to the cellcerts and watching the bootlegs, I’m more impatient and excited than ever. Bo, if you’re reading this - why aren’t you recording?

Thanks to meriekeri and sjwBO for the photos.

NSAI’s 18th Annual TIN PAN SOUTH SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL will be held MARCH 30th - APRIL 3rd in NASHVILLE. A festival preview party will take place MARCH 9th, from 3:30-5:30p (CT), at THE RUTLEDGE in NASHVILLE.

The preview party will reveal performance schedules, venues and participating writers for this year’s event. In addition, songwriters JONATHAN CAIN, BO BICE, RACHEL THIBODEAU and CHRIS WALLIN will perform at the party.

It sounds like a great event and I bet Bo is honored to be a part of it.

Seventeen years ago, a group of songwriters got together to promote the occupation of songwriting through a music festival that would focus on the people who write the songs. Recognizing Nashville as the “new” Tin Pan Alley, like the New York scene at the early part of the 20th century, these modern-day troubadours were seeking to bring attention to the new center of song: Music City.
The festival was named Tin Pan South to recognize the past and to celebrate the future.

Tin Pan South is America’s largest music festival dedicated to songs and songwriters.

Produced by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, the festival is a legislative fundraiser in support of NSAI’s efforts in Congress. Each year, in late March/early April, several hundred songwriters perform approximately 100 shows over the course of the week. For five days and nights the festival encompasses Nashville venues, elevating songwriters and the contribution they make to the city and to the world of music. Along with raising money for NSAI’s legislative efforts, Tin Pan South underscores the rich cultural heritage of Tennessee and draws attention to the wide variety of songwriters who live and work here today.

Since he’ll be singing at the preview party, let’s hope Bo will also be performing in one of the regular shows too. Those new songs are gonna knock ‘em dead.

Thanks to sjohnston for the link!

Bo is wrapping up his acoustic tour this week, testing out new songs and new arrangements, having snowball fights with his crew, and turning audiences into putty by dedicating a sweet rendition of Time In A Bottle to his newborn son Ean. It all sounds like a slice of of the good life, and makes me think that the restless days of this next song are long past. (Read the story behind You Take Yourself With You here.) I feel a bit guilty posting it right after DSoB, which is so good it makes every other song look a little weak in the knees. Still, Bo sounds great on it, and it’s nice to see his Dad get some musical love this time.

You Take Yourself With You was co-written with D. Scott Miller. (I told you that was him in the recording studio photo we saw!)