Bo Bice - The Man Behind the Music
/Bo Bice is an American singer and musician who gained fame as the runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. Prior to auditioning for American Idol, Bice performed on the night club circuit and released a solo album as well as a few albums with his band, SugarMoney. In 2005, Bice charted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 with a rendition of "Inside Your Heaven" from American Idol. He released the album The Real Thing after American Idol to minor success before being dropped by RCA Records. He started his own record label, Sugar Money, and then released two more albums, See the Light and 3. He was also the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears. This original article was released during his American Idol success.
By Michelle Garland Segrest
Originally published in Alabama aLIVE! | Volume II, Issue 3, 2005
From the time he could talk, Bo Bice could sing.
Born into a family of musical performers, the front porch of the rural family home was his first stage. When he picked up an electric guitar at the age of 4 and opened for a family concert, his destiny was determined.
“I was surrounded by music from Day One,” Bice says. “Everyone in my family could sing and play instruments. I can remember being about 8 years old and finding out that not everyone in the world could sing. It was kind of a shock.”
Music was so much a part of his life, even his first memory was pure percussion.
“My uncle, David Voyles, had a drum set that was covered in blue velvet,” Bice recalls. “I can remember grabbing those drum sticks right out of his hands. I couldn’t have been more than two years old, but I climbed up in his lap and just started banging away.”
The prodigy’s talents did not go unnoticed.
“We knew early on that Bo could sing,” says close family member Evie Hawkins. “Everywhere we went, we would say ‘Bo, sing us a song.’ Even as a small child, he was bringing joy to people through his music.”
His talent soon became more than a family novelty act.
Bo Bice’s Early Years
Born Nov. 1, 1975, in Huntsville— there was no hospital in his small hometown of Somerville — Bice couldn’t help but discover an appreciation for music.
His mother, Nancy Downes, and her three first cousins sang professionally in an all-female gospel group called “The Singing Jays,” which toured the Southeast in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. His grandmother, “Granny Madge” Schofield, was a gospel singer as was his great-grand-mother, Eura Brown.
The musical gene did not skip a generation.
Bice cut his teeth on gospel standards like “Amazing Grace,” and “I’ll Fly Away.” His great-grandmother often babysat for him while his single mother worked. It was Brown who introduced him to the Beatles... and other delicacies.
“My Granny Brown lived across the street from us,” Bice recalls. “I used to get in so much trouble. From the time I could walk, I would go missing and everyone would be looking for me. They’d find me at my Granny’s, sitting at the kitchen table, eating chocolate gravy and biscuits. She was a cool lady and played all kinds of music for me.”
He later developed an appreciation for hard rock until his step-father, Earl Downes, helped him discover the fine art of southern rock
Bo Bice Finds His Niche
Now, at age 29, the music in his heart remains unaffected as Bice continues to explore all kinds of musical genres.
After reaching star status as a finalist on American Idol, the Helena resident says he doesn’t intend to let celebrity change his look or his personality. Plucking guitars in a local shop feeds his soul just as much as performing live on stage, he has said.
Bice contends his musical style is yet to be defined as he continues to grow as a musician. But one thing is certain, “I will stay genuine,” he insists. “The only way to stay genuine and true is to be sure not to stick to anyone style. It’s not a bad thing to find a style, but it’s also not a bad thing to realize you are on the cusp of some-thing different — and to embrace that. I feel I’ve got to be willing to take a gamble. If people don’t dig it, it’s o.k. It just has to be from the heart, and I have to know I gave it everything I‘ve got.”
As Bice searches for his style, it’s tough to hide the hint of a gritty rocker image. Long tresses of tangled, chestnut-brown hair and retro fashions, complete with threads designed and sewn by “Granny Madge,” are a trademark. But the sunglasses often worn on stage will never be able to hide his soulful eyes, blue as Windex.
Bice’s musical gifts have become obvious to swarms of fans and to legendary producer Clive Davis, who wasted no time signing him to a record deal following the American Idol finale. But those closest to him know the man behind the music.
“He’s phenomenally talented. That’s obvious to everyone,” says his friend Donny Acton, pastor of Birmingham’s New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church. “But he also has a heart of gold. The gifts in him are God-given, and he knows that. It’s been pretty cool how the Lord has blessed him.”
A Life-Changing Friendship
In 2002, Bice was spending most of his time on the local night-club circuit with his band, Bo Bice and SugarMoney. True to the rocker image, he was partying with friends and enjoying the night life. One day Acton strolled into the Birmingham guitar shop where Bice was working his part-time job. Acton and Bice began a friendship based on a mutual love of guitars and music, but the rocker declined many invitations to visit Acton’s church.
“I finally asked him if he had written a song with God in it, and would he come and sing it at my church,” Acton remembers, referring to Bice‘s original tune, “Hold On.”
“He sang it for us and our church just loved it. He got a standing ovation and from that point on, he just kept coming back.”
Bice gives his relationship with the Lord a lot of credit for his success and his talent. A few run-ins with the law have been overshadowed by a renewed spiritual path. A large cross tattoo etched on his chest, not coincidentally close to his heart, exemplifies his outward spiritual commitment.
“God paved this path for me,” Bice says. “I’m just trying to follow it. Man, I’m just grateful to be along for this ride.”
Random Acts of Kindness from Southern Rocker Bo Bice
Bice’s generosity is well-documented. Earlier this year, Acton called his friend to inform him of the death of the one-month-old grandson of a fellow church congregant. Though he was on his way to Atlanta to visit his mother, Bice immediately turned around and headed to Birmingham to offer his support at the memorial service. He played the guitar and sang “Jesus Loves Me,” then performed an original song written especially for the grieving parents, “From a Seed to a Tree.”
Hawkins knows Bice as well as anyone. Though she is his mother’s first cousin, she has always been “Aunt Evie” to Bice. “Bo has such a good heart,” Hawkins says. “And he was born with a gift...Not just a gift of music, but also an ability to touch the lives of others.”
While his star is still on the rise, Bice is ready to help others. The owner of a collection of more than 30 guitars, Bice intends to sell about half of them and donate the money to worthy charities, says his SugarMoney bandmate John Cooper. Even before strangers knew his name, he was donating music equipment to those who couldn’t afford it, Hawkins says, and adds that he often has donated his time in the recording studio to others trying to make their own marks in the music industry.
“I just want to lead by example,” Bice says. “There is not a single person out there who I don’t appreciate with all my heart.”
Even when in Hollywood, sub-merged in the American Idol frenzy, Bice found time for selfless acts.
“We told him about a friend who was terminally ill here in Alabama,” Hawkins explains. “She was watching Bo perform from her sick bed and became a huge fan. And even though Bo was as busy as he could possibly be, he called her to wish her well. Now that one phone call may not seem like a lot to some people, but it meant the world to her.”
Bo Bice’s Career on the Rise
Bice has signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/RCA Records and on June 21, his first solo CD was released, featuring a cover of “Vehicle” and a version of the song written for the Idol finalists, “Inside Your Heaven.” The record reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart.
Bice’s whirlwind into the public eye began right away following the American Idol finale. But those closest to him insist all the new found attention won’t affect the Alabama-bred rocker.
“Bo is very genuine, and no amount of celebrity will change that,”Acton says. “He’s very generous to everyone, especially kids. And no matter what, Bo will always be Bo... Just a good old country boy from Alabama who just happens to have an amazing talent he wants to share with the world.”
The stylish rocker possesses many other talents he hopes he can share with others soon. He plays the guitar, piano, bass, saxophone, harmonica, trumpet, drums and has written original songs since he was 11.
Bice says he can’t possibly pinpoint what it is about music that touches him so deeply. “The day I figure that out, will probably be the day I die,” he explains. “When I know the answer to that, the journey will be over and it won’t be fun anymore.”
Through it all, his humanity and humility remain intact. “Bo is very grounded in his convictions and in his values,” says Hawkins. “He’s told me many times that he’d just like to be whatever is God’s will. He still contends he is the most shocked person of any-one. He told me that sometimes he looks in the mirror and says, ‘What are all these people looking at?’
“He is down to earth, and he is humble. He thinks he’s ordinary, but he is special. He is using the gifts he has to help others, and I believe he will make a difference in this world.”
SugarMoney Bandmates Form Life-Long Bond
On the name SugarMoney . . .“If you go gambling and you win . . . that’s the sugar money. It’s like getting something for nothing... Like getting something you didn’t expect.” —Bo Bice
By Michelle Garland Segrest
Like an old, faded pair of blue jeans – ripped in all the right places – these friends fit perfectly.
“We’ve been through it all together,” Bo Bice explains of his best friends and SugarMoney bandmates. “We’ve traveled around together in a van and slept every night on guitar cases. Music is our bond and it‘s our passion, but our friendship is much more than that.
“We are brothers forever.”
Bice, John Cooper and Shane Sexton have made music together for more than a decade. Though various day jobs have spread their residences out all over the Southeast, the music and their friendship seem to bridge the gap any physical distance puts between them.
“We are the kind of friends who can go to Wal-Mart together and have a blast,” says Cooper. “We are brothers and friends first. From the very first meeting, it was kind of like the whole high-school sweetheart thing . . . we just knew it was right.”
The three have played together under several band names including Purge and Blue Suede Nickel, but SugarMoney is now their moniker. Thanks to Bice’s recent rise to stardom as a finalist on American Idol, SugarMoney is quickly becoming more than a garage band.
But don’t let anyone tell these guys they haven’t paid their dues.
“We played to ashtrays for 10 years before Bo auditioned forAmerican Idol,” says Cooper.
Get one thing straight — no one is happier for Bice’s recent success than his best friends.
“We knew when Bo auditioned that he would make it,” Cooper says. “The most important thing to Shane and me is that Bo’s first album is the best that it can be. We are so proud of him. If he wants to further his career, more power to him.”
For now, SugarMoney cannot record or play professionally due to Bice’s contract restrictions. But rest assured, this is not the end of SugarMoney, says Cooper.
“We are not recording or playing live right now, but we are still making music,” he explains. “We will always be brothers, and we’ll always be a band. We will play together again, it’s just a matter of when.”
The synergy among the three friends began strong, and has developed over time, Cooper says.
“We’ve all been through a lot, personally,” he explains. “Each one of us has experienced the good, the bad and the ugly. But we’ve all been through it together. The music is just a bonus.”
Sexton says the friendship shows in the music the band pro-duces. “There is a lot of feeling and emotion in what we do,” he explains. “We have a lot of chemistry. It’s a universal bond. None of us can quite figure out its origins, but from the beginning we knew it was meant to be.”
Cooper remembers the days when various odd jobs supported their musical night lives. Cooper and Bice worked as maintenance men for an apartment complex in exchange for free rent. Many other jobs would support their musical habit, but the friendship never waivered.
With experience and age, the bandmates have found solidarity in their personal lives. Cooper and his wife have a 15-month-olddaughter, Emma. Sexton has also settled down to family life and has a 5-year old daughter, Macy, and a 16-month-old son, Brodie. Bice recently married his longtime sweetheart, Caroline Fisher.
Despite the tight bond, the SugarMoney family is not an exclusive club. The band recently hired a new member, Kris Bell, a guitarist from San Diego. Bell says the friends welcomed him with open arms.
“We just started jamming, and I felt like I was part of the family right away,” Bell says. “These guys are brothers. They finish each other’s sentences. They argue like brothers, too. They have already made me feel like I have a home with them. They are just great guys.
Where is Bo Bice Now?
Bice lives with his wife, Caroline, and their four children in Covington, Georgia. Despite suffering serious health problems in 2006, the Southern rocker has released three hit albums since his stint on American Idol.
