By Matthew W. Maxey | Published Aug 5, 2015
A fact well known in Nashville, and throughout the music industry, is that country music has been undergoing a transformation for years. Many of the artists have a new look and a new feel, which means fans also have a different look and want to hear their favorite songs and artists introduced and discussed in a new way.
Enter Bobby Bones.
The Bobby Bones Show broadcasts on nearly 70 affiliates to nearly three million weekly listeners. Bones also hosts two weekend programs – Country Top 30 with Bobby Bones, on more than 100 affiliates, and FOX Sports Radio’s Bobby Bones, on nearly 250 affiliates.
Just as David Allen Coe famously described the perfect country and western song, for decades many similarly envision the perfect country and western DJ as a deep voiced, cowboy hat wearing guy with his matching belt buckle and cowboy boots.
Bobby Bones is none of that.
He doesn’t own a cowboy hat, or even a pair of boots, but that doesn’t mean Bones isn’t country. Sitting in the WSIX studio with his black rimmed glasses, and often a flat billed baseball cap, Bones discussed how the last year and a half where he and his co-hosts have taken the country music world by storm is far from his first introduction to country music.
“I’m from Arkansas; country music is what I grew up on.”
Bones is host of The Bobby Bones Show, with his friends Amy and Lunchbox, which airs weekday mornings on nearly 70 affiliates to approximately three million weekly listeners, in addition to hosting the Country Top 30 with Bobby Bones on weekends that has more than 100 affiliates.
The native of Mountain Pine, Arkansas, not only grew up on country music but one could almost argue his youth could have been a country song. His mother had him when she was just 15, he doesn’t know who his real father is and he was a self-described ‘welfare and food stamp kid that moved from school to school and trailer to trailer.’
“We didn’t know any different then,” he recalled. “We thought everybody bought their school clothes at garage sales. I didn’t know that we were struggling, that was just normal to us.”
It was that difficult upbringing though that helped develop a determination and desire to succeed in Bones that is evident to anyone who is around him.
“Radio is really the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do my whole life; that and be a standup comedian and be on television. I don’t really know what it’s like to not know what I want to do with my life.”
Bones got his first job in radio at the young age of 17 and after becoming the first in his family to graduate high school, attended Henderson State University. While there he worked for the campus radio station KSH 91.1 The Switch and met professor Richard Robinson.
Robinson, whom Bones has described as a father figure in his life, recalled his first encounters with Bones in class. “I could tell from the beginning he was very eager and very determined.”
After graduating from Henderson State, Bones landed a job working nights at Q100/KQAR in Little Rock. While in Little Rock, Bones tendency to push the envelope was made most evident when he took over the airwaves of a rival station. His sidekick ‘Gilligan’ snuck in the rival station, patched Bones in by phone and he was able to broadcast on their air for 15 minutes before being caught.
“I almost got fired for that,” Bones said. “But, that’s also when Austin called. They were like, wow that’s awesome, come work in Austin.”
Bones had never been to Austin before but took the job only a few months after starting in Little Rock and now considers it one of the best decisions he’s ever made. While there Bones got his first shot at the coveted morning radio time slot, now only at age 22, and The Bobby Bones Show, as it is known now was built.
Austin is where Bones met his now co-hosts, although they were not part of the show in the beginning. Lunchbox he met in a bar and Amy he met at a restaurant.
“We weren’t like anyone else, we were having acts on that were alternative, hip hop, county – if you were good, you could come on our show. There was no rhyme or reason; we just wanted quality folks on the show.”
Bones’ and his crew’s approach resonated with listeners and the show became widely popular. Seeing this, Bones wanted to syndicate the show, but management didn’t agree at the time. That didn’t stop the ever-determined Bones though; he just bought his own equipment and paid out of his own pocket to start the syndication process.
In 2012 Bones was approached by Clear Channel management about taking The Bobby Bones Show national. The catch though was that it would require moving to Nashville and switching to a country format.
“It doesn’t matter where you put me, I grew up on country music and it is as easy for me as anything else is.”
Moving to Nashville, locally Bones and crew replaced legendary WSIX host Gerry House, whose House Foundation morning show had long been one of the most popular in Music City.
The show also continues to welcome in guests of all music genres. The biggest names in country music, like Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton and Jake Owen certainly appear on the show, but performers like Ed Sheeran, A Great Big World or country rapper Big Smo are also just as likely to be in studio as well.
“I loved Gerry House so much,” said longtime WSIX listener Christy Pratt. “Now someone new came along I had to adjust to new voices and new personalities. It was like starting a new friendship – you just don’t really know them. Eventually though, through the personal stories they shared, I grew to know them and the friendship grew.”
That engagement with the listeners has also allowed Bones to do a lot of good. After tornadoes devastated Moore, Oklahoma Bones was able to raise over $135,000 from his friends on Music Row and listeners. The show has also raised over $65,000 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, $40,000 for tornado relief in Arkansas, and over $150,000 for 30Abes, a charity started by co-host Amy to benefit the Maison Des Enfants De Dieu orphanage in Haiti.
On air is not the only place Bones has raised money either. His band, ‘The Raging Idiots,’ have raised over $300,000 playing free concerts around the country, donating all the money to charity.
“I wouldn’t say it’s gratifying, but it’s been fulfilling to know that I can do stuff to help. It is something I didn’t expect, but something that makes the job just that much more worthwhile.”
As the show continues to prosper, locally WSIX has quickly become not just the top country station in Nashville but the top station overall.
“Not wanting to be poor again and to make people laugh,” he said without hesitation, when asked where his drive comes from. “There was never really an option not to succeed, so I’ve just kept working hard, showing up on time and being someone that people can rely on.”
The humble Bones would never say he was the next big thing, but does admit, “This is going better than anyone thought it would, myself included.”
Tags: Bobby Bones, Bobby Bones Show, Country Radio, Gerry House, WSIX