Payne County Line�s Best New Artist chats with the O�Colly
Stacey Moore
Staff Writer
The Daily O�Collegian sits down with Bo Phillips, Payne County Line�s Best New Artist of 2006, to discuss his first CD, family and a fan-favorite original song, �Horses.�
The Daily O�Collegian: First of all, when and where were you born?
Bo Phillips: Houston, Texas, Sept. 11, 1974. We moved around a lot when we were kids; southeastern Oklahoma is pretty much home for me. For the last 10 years or so, it�s been Stillwater.
TDO: What is your earliest memory of music?
BP: I think as I was being delivered, someone had the radio on in the delivery room. (Laughs) My grandma used to always listen to country music in her house, when I was 4 or 5, that�s about as young as I can remember. She�d always be on there, taping them (songs) on cassettes. This was when cassettes were brand new. She was the pioneer of the technological age there.
TDO: How old were you when you learned to play guitar?
BP: Nine years old is when I got my first guitar and taught myself to play.
TDO: Did your family encourage you to pursue music or did they push you to go for a more stable career?
BP: I was raised by my grandparents, actually. My granddad didn�t care what I did as long as it wasn�t, you know, ditch-digging or something that didn�t require a whole lot of work. He would have liked for me to go to college, but he never did push it. I�m the only one on either side of my family to ever go to college, so that�s kind of a big deal to them, but he actually�I just now recently started the music deal about a year ago. It was kind of surprising to him because I�ve played since I was 9, but I�ve never really taken it seriously, more of like living room, back porch kind of playing, and so it�s kind of a surprise to most of the family when I wanted to do it as a career.
TDO: Where did you go to college?
BP: OSU. Finished up there. Went to junior college at Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton.
TDO: What was your major?
BP: At Wilburton, it was ag economics. I graduated bachelor�s of ag education and I got a master�s in educational leadership.
TDO: What do you like to do when you aren�t singing or playing music?
BP: I like building stuff: carpentry, welding and all kinds of fabrication stuff.
TDO: Are you married?
BP: I have a wife. We�ve been together for about nine years now, been married for almost seven.
TDO: Do you have any kids?
BP: Three kids; I have a 6-year-old boy and a set of 16-month-old twins, a boy and a girl.
TDO: Do you live in Stillwater?
BP: I was an ag teacher for six years, so we moved throughout Oklahoma doing that and each move progressively got closer to Stillwater � that�s where my wife�s from. We just moved back to Stillwater about a year ago.
TDO: What do you like about playing at Roosters?
BP: I�ve worked out at Tumbleweed for about 10 years, so, since it�s the same ownership, it�s kind of like a family atmosphere.
TDO: Is there anything you don�t like about it?
BP: About playing here? Smelling like smoke when I go home. (Laughs) I�ve never smoked in my life, and that�s the only gritch I have about doing it here.
TDO: What�s your favorite thing about Stillwater?
BP: I think the size, actually. It�s big enough to have all the things you need, but not so big you have to worry about big-city problems. There�s not a big gang problem here. People pretty much just get along. You got a Wal-Mart, what else do you need?
TDO: What is your favorite original song to play?
BP: As far as meaning, probably �More to me.� It�s one on the CD that I wrote for my wife a couple years ago. The one we have the most fun with, they�ve actually played it on the radio numerous times, it�s called �Horses.� It started out as a joke and it just blossomed. It�s probably not the song you want to be known for for the rest of your career, but hey, it�s a good jump start, I suppose.
TDO: Do you have a favorite cover you like to play?
BP: I guess my favorite slow cover would be �Long black veil;� I really enjoy doing that song. And a faster one would be �Satisfied.�
TDO: Are there any crowd favorites that you�re getting sick of?
BP: �Sweet Caroline.� I�m not to the point of being totally sick of it, but it�s approaching there.
TDO: Now, your Web site is a little mysterious...
BP: (Laughs)
TDO: And I was trying to figure out, is �Live at Roosters� your first album?
BP: Yeah.
TDO: Where there any unexpected challenges as far as it being a live recording?
BP: Well, I decided to do all the organization myself rather than hire out as far as publicity and getting people together to do it. That wasn�t as big a hassle as I thought it would be, but the biggest hassle was dealing with the reproduction, as far as organizing when to have it to them and when they would have it back; things that were not in my hands to control were the things that I had the most headache with.
TDO: Who are your musical influences?
BP: I�ve listened to so much music and so many types of music that it�s almost impossible to pinpoint one group or one person as an influence.
TDO: Who are you listening to right now?
BP: I have some Stoney (Larue) bootlegs that I like to listen to. And Brad Paisley, I really like his stuff.
TDO: What is the most embarrassing CD in your collection?
BP: (Laughs) Well, I don�t have any �Achy Breaky Heart.�
TDO: If you could play a duet with anyone, who would it be?
BP: Anyone in the whole world?
TDO: Dead or alive.
BP: Jesus! (Laughs) I think LeeAnn Womack would be cool, she really likes the Texas/Oklahoma red-dirt type music and you can see her hanging out and doing acoustic stuff. She has just an angelic voice.
TDO: What do you hope to be doing in five years?
BP: Countin� the benjamins! (Laughs) I hope to have a well-established band together and playing. Still playing.
Bo Phillips can be heard nightly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Fridays at Roosters, 412 S. Washington, or at http://www.myspace.com/bophillipsmusic. For news and a complete schedule, go to http://www.bophillipsmusic.com.
