DAVE'S DIARY - 3 JANUARY 2005 - BLUE COUNTY
BLUE COUNTY - FROM HOLLYWOOD TO DOLLYWOOD
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The
denizens of Blue County - a soapie actor and a Christian singer -
met seven years ago on the set of the video shoot for Tamara Walker
song Didn't We Love. Scott Reeves and Aaron Bedward went to dinner, discovered that they had a lot in common and agreed to keep in touch. But Reeves, now 38, and Bedward, now 30, pursued individual careers until late 2003 when they formed a chart-topping duo. The duo takes its name from the fictional setting of a screenplay Reeves and Benward wrote. "We were in the process of raising funds for the film, doing it independently, when I brought up the idea of singing together," Benward revealed after they soared charts with debut single Good Little Girls. |
Curb Records
released the group's self-titled album on April 6, 2004.
Scarcity of two-person acts in country enabled Blue County to be nominated
for vocal duo at the 2004 Academy of Country Music Awards before its album
reached stores.
Curb signed them after an office audition.
They explored writing together and with other collaborators and auditioned
for Curb honcho Doug Johnson at his office.
Johnson's, an A&R head within Curb Records' Asylum subsidiary, wrote
Ride On for their debut after they strapped on guitars and began
performing a rough, unfinished demo.
"When we stopped," Reeves recalled, "the first words out
of Doug's mouth were: 'Man, one of you is really gonna have to screw this
up to not make it work.'"
GOOD
LITTLE GIRLS
Their debut album, produced by Dann Huff, features radio friendly songs
Good Little Girls, Sunday Driver, Hollywood, California, Nothin' But
Cowboy Boots and Ride On.
Veteran hit writer Troy Seals and Brett Jones penned their debut hit but
the duo co-wrote their album tracks That's Cool and What's Not
To Love.
Benward also penned Sounds Like Home with Dallas born bluegrass
wizard and solo artist Jon Randall and Nothin' But Cowboy Boots with
Lee Thomas Miller.
"It is weird," Reeves admits, "especially because I was
a fan of Aaron's music. I guess I didn't want to step on his toes or make
him feel obligated."
Gentle pressure from their wives prevailed and they checked out how it
felt to sing together.
They found that their voices had an Everly-like blend on Benward's songs.
"A big thing that makes us different is that we weren't just thrown
together as an experiment," Reeves says.
"We're not contrived. Blue County is based on the history Aaron and
I have. We were best friends before we were anything. That'll always be
our first priority."
THE HOT GOSPEL
| Benward,
born in Auburn, Indiana, had earlier recorded three contemporary Christian
albums with his father Jeffrey - a gospel singer. In high school, his family moved to Nashville, where his father invited him to join in with him now and again. He enrolled at Belmont University on a soccer scholarship, with a major in music industry studies, but he dropped out to tour extensively with his dad. Together they played more than 130 concerts annually for several years and recorded three CDs before Aaron released a solo Christian disc. |
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YOUNG AND RESTLESS
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Reeves'
first big influence came from the family's roots in Delight, Arkansas,
- the hometown of singing actor Glen Campbell. After cultivating a vocal style with the help of his Uncle Jack, Reeves and his family were uprooted to Los Angeles, where his father had taken a job with the Beverly Hills police department. After finishing high school, Reeves, who had been acting as well as playing music, took classes for two years at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Reeves played Ryan McNeil on The Young & the Restless from 1991 to 2001. Wife Melissa Reeves stars as Jennifer Horton on Days of Our Lives, on which the duo guested last year. |
Reeves also
appeared in a Friday the 13th movie (1989's Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan):
"We actually killed Jason," Reeves says. "Supposedly. Until
the next movie."