Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Visitors from all over the world come to Pocahontas County for many different reasons – to explore, to learn about the history of the area and to experience new activities.
For Bo Bice – best known for being runner-up to Carrie Underwood on the fourth season of “American Idol,” – a trip to Marlinton was a time for rejuvenation and to unlock his song writing skills.
Bice has a friend with family in the area and when Bice found out he was coming up for a visit, he decided to tag along and take a song writing retreat.
“I’ve got a new project, and I was trying to finish up,” Bice said. “I felt like it was just a great opportunity for me to come and get away in the mountains, see a lot of beautiful wildlife –bear and deer – boy you all have a mess of both of those. I saw both while I was there.
Bice, who is originally from north Alabama, said coming to Marlinton was a lot like going home – a small town surrounded by mountains with great people and beautiful places.
“I’m a country boy,” he said. “Being there in your beautiful community of Marlinton is very much like north Alabama. We’re not as mountainous of a region, but we’ve got some beautiful mountains.
“I just wanted to come to your community and re-charge, try to get some new grass under my feet and spend a little bit of time in the fresh air,” he added.
During his eight-day visit Bice not only succeeded in writing songs, he also enjoyed the shops and restaurants in Marlinton.
“I was able to go visit a lot of the shops,” he said. “You’ve got great shops. You’ve got great food – I’m a big foodie – so I ate at every one of your establishments there in town.
Bice became somewhat of a regular at Dari-Land, where they would greet him by name and like an old friend.
“I really love your community so much because the people were so kind and so generous with their time,” he said. “You have a great hospitality about yourselves.”
Bice said he took in the music at Discovery Junction during First Friday and spent time at Old Mountain Tavern, where he ended up doing an impromptu show.
He spoke to owner Danny Flores and Jeff Malcom, asking if there was an act scheduled for that Friday night and when they said no, he asked if they’d be willing to give him an hour on the mic.
“I spoke with Danny and said, ‘look man, your community has been amazing to me, and it helped me finish my album,’” Bice said. “I”m not being a big shot, but at this stage, I don’t play a lot of small venues anymore. I’ve always loved them because of the intimacy, the connection with the crowd and also being able to let people know, ‘hey man, this guy is just as normal as I am; puts his feet in his shoes the same way.’”
Bice said his only stipulation for the show was since he was doing it for free, the tavern couldn’t charge people to come to it. It was agreed and Bice took the stage Friday evening.
What was to be an hour set was stopped two and a half hours in when the tavern shut down for the night.
The show was well received, and people fed a tip jar, which Bice admitted he hadn’t had in more than 25 years. An interaction with one man stood out to Bice as he recalled the evening.
A man went to put a tip in the jar and dug for more money in his pocket as he asked Bice if he knew any Lynyrd Skynrd. Bice said he did and when the man went to tip him again, he stopped him.
“I said, ‘well, wait a min-ute, you don’t know if I’m going to do Skynyrd good or not,’” he said, laughing. “I might mess it up. You won’t want to pre-tip me.
“It was just a fun night and not only did they let me play – they had to shut me down.”
They also played a couple of special songs for Bo: “Dixie Land Delight” by Alabama and Bice joined the crowd in singing and dancing along to the country music classic.
“It was just such a rejuvenating experience for me to get to do that because it’s something that I just haven’t had the opportunity to do for so many years and it really was the cherry on top of the sundae for me and my trip to Marlinton, West Virginia,” he said.
When he came to Marlinton, Bice had the goal of writing two songs. When he left, he had written five.
Now he’s ready to enter the studio and complete the new album.
“I plan on finishing up probably in October,” he said. “I’ll hit the road as far as where I’m going to record and then, I’ve already let some folks in Marlinton know I’ll be back to watch the leaves change if I have time.”
Who knows, Bice may even have an album release party here and a less impromptu performance. We’ll have to wait and see.
“I was very impressed with your community,” he said. “It shows the love you all have and I was really, really happy to get to share my time with you and very grateful that you shared your time with me.”
