Annie Bosko interview

Austin James talks with singer songwriter Annie Bosko about her her past invoving rodeos, farm life, and her current songs in country music.

Episode Transcript

(00:17):
And welcome to backstage past. Iam Austin James. Thank you so much
for listening, and of course,as always, I want to get a
shout out to our veterans who arelistening across the way, across the pond,
overseas, everywhere. We get alot of reports that the podcast is
downloaded by some military bases, Sothank you so much for your sacrifice and

(00:39):
your protection and your family's sacrifice aswell. So so how about this.
We have another new artist in thestudio with us. I guess I can
say new, but she's been playingmusic, writing songs, and I guess
being associated with Rodeo. We're goingto be talking to buy that rodeos and

(01:00):
all kinds of stuff. Her nameis Annie Bosco and she is a fantastic
artist. We're going to be talkingabout her new single, Neon Baby,
that's coming up in just a littlebit. But Annie, thanks again for
sitting with us and talking with us. And I know you've been busy,
man. You've been on tour,going here and going there, all across
all across the nation, the wholeRodeo, not Rodeo but Radio Tour,

(01:25):
which is a rodeo itself. Isn'tit. Yeah, how's that striking you?
I mean, I know it's alot of here, go here,
go there, do this, dothat? How's that with your lifestyle?
You know? Sometimes when I lookat like the next month, oh,
I have a mild panic attack.So I try to just take it one
day at a time and not thinktoo much about being gone. And for

(01:48):
me, I think it's really beenI'm grateful because you've to understand. I
moved to Nashville seventeen years ago,always wanting to do this. I had
roommates that got signed to record deals, the one on radio tours, and
I was the dog sitter at home, you know, and always thinking like,
man, I'd love just the opportunityto do that one day. And
I mean it's tiring, for sure. And I think being on a lot
of planes is different than a bus, you know. Yeah, you kind

(02:10):
of have more of a rhythm.So I think that the travel can definitely
be very arduous. But I don'ttake it for granted because I know it
could all go away, you know, one second, And I'm just lucky
to get to do this. There'sso many artists that work their whole lives
and never even get to take asong to radio, you know, and
I grew up listening to country radio. I entered into the contest. As
a kid, I would drive,you know, six hours to go see

(02:31):
shows. So I just think backto that and just have a lot of
gratitude that I finally get to dothis. So let's talk about your childhood.
You grew up in California near Ventura, right, Yeah, what was
that like? I had a reallyyou know, normal upbringing. It was
like Jesus loving soccer moms, youknow, kind of where I grew up.

(02:52):
And I feel fortunate because I gotto be outdoors a lot, three
hundred and sixty five days a year. My dad is a third generation agriculture
farmer, so I got to growup, you know, with the rural
lifestyle. My uncle was in therodeo world, so we have how best
of both worlds. Yeah, likefive quarter horses and got to trail ride
and work at our family's corn stand. But I also grew up, you

(03:15):
know, not too far from theocean, so I tell people horseback.
I rode horses, and I rodesurfboards, you know, and I learned
how to do both. And I'mkind of an outdoors enthusiast, So I'd
say, I and then just singingeverywhere I could. I'm one of five
kids, and music wasn't really inour family, but it was something that
I definitely loved at a very youngage and started working at at a young

(03:36):
age, and as soon as Ihad my license, was just going to
gigs, you know, playing everywhereI could. What was the first instrument
that you played, can you remember? So we actually had you know a
lot of most artists have someone musicalin the family. That's sort of like
the gateway into the industry. Ididn't. No one was really musical,
and so we had an upright itwas I think passed down for my grandma

(03:58):
piano and we'd have like fifteen minuteinterval piano lessons as kids because there's five
of us, so it would belike ding ding ding ding, Okay,
next kid, you know, likea piano teacher. So I'd say that
was sort of the really the beginning, and then I was able to buy
my first guitar. I sang jinglesfor a local composer once I turned out
guitar, and he took me togo buy my first guitar Guitar Center jingles.

(04:21):
Tell us about that. Can youremember some of the some of the
jingles that you recorded? No,No, And I think they were you
know, not all of them wouldactually get placed, but you know it
was someone that would do like theatersout a wash or like, you know,
like one of those things, youknow what I mean, like like
local things. He just did thosefor local placements. And so that was

(04:42):
a job like when I was,you know, sixteen, that helped me
buy my first guitar. I'll bedarn, Wow, that's kind of cool.
Yeah, it was cool. Yeah, did you you know, along
with music and being a part ofagriculture and that kind of thing. I
mean, did you particip plaid insports in high school? Were you interested
in that? Did? Yeah?What'd you do? Yeah? I loved

(05:03):
volleyball. I mean I used toplay like two sports a season. I
played every sport. Yeah, reallyinto sports. But once I hit high
school was sort of I had todecide between musical theater or sports. And
I was doing plays at that time, and so that sort of took up
more of my time, and youknow, taking on volleyball seriously became less,
you know, on the back burnerand focused on musical theater and music

(05:25):
more. Yeah, well you talkedabout theater, so I guess doing music
videos is right down your allen.Yeah, yeah, I enjoy them.
We actually just put out the NeonBaby music video. We made it for
next to nothing. When I saynext to nothing, like next to nothing,
because you know, a lot ofpeople don't even do music videos anymore

(05:46):
now it's visualizers and short form content. But I still really wanted to do
it, and so I pulled somefavors from some friends and it was fun
to do. And you know,I'm still that kid that grew up on
music videos. Yeah, you know, watching gac CMT MTV. My gosh,
so it was I think. Yeah, everything is still kind of goes

(06:08):
back to being creative and theatrical,and they all kind of funnel into each
other in some way or another.So tell us about how you got hooked
up with a record label. Yousaid that you were roommates with a whole
bunch of people and they were goingout on radio tours and you were hooking
up with That's okay, that's cool. You were hooking up with You were

(06:30):
hooking up with their dogs, youknow, to stay and be the dog
sitter. Why they were out onthe road. Howd you get how'd you
get associated with a label? Soit's a wild story, I actually believe
it or not. I had ayear where I had three deals fall through.
It was just like everything that Iwas trying was not working. So
I moved home and then the pandemichit and I said, you know what,

(06:51):
I'll go back to Nashville when Iget a gig. As amazing as
Nashville is, it can also itcan suck the life out of you,
you know, and it can canburn you out and make you lose your
love of music and really why youmoved there in the first place, right
because the business is so different fromactual music making, two different worlds that
you know you need both. Sowhen I moved home, I really listened

(07:12):
to the music that inspired me tomove to Nashville in the first place.
I listened to those songs that really, you know, evoked a feeling so
strong in me. I literally drovemyself to Nashville seventeen years ago. I
told my parents this is what I'mdoing, took off and I went there,
and so, needless to say,I said, I'll go back to
Nashville when I get a gig,I got a gig. At the gig,

(07:33):
I bumped into Vince Gill and heasked, you know, what are
you working on? Because we hadsung together at a couple events, and
in my mind, I knew atthis point you got to make an album
because you've spent time singing on otherpeople's projects, writing for other projects.
It's a pandemic. Now is thetime to focus on you. And you
know, it's a great time tomake music in general, because people were
sitting at home every day writing songs, right, right, And so he

(07:55):
said, well, I want tosing and play on your record, and
so he wrote down his name andnumber on a paper that I still have
saved. And for me, itwas the moment. It was just that
vote of confidence that I needed inthat moment to be like, you really
got to go for it, likenow is the time, don't give up,
get back here work and just youknow, here's an opportunity to work

(08:16):
with a legend, one of thegreatest of all time. Yeah. Absolutely,
Now the guy's an eagle, right, So we recorded a duet together
and then I thought, you knowwhat if I can do a song with
him, who else could I doa song with and so Dwight Yoakam had
come to a couple of my shows. His wife had brought him to a
couple of shows, and we developeda friendship, and so I ended up
recording a duet with him, andthen I thought who else could I get?

(08:37):
And Raoul Mallow had actually come toa showcase. Oh yeas so good.
I was playing a showcase actually withLaney Wilson where we became friends,
and Raoul was there, and sowe talked about writing songs together and working
together, and so I ended updoing a song with him, and I
thought, you know what, I'mjust going to start self releasing these songs
and just do what I love andjust put music out. So I released

(08:58):
that song, which my manager heardand ended up contacting me, signing me,
and then a couple months later signedmy first record deal and Here I
Am, Here You Are Yeah,and the release is Neon Baby. Tell
us about that one. Oh.I'm so excited about this song because I
wrote it with Jeff Steele, who'sone of my favorite songwriters in the world,
and Bridgetitatum, one of my favoritepeople in the world. And I

(09:22):
wanted to be intentional about writing asong that truly felt and sounded country,
and to not shy away from usingsteel guitar, which you know is heavily
focused in that track. And italso kind of has an R and B
flare to it too. You know. I was throwing out like Crystal Gale
references and wanting something retro and oldschool but still with a new age spin
to it. Sure, and feltthat, you know, as a woman,

(09:43):
I've written so many songs telling aguy off, which you know,
we love those songs as girls,we do. Yeah, it's great,
you know, but you know,this initially was going to be like,
you know, I'm not I ain'tgoing to be your neon baby. That
was kind of the direction we weregoing in, I thought. Man,
but it's almost even more empowering asa woman if you're in a relationship to
say, you know what, wedon't have to be out at the club

(10:05):
to have a party. We canhave date night at home. I can
be the party. So that's howthat song came to be. And I'm
really excited about it and just sothrilled to take it to radio and to
get to know all you guys,And thank you so much for your support
and for helping out. It meansthe world. So we talked about business,
we talked about your personal life.Yeah, let's talk about some things.

(10:26):
Well, basically, I get toknow you deal. Okay, I
do this with a lot of folks, and it's a really cool quote unquote.
I think we've already broken the ice. But yeah, just get to
know you thing. So I wantyou to tell me the very first thing
that pops in your head. Right, Paris are Rome? What would be

(10:50):
your choice? Paris are Rome.To be honest, I'm not interested really
in either. It's weird, Iknow. I'm kind of more of like,
I want to go in the countrysideand explore some sure little wine town
and be in some bread and breakfastwhere a woman teaches me how to make
olive oil cake and spaghetti. Okay, I guess I would go, okayess
that's spaghetti. So yeah, we'llgo with Rome. All right, all
right, Rome, all right?How about this? Basketball or baseball,

(11:15):
basketball, ice fishing or lake fishing, lake fishing, lake fishing? All
right? Beach are snowtop mountain,beach all day long? I miss a
beach man. Yeah, mountain.I love mountains. And you know what,
California, here's the thing you canbe snowboarding and surfing in the same
day. True, so I grewup. I mean, I love hiking
mountains, I love being in themountains, and I definitely grew up around

(11:37):
both. But I just right nowit's cold and I really could use some
more and weather soon. I'm like, someone booked me on like a beach
festival. Please. Oh well,that's coming up. That's coming up.
I'm telling you it's going to bea ride around the corner as we record
this on January twenty six of twentytwenty four. Okay, if you had
your choice to buy, you hadtwo houses, Okay, there's a choice

(12:00):
to buy either house. Would youbuy a house with a pool or one
with a fireplace? Pool? Apool? Okay? Four wheel drive truck
are a really expensive sports car.Four wheel drive truck good for you?
D ding ding any something to pullmy trailer that I'm going to have my
horse in one day? Well,yeah, I mean that's afore gone conclusion

(12:22):
I guess for the future. Here. Tuna fish sandwich are chicken salad?
Chicken salad? Really? Yeah,like that egg salad or peanut butter and
jelly. Peanut butter and jelly.All right, good girl, you saying
that I haven't. Really I didn't. The airport last night had no food.
Everything had closed, so you hadFrench fries and a soft drinker beer.

(12:43):
Yet, but now I'm craving.I'm really craving a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich. I will tell youthis. Have you ever had a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich on toast?No, Annie, like I do on
peanut butter. This is what Ido on toast. I like the toast
and then I like to put peanutbutter on it with honey and sliced banana.

(13:03):
That would work, and it kindof like the honey and the peanut
butter sort of melt together, andthen the bananas kind of caramelize a little
bit in this concoction. Okay,it is so good and I'm creating it
right now. I get the Texasbread where you can make Texas toast.
That's how I make my peanut butterand jelly. Say, wow, do
you eat cereal? I do?Okay, I have a little hint for

(13:26):
you and suggestion. When you goto the grocery store and you buy your
cereal, Okay, okay, whenyou bring it home, put it in
those big zip lock bags and putthem in the freezer. It lasts longer.
Yeah, oh it's fresh and ifand I know this, So then
you put the milk in it andit's already cold, and it kind of
exactly. Well, that's another thing. Here's the deal. Now, I

(13:48):
know this is very intricate for cereal, but just stay with me. There's
a method to the madness. Goto the store, a dollar store or
whatever, and get like a realglass bowl, you know, no etching,
no designs, none of that.Yeah, all right, And when
you say to yourself, you knowwhat I want cereal? All right,
tomorrow morning, I think I'll havecereal for breakfast or whatever. You take

(14:09):
that glass bowl and you put itin the freezer. Okay, now,
stay with me. Glass crack inthe freezer though not really, I mean,
if you can, it'll just frost. You know, you don't keep
it in there for a long time, but it will just froz. Think
it's plastic, tumble the crocks,I think so, right, And then
you put a little bit of milk, or you put some milk. Absolutely,

(14:35):
so you take that glass bowl,put it in the freezer. All
right, and put some milk init, right, and leave it for
about five minutes, ten minutes,and then you take that out very carefully
because you don't want to spill it. And then you take your cereal and
dump it in there, and I'mtelling you, when you finished with your
cereal, the milk is still icecold. This is brilliant because I'm with

(14:56):
you on lukewarm cereal. No,never a fan of it, but I
think cold cereal is and it staysand the cereal itself stays crispy. Get
out still. Okay, it's alife change, I'm telling you. I
can't wait to try it. Iknow it's kind of difficult on the road,
you know, and the bus andwhatnot, but when when you have
some downtime at the house frozen Yeah, I'm yeah. B any Way,

(15:20):
I love that so many military listento your your podcast because I do a
lot of work with military, seeinga lot of military events. I do
have a rendition of Godless America that'sout. And I also do the anthem
a lot, too, so Ido. I liked, I love very
passionate. Thank you so much aboutsupporting our military. Absolutely, I'm there

(15:41):
with you, right there with you, and I do have to ask a
personal question, of course, youdon't mind. Yeah, what's with the
hat? I see some little wholewell, yeah, little preferations, maybe
stars. Yeah, there's star cutouts. And I I'm sponsored by Hatko.
They make stetson and resist all hats, okay, yeah, and Charlie.
Anyways, they're the largest hat maker, I think in the world, but

(16:04):
definitely in America. All made inAmerica, in Texas, and it's a
really cool the factory. I've gottento visit it. So the designer there,
Claudia, said, hey, doyou mind if I kind of mess
around with the hat? I said, go for it, And so she
cut out these stars in a hatand it's so cool. I get people
stopping me all the time. That'sso cool, you know what. Yeah,
I was looking at that. Icouldn't quite tell what they were.

(16:26):
But then jilt your head back alittle bit, I could see you've got
stars in your hat. Well,she rotstripes and breast us. Bring it,
baby, bring it. Annie Boscohas stars in her hat. She's
got stars in her eyes, andshe is definitely a star in and of
itself. For herself, She's justan amazing artist, real cool person and

(16:47):
if you get a chance, gosee Annie Bosco in concerts somewhere anywhere,
and of course go to her website. The official website is www dot Anniebosco
dot com Bosco with a K witha Kosco with a K. And if
someone wanted to reach out to youon social media, they do. What
I mean, I'm pretty responsive onall platforms. I'll respond to the YouTube

(17:07):
comments personally. I respond to myInstagram personally. I usually respond to my
Facebook personally. So yeah, Ijust love interacting with fans and getting to
know people, and you know,just appreciate the support, So hit me
up. Love it. Annie Bosco, our guest on Backstage Past. Remember
you can catch more episodes on ourfree iHeartRadio app. Thank you,