Billy Dean doesn't live on the Ponderosa.
His home is in a part of Nashville where tourist buses never run. His neighbors work nine to five, punch time clocks or manage blue-collar businesses. Like Billy, they take out their own trash, cook for their kids, and wash their own dishes. They all know each other by their first names.
It's not where you'd expect to find a Grammy winner, a rangy, handsome singer who charted so quickly and often that he could release a Greatest Hits collection as his fourth album. Yet there he is, a single dad (now happily married to Stephanie), his bedroom literally two steps away from those of his two kids, his studio set up in a corner of his basement.
And there's no place he'd rather be.
"I've had the Ponderosa," he grins, leaning against his kitchen counter, a cup of coffee steaming in his hand. "In fact, I've still got it. Damn woodpeckers and worms are having a field day with it, but as far as I'm concerned, they can eat it. I'm here because this is where I want to be."
Billy Dean's journey runs against the currents that flow through his business -- yet it's brought him closer than most artists ever get to the heart of country music. Throughout his Curb debut, Let Them Be Little, he displays a humanity, tender and tough, that comes not from the spotlight's glare but from the trials of parenthood, the struggle to find a foothold in fast-changing times, and the light of love in his son's and daughter's eyes.
The story unfolds in the music: The dark side stands exposed in "I'll Race You to the Bottom," which slashes the veil and exposes the hidden, cynical face of fame. In this context, his exuberant cover of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" takes on new meaning as a celebration of an innocence that had been nearly lost. On each track Billy sings with an appreciation for all that life has to offer, from the magic of childhood on "Let Them Be Little" to the awestruck eloquence of "I'm in Love With You," his passionate affirmation of what it means to touch and be touched, spiritually and physically.
Bottom line, Let Them Be Little is about a star that chose to come down from the sky and take every day at a time. It is, in other words, about redemption -- and a return to the soul of country music.
An overnight sensation after his victory on Star Search, Dean shot like a comet from a childhood marked by poverty and struggle in Florida to the height of celebrity. But as spotlights trained on his 6'4" frame, the young star saw only a kind of fog as he looked back from the stage. "I was having a great career," he remembers. "For four or five years everything I did went into the Top Five -- but it went against everything I was about. I was a simple country person and a new dad. I had no idea how to put it into perspective."
All this took its toll. The more sold-out shows Billy played, the more invitations he got to appear on TV shows like One Life to Live or Wings, the greater the gap grew between who he really was and what others wanted him to be. "I'd play these gigs where everything would feed back, and my voice was tired, and I'd smile through it all and go 'Screw it, I'm getting a $25,000 check for this,'" he remembers. "I felt like a hypocrite. Playing music was no longer fun. I almost had throat surgery. But I wanted the career, man. As a result, I got divorced and I nearly had a nervous breakdown until I realized that I had to define what was making me so unhappy."
Help came from the special people in his life, especially from his children. "That was the key thing," Billy says. "They ended up parenting me. Like, if I was fighting with my ex-wife, my little girl would go, 'Well, why don't you just not fight?' And I'm like, 'Uh ... yeah! Why do I get suckered into fighting like this?' These kinds of things made me listen to my kids in a new way. That's where that line comes from in 'Let Them Be Little': 'And now you're teaching me how only a child can see.'"
Trading showbiz illusions for his true role as a father, Billy recorded one last album seven years ago and then rebuilt his world, top to bottom. "I began by facing my darkest, worst fears," he says, "which came from growing up poor. So I took that off the table. For three years I spent down to the last dollar, selling property and dipping into credit cards -- but I was bankrolling my freedom. I was doing what I had to do to make sure I could have a career on my own terms, without saying 'yes' to everybody who wanted me to do this or that. And I began to feel better. I realized that if I ended up dirt poor, back in the poverty house, at least I'd know that I'd worked my butt off and given my best. If that's how my career had to end, I could accept those terms."
Instead, Billy discovered a different creative space, in which he felt stronger as an artist. He began writing songs more often -- songs that tapped into his experiences rather than someone else's idea of what might sell. Paradoxically, the more candidly he wrote, the more expressive and accessible his work became. "It picked up a kind of energy that wasn't there before," he explains. "I'd been known as a balladeer, and I had struggled hard to stay in a commercial vein. But letting go of that, I've found a more natural way of making music. It's really opened me up."
Producing himself and paying his own way, Billy recorded "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" last year, as a rock 'n' bluegrass romp that trumpeted his invigorated creativity. Though released independently, with Billy, Herb Graham and Doc Gonzales handling the entire business side, the public took notice and helped launch the single at No. 49 on the Billboard country charts. Rising into the top twenty, it hastened Curb Records' offer -- and Billy's acceptance -- of a record deal. As usual, he doesn't resort to corporate-speak in explaining why he signed with Curb:
"We kicked their ass," he laughs. "We were jumping major artists in the charts, from labels that had staffs or eight or ten people. That made us a good investment."
Actually, it goes deeper than that, to Billy Dean's epiphany that "music" comes before "business" in the country music business. "I live a real person's life," he insists. "My career is not my life, and that scares a lot of people who think that means that you're not going to give it your best. Well, my message is, 'Man, let me have a life, and I'll give you the best stuff you could ever possibly listen to.'"
The proof is in Let Them Be Little: Billy Dean is back -- and he's got it right.
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Given Name: William Harold Dean
Date of Birth: April 2, 1962
Hometown: Quincy, Florida
Height: 6'4"
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Green
Education: East Central Junior College, Decatur, Mississippi
Billy attended college on a basketball scholarship where he majored in Physical Education before leaving after one semester to pursue his dream.
Marital Status: Married to Stephanie
Hobbies:
Sports, especially basketball, and all water sports, reading
Musical Influences: Billy Dean Sr., James Taylor, Merle Haggard
TV Acting Roles:
One Life To Live, Lois and Clark, Wings, Diagnosis Murder
Movie Acting Roles: A Face to Kill For, Blue Valley Songbird
TV Hosting Roles: Lifetime TV Special, Good Morning Texas, Prime Time Country, ABC In Concert Country (1994 Season)
TV Appearances:
CBS This Morning, CNN, E! Entertainment, Entertainment Tonight, Fox After Breakfast, Fox News Channel, Good Morning America, John & Leeza, Mike & Mady, Music City Tonight, Nashville Now, Pat Bullard Show, Regis & Kathie Lee, TNN Country News, Tonight Show, Wildhorse, WGN TV, Prime Time Country, Arthel & Fred Show
Music Awards:
1992 Academy of Country Music (ACM) Songwriter of the Year for Somewhere In My Broken Heart
1992 ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year
1991 and 1992 BMI Pop Awards
1993 BMI Country Song Awards for Billy The Kid and Somewhere In My Broken Heart
1993 BMI Million Air Plays Award for Somewhere In My Broken Heart
1993 CMT Rising Star Award
1993 TNN Songwriter Award for Billy The Kid
1996 Grammy for A Country Tribute...Amazing Grace
"I will never forget the big words of wisdom my father gave me about my desire to be an entertainer... 'Son, it won't surprise me if you make it but it would surprise me if you didn't.' "
"I know now what my priorities are. My children matter above all else, but I know that my music is a part of me just like my kids are. I'm really enjoying myself now. I love what I'm doing."
TWENTY QUESTIONS WITH BILLY DEAN...from CMT.com
Billy Dean believes you don't have to be obnoxious to have a hit record. He's got the track record to prove it, too. Starting with 1990's "Only Here For a Little While" all the way through his current comeback hit, "Let Them Be Little," the Florida native has always projected a nice-guy persona. Here, he generously answers fans' questions about acting roles, Reba McEntire and the secret behind his good looks.
Q1: How did you develop your amazing voice? Did you take voice lessons, or did it just come naturally?
A: It kind of came naturally with my dad. He was a singer. He taught me a lot. It wasn't until I moved to Nashville that I actually got voice lessons, which was very beneficial. It helped me learn to preserve my voice.
Q2: Are you still interested in acting roles if they were to come your way?
A: Yeah, we're open to anything, really. We're trying to work right now on a reality TV concept that is based around children. That probably won't be hitting the airwaves until maybe spring of next year. Everything is kind of in the conceptual stage right now. It's based around kids and the song, "Let Them Be Little."
Q3: "Let Them Be Little" is very special to me because it says a lot about what a parent should do. Do you let them be little, too? I have changed some of my parenting ideas based on your song.
A: Yeah, I find myself struggling with that very same thing that most people struggle with, trying to grow them up too fast. The song has actually helped me to slow down and let them be kids. It's something I struggle with every day: how to balance the innocence, how to balance the patience. I try to let them stay little as long as they can. I am still a big kid at heart, myself, I guess. We play a lot. Playing is a really important thing, I think. You know, just getting down and playing with your kids.
Q4: What is the hardest part of balancing a music career and a family?
A: Sometimes I miss some of their activities that they're involved in. I had to miss a few football games this year. Just not getting to be there, the travel mostly. The travel is both good and bad. It's good when the kids get to travel with me because the kids absolutely love it. They're world travelers. They've been doing it for most of their lives. For me, having to leave them behind is kind of tough. Just not getting to be there because I travel. My job takes me away. I think that's the hardest thing.
Q5: Do your kids have music classes in school? I am an elementary school teacher and was just curious to know.
A: Yes, they do. I highly recommend it for my kids. I'm not a really good music teacher. It's something I never really learned through music classes and things like that. I learned a lot just from picking up from my dad and other musicians. My little girl, Hannah, has been taking piano and voice for about four years. My son is more into the engineering part of music. He loves to be able to sit in front of the computer. He plays with sound files all the time. He's learning to be an engineer, and producing is something he wants to do. I don't know if he'll do it or not. That's what they're into now. I think it's just an excuse to come down and play with Dad's toys.
Q6: What type of books do you like to read, and do you have a favorite author?
A: I read a lot. In fact, I'm getting ready to read The Purpose Driven Life. I got that for my birthday. I read a lot of theology and religion as my hobby, that I like to study. I read probably everything the Dalai Lama puts out. I'm really into the Dan Brown books, The DaVinci Code and things like that. When those things came out, I really jumped on them because theology and the different religions have always interested me, to see how different people view their spiritual path. Those types of book are books I read a lot of. One of my favorite books is an M. Scott Peck book, which is called The Road Less Traveled. That book really helped me a lot.
Q7: Will you be starting your fan club back up again? I was in it for several years before it was disbanded.
A: There's a possibility we probably will be doing a fan club type of thing, but it will be online. It will be through the Web site, but we haven't gotten that far yet. We're trying to come up with a new business plan for the fan club idea, mainly to be able to get people a backstage pass a year. That was something we did. I don't know if we're going to do the fan club deal, but at least do something where fans who are members on my Web site can get a backstage pass to use once a year.
Q8: I haven't seen you in concert since you opened for Reba. How was it working with Reba?
A: Reba McEntire is still one of my best friends in the business. She and her husband, Narvel, have treated me very well and treated me with respect. In fact, they helped launch my It's What I Do album and we had two Top 5 records off of that album. I was managed by Narvel for about three years there. They've had a very important role in my career. I haven't talked to her much since she's been in L.A. Reba McEntire was really wonderful to me.
Q9: Where do you buy your stage clothes?
A: I get a lot of my clothes from Wrangler. They've got what you would not typically think of as Wrangler clothes. They have a little bit more of a mainstream fashion line they've been coming out with. I get a lot of my stuff from Wrangler and, of course, whatever I can steal from a video shoot or photo shoot or whatever they'll let me have. They usually turn the other way and let me put a lot of that stuff in my car.
Q10: If you could travel anywhere for a dream vacation where would it be?
A: I'd probably go to India or Tibet. I would love to go visit the Holy Land and that stuff. I'm a little scared to go over there right now. I'd love to go to the Himalayans. I've done all the other stuff. I've done all the Caribbean vacations, Alaskan vacations. I love to visit foreign countries.
Q11: I've read that you own a horse farm in Tennessee. What breed of horses do you own, and do you show?
A: I have a farm ... and it's more for boarding. We'll board horses. My next door neighbor has a church retreat camp, and they have about 20 horses that they'll use for the kids every year. In wintertime, we'll board for them. We don't breed and show horses, but we board horses and have trail riding on our farm.
Q12: How do you relax after one of your shows?
A: Sometimes we'll play some Texas Hold 'Em. We usually like to play some cards on the bus. We get a good game of Texas Hold 'Em going and wind down. I get in there pretty good, I'm a pretty good bluffer.
Q13: Are you a mama's boy? Does she influence any decisions you make in your life?
A: Yeah, I guess so. I was probably more of a daddy's boy. Yeah, I'm a mama's boy. I should say that. I let her still tell me what to do every now and then. She's still probably my biggest fan. I get my whole theme of my music -- which is like "Billy the Kid," inner innocence, inner child, staying child like at heart -- I get all of that from my mom. She's 75 years old and still works out at the gym and does her bun crunches and all that kind of stuff.
Q14: How much different is it now to have a hit than it was when "Billy the Kid" came out? Do you find that the competition is tougher?
A: Yeah, the competition is tougher. The greatest part about "Let Them Be Little" was really just proving it could be done. We still had fans out there that wanted to hear our music. The fans really spoke up and let radio know that they were out there. ... It was those fans out there that had a voice and their voice was heard by the music industry. What got me back in this business, really, were those people that were writing in those e-mails.
Q15: Although you helped write the song "Let Them Be Little" for Lonestar, why did you put it out as a single yourself?
A: Not every song on an album comes out on the radio. I was actually hoping that Lonestar would release it as a single on the radio because I didn't have a record deal at the time when they recorded it. They came with "Mr. Mom" last summer instead of "Let Them Be Little." Richie [McDonald of Lonestar] called me and said they weren't going to be releasing "Let Them Be Little" off the album as a single. Because of that, I could record the song. And so I did, and it ended up being a big hit.
Q16: I remember from an earlier interview that you had enough songs for an album before 9/11, but you decided the material just wasn't right for that time, so you started working on new songs. Does this mean you still have songs available for you to put out another album?
A: Right. Yeah, I probably have at least half of the next album written and available. During the time off, all I did was write. As a result, I was sitting on a lot of really good songs. I let the record label pick which songs out of my catalog they wanted to go on the album.
Q17: The song "Race You to the Bottom" seems to exemplify the pitfalls of life in a "high profile" career like the music industry. If this song expresses your view of life in this industry, how difficult was it for you to make the decision to return?
A: Yeah, it was very difficult because I was faced with doing things on my own terms and maybe going against that kind of system the song talks about. It was my goal and my aim to prove to the music industry that it's a wonderful commodity to do good things with your music. You don't always have to sell music with an attitude -- being a jerk and just copping this sort of arrogant attitude -- just to sell records. I don't believe that. ... You can have a career without sacrificing family and your kids. That's what this whole thing has done for me. The labels had turned this project down before. Radio and the fans spoke out about it. When they did, it happened for me. The last seven years, I've been hanging out with my kids, writing songs and staying in town. I was able to do both.
Q18: You are very good-looking. How do you get your body and hair to look so good?
A:(laughs) That's what a $500-a-day hair and make-up person can do for you! I work out -- a little, not much -- but I try to eat good. I do have a good stylist.
Q19: What is in your CD player right now?
A: I have a couple of new song demos. I have a James Taylor Christmas album in my CD player right now because I'm working on a Christmas album. ... I still have my Let Them Be Little in there. I'm still listening to it, thinking about some of the mixes I should have done better. I'm still critiquing it.
Q20: I loved you in the movie Blue Valley Songbird with Dolly Parton. What do you remember most about making that movie?
A: My love scene with Dolly. I just remember her lips being so soft and so wonderful. It was the best three minutes of my life.
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