Author: Emma Loggins
Date: 2008-05-28

Interview:
We had the honor of sitting down with Nashville Star host, Billy Ray Cyrus and creator/executive producer Howard Owens to talk about the new season of the show, and what fans can expect to see this season. Here's what they had to say:

Can you talk about will there be any changes this year?

Howard T. Owens: There will be changes. Billy Ray Cyrus is the host and we obviously have three new judges this year - John Rich, and Jeffrey Steele, and Jewel.

And just from a - the format perspective, there are some changes. We are now introducing duos and trios, so that's an exciting part of sort of country history for us in American music heritage. There's a group of, you know, signing groups and, you know, you have The Judds, and you have the Kingston Trio, and you have Rascal Flatts. So introducing duos and trios is really exciting to us and opens up the competition and also the flavor of the kind of music that the people will hear.

And we - the other, you know, big changes are obviously our judges and our hosts who bring so much to the table, and then what we'll be doing, you know a variety of creative twists and concepts along the way. The show will be heavily themed as part of the NBC's American Summer. We did a big partnership with the military where we went on and Billy Ray personally went on the U.S. Iwo Jima and contestants from the military auditioned. They did casting all over the country for it and actually a serviceman to be on the show - a kid who is absolutely incredible. And I'll stop talking with that.

Okay and Billy Ray, can you talk about how you got involved with this?

Billy Ray Cyrus: Yeah, first I'd just like to follow up where Howard left off about being on the battleship up in Norfolk, Virginia and being there with the military and seeing, you know, the whole country coming together in the celebration of music at a time where there's just so much turmoil. It's already been a highlight for me and we haven't even really started filming the real show yet. This is like an absolute opportunity of a lifetime and I'm just so excited about being partners with NBC in this exciting venture.

Again, there's a lot of - there's some new dynamics to the show this year that I think are really going to be exciting. Being on that battleship - I don't know if you're familiar with a song I wrote called Some Gave All, but Some Gave All is a very decorated song throughout the military. And when we stood on that (hood) of that battleship and sang Some Gave All and all those families, and kids, and moms, and dads, they all sung along. Again, this has already been a great highlight of my career and we're just now getting started. So I'm very excited and very thankful to NBC for allowing me to come onboard.

Can you talk about the judges who are also mentors - the mentoring part of that?

Billy Ray Cyrus: That - now you just turned me on right there. That's one of the things that I'm most excited about. I think our panel is very unique to any competition that has ever existed before.

John Rich obviously has become a staple of country music right now that, you know, quite frankly, every now and then somebody kicks the door open for country music with something new and fresh. And John Rich from Big & Rich has been able to do that and really brought a whole new vitality to country music, and that door right now is riding a wave of momentum that's very positive for country music.

Second of all to see an entertainer and a singer/songwriter like Jewel, I mean my goodness, she is amazing. I have been a huge fan for a long time, so to sit and to listen to her, I didn't know she was so witty, and the way she came up with this - some of these things in this pre-tape, she's very sharp. She's a sharp cookie and I think she's going to entertain folks.

And last but not least, I have to comment on probably one of the greatest secrets in Nashville right now. But I do believe that Nashville Star will probably help expose this - one of the judge's names is Jeffrey Steele. And Jeffrey Steele is today's Kris Kristofferson of Nashville. He is the guy with the pen and the paper that's writing the most and biggest hits coming out of Nashville right now. He is like the voice of country music. And I'm not sure a lot of people are aware of him, but I do think as the summer plays out when people see his personality, he's just very charming. I don't know any other way to say that. He's got a gift of gab obviously with his pen.

And speaking of gift of gab, I should probably hush up and let Howard (talk).

Howard T. Owens: But Billy Ray is right and, you know, we have four very contemporary, very now artists who are anchoring the show in Billy Ray, and Jeffrey Steele, and John Rich, and Jewel.

And I think, you know, what Billy Ray and I witnessed on the judging panel in our preliminary runs was Jewel sitting there giving voice lessons from her chair saying, "Open up your throat like this if you want to sing. You're being too nasal." John Rich saying - looking at a trio and saying, "Why are you guys singing in three microphones. All get around one microphone and harmonize." And Jeffrey Steele going up to a guy and saying, "You're playing that note wrong on the guitar. Grab the guitar like this." I mean it was very visceral, it was very real, and it's nothing like you've seen on any other show.