Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bobbo Byrnes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bobbo , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

I don’t know if I can say “kindest” because so many folks have been so good to me but there was a stranger that I bumped into when I was young and in my hitchhiking days. Now this was in my college years in the early 90s, way before cellphones and way before I had a credit or debit card or anything like that. I had just spent three days hitching south from Toronto to get back home in Massachusetts. I had spent my last $20 buying a ticket for the morning bus from White River Junction, Vermont to Nashua, New Hampshire – it was as close as I could get to home. I was tired and wanted to be home in my bed but instead I was sleeping on this bus station floor. There was a diner connected to the bus station and I hadn’t eaten since the day before and the folks at the diner were not about to take a check from this kid with a backpack and two different shoes on. And this guy came up to me as I sat on the floor and said “If you promise me the check won’t bounce – I have $7 cash and I will take your check.” I promised him that I had $7 in my account and wrote him a check and ate the best hamburger and french fries ever that night. About two weeks later my check showed up in the mailbox – he mailed it back to me with the note “You owe a stranger a favor, Good luck in life.”
I’ve never forgotten that small kindness and have always tried to pay things forward.
More recently I’ve gotten some really amazing gifts from fans. I get a lot of toast influenced things, handcrafted gifts are just amazing or thrift store finds. I now have a collection of police and fire patches from storytelling I’ve done, I now collect those. I have another fan that shows up and brings her own setlist that she wants me to play. She will sweeten the deal by also bringing a bottle of wine and some chocolate! I’ve also had some generous benefactors that I just don’t even know how to adequately show appreciation to.

Bobbo , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I always loved music and as a kid spent most of my lawnmowing money on AA batteries to keep my Walkman running. The music, lyrics and songs of U2, Pete Townsend, Jim Croce, The Clash and Pat Benatar seemed like they were made by mystical beings who shared their gifts with the masses and then I saw and heard The Replacements in the middle of the night on MTV singing “I’ll be you” and my teenager brain was blown wide open. Suddenly the idea of making music didn’t seem so other worldly, these dudes made it look fun and easy. Who knew that it took so much skill to make something like songwriting look easy.

There was a red guitar at Tewksbury Music in Massachusetts for $129 and it took me two months to save up for it. I thought you tuned it by lining up the tuning pegs in a straight line. I knew less than nothing on this instrument but I knew that I liked the way I looked holding it. Strapping that guitar on was doorway to a new way of seeing the world and the doors that playing guitar has opened for me are just incredible. We were in Italy and a local promoter took us to a friend’s house and there we were, sitting on this balcony overlooking Lake Garda and there was an incredible spread of food and wine that was brought out. We didn’t even realize that we were the guests of honor. After a couple hours of hanging out, they brought a guitar out and asked us to perform for them. I can remember thinking – I wouldn’t be here if I had never picked up a guitar. I might travel the world but it would be different. These folks brought us into their world, into their house and all because I decided to buy some crappy guitar when I was 17 – and stick with it.

As far as what I’m proud of, that’s a tougher question. I guess I can say that as I’ve moved through this career I’ve always tried to lift others up around me. There’s that great crossover between The Grateful Dead and The Clash that I feel like most people miss and that’s that they had the same ethos – “no one wins unless we all win.” And I love that. When I am able to do for others, I do. I’ve helped a bunch of other musicians along when I can and share info, contacts, studio time – you do what you can to help others. That’s it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

For the first part of my musical career – I fashioned myself after Mike Campbell from Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. I thought it would just be cool to play the great guitar riff, write some songs and hang out next to the guy with the great voice. And I did that for nearly the first 10 years I played guitar.

And when that band ended, broke up, whatever and I had songs, I recorded a solo album and then had to put a band together to support it. And then my best friend and lead guitarist in that band died so I pivoted again. That is when my wife Tracy and I packed up our cats, guitars and stuff and moved 3000 miles away and started over.

We formed The Fallen Stars and recorded a handful of albums and toured but the challenges of bringing a band on tour is hard so I pivoted again to a solo career and here we are.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Lately it’s been books like “Saved by a song” by Mary Gauthier and “Deliver me from nowhere” by Warren Zanes about Springsteen’s Nebraska album. Those two books are amazing about how to keep creating and living a creative life. Through the Zanes book I found a kinship with Springsteen that I didn’t know I had with recording process and how he worked through it. I’m not exactly expecting my new album to blow up like Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” did right after Nebraska but I did see myself in where I am and he was, albeit on a different scale. We all live with demons and how we deal with them is often quietly and for songwriters they often come out in songs.

That’s a nice vaguely specific bit of something there.

When I’m on the road I listen to Rhett Miller’s “Wheels Off” podcast and Joe Pug’s “The Working Songwriter”. It’s amazing how just listening to other folks who are doing the work, struggling and singing and just making their way – how it provides a good sense of comradery and helps you get from one gig to another.

I also like to check in with Derek Sivers stuff from time to time. Derek started CDBaby and has a fascinating mind and outlook on the world.

But it’s also important to get outside our normal stuff – I’ve been reading the poetry of Joanne Diaz, Jennifer Markell and Jonathan Humanoid. Just the concept of Jonathan’s “This is the ship I used to be” is an incredible way to look at yourself and the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://bobbobyrnes.com/
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