http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../1005/MTCN0303
From The Tennesseean:
He's head over heels for Nashville
For songwriter and rocker Jon Bon Jovi, it was love at first listen in Music City
By BRAD SCHMITT
Staff Writer
Bon Jovi rolls into Gaylord Entertainment Center on Tuesday for its second Valentine's Day concert there, an appropriate holiday for the veteran New Jersey rock band because its lead singer loves Nashville.
Jon Bon Jovi has been in and out of Music City since 1990 when he was turned onto it by lesser-profile New York rocker Billy Falcon, who moved to Nashville around 16 years ago.
Since then, Bon Jovi and Falcon have regularly hit Nashville songwriters venues and late-night spots, soaking in the musical vibe, songwriter camaraderie — and a fair share of alcohol.
Bon Jovi can get drinks anywhere, but it's the other stuff that keeps him coming back.
''When I go to Nashville, every kid that pumps gas is a songwriter,'' he said in a recent phone interview.
''And if you're in Hollywood, it's perhaps that they want to be actors or whatever. But this is a town that's built around the process of record making and songwriting. You can't say that about New York or L.A. or Chicago or anywhere else.
''And so that drew me to it. I enjoyed going out and hearing the simplicity of strumming a guitar and telling people a story with your words.''
That journey started with a visit to Falcon, who bought a house in Bellevue after himself being lured to Nashville by the songwriting community.
''The World According to Billy. I would come down as just a houseguest,'' Bon Jovi said. ''He would take me out to all these great bars and see all these incredible songwriters.''
Those early trips took them to Douglas Corner, Bluebird Cafe, Exit/In and other performance venues, but they always ended up at Nashville late-night Music Row hang Third Coast Cafe, a popular live music joint that attracted musicians from inside and outside Nashville. (The now-closed spot was in the Vanderbilt area around where The Bound'ry is now.)
''I remember sitting in the Third Coast and looking at their menu of food and drinks and thinking to myself that I had broken huge ground here. I was going to take the intimate storytelling of country music and integrate it with the bombast of rock 'n' roll,'' Bon Jovi said.
''And I flipped over the menu and I saw the list of the other 99 people who had the same idea before me. I couldn't believe everyone from Petty to Springsteen to Dylan to Madonna had already been there. And I thought, well, I'm not the first, but I won't be the last.''
Bon Jovi and Falcon continued walking into the back of songwriters' shows and listening quietly, but the pull of the songwriters' circles eventually became too much for Bon Jovi, who co-wrote mega-hits Livin' on a Prayer, It's My Life, You Give Love a Bad Name and dozens of others.
Bon Jovi started playing new songs at Douglas Corner and other venues.
''When people are showing off their new baby, you got one, too. You're dying to test it in front of an audience and have that interaction with the acoustic songwriters in the circle. It's definitely a classic case of, you show me yours, I'll show you mine.''
That wasn't the only Nashville songwriting routine Bon Jovi jumped into: He and Bon Jovi guitarist/songwriter Richie Sambora soon began setting up co-writing appointments with Nashville songwriters they hadn't met before.
''Ultimately, I've never used any of those songs and I don't think we've even got any of them covered. What I loved was the collaboration, the simple idea that you go in there, you've got an idea, you knock it around and it gets your juices flowing,'' Bon Jovi said.
''I enjoyed all the different times with different people. Some clicked better than others, but that's the way it is when you write a song by yourself, too. But ultimately I've used it as an opportunity to get the juices flowing.''
Overall, Bon Jovi likes Nashville for the songwriting immersion.
''It's just like cramming music, which is so great. No other distractions, no family, no other work-related things, no house, no nothing. It's just a guy with a notebook hanging out with my pals.''
Jon Bon Jovi says it's hard to write songs when he's on the road, as shown here during a stop in Charlotte, N.C., on Bon Jovi's current Have a Nice Day tour. ''I just don't have the focus. So all writing stops. And you need something to kick-start it,'' he said. ''Nashville made sense on several occasions.'' (AP)
Sugarland lead singer Jennifer Nettles joins Jon Bon Jovi on stage at a recent Bon Jovi show in Nettles' hometown of Atlanta. Nettles and Bon Jovi paired for the duet Who Says You Can't Go Home. Bon Jovi says it's a song he knew right away was a duet, and he knew Nettles was a good partner when he heard her sing. ''It was more of a risk for me taking on a brand new talent. But sometimes it's just so obvious when you hear a voice and see a smile . . .,'' he said.