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The Tennessean.com

All he needed was a friend to show him around town

By BRAD SCHMITT
Staff Writer

So who is this mystery Nashville rocker Billy Falcon who drew Bon
Jovi to Music City for regular visits?

Falcon was a talented under-the-radar New York singer-songwriter in
the 1980s, but the unexpected death of his wife put Falcon into a
dark place that had him unexcited about music and focused solely on
raising the couple's young daughter, Rose

Two things happened to lift Falcon out of the darkness.
A friend in Nashville encouraged Falcon to visit here for a summer,
and Falcon threw himself into a welcoming songwriting community. At
the same time, Bon Jovi, a longtime fan, reached out to Falcon
through mutual acquaintances.

Soon, Bon Jovi was co-producing Falcon's new albums, including
Pretty Blue World, which generated the 1991 hit Power Windows. And
soon, Falcon moved to a house in Bellevue.

Power Windows Video:
http://www.videocure.com/music-video...87a3f600e7.asx

''It felt like I was breathing for the first time in six years,'' he
said.

Bon Jovi asked Falcon only one favor in exchange for producing
Falcon's albums: show him around Nashville.

''He really liked what I did. And he wanted to know why I went to
Nashville,'' Falcon said.

''The first night we burned a hole in the ground. We went to Jack's
Guitar Bar, we went to Tootsie's, and he wound up playing at the
Third Coast, a writer's night.'' (Laughs) ''There were actually TV
news trucks. It was hilarious. We were very popular that week.''

He's head over heels for Nashville

For songwriter and rocker Jon Bon Jovi, it was love at first listen
in Music City

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.''

The following songs co written by Billy and Jon have been
Recorded and released by Bon Jovi:

Say It Isn’t So, Mystery Train, Older,
Just Older, Undivided, Bounce,
Kidnap An Angel, Last Man Standing
These Arms Are Open All Night
Complicated, Story Of My Life

click this link and hear a couple of minutes of all of Billy"s cd's.
http://www.billyfalcon.com/music.html