Billie Jo Jones Is Ready To Strut Her Stuff On The Road With Keith Urban

Country music artist Billie Jo Jones is taking her act on The Road — with no less a luminary than superstar Keith Urban.

She’s one of 12 finalists competing in the new reality series set to premiere Oct. 19 on CBS. Produced by Blake Shelton and Taylor Sheridan, The Road will follow Urban on a journey to discover the next big country artist. Singers will join him on tour, performing as opening acts in venues across the country. They will compete to win over local fanbases to secure a spot in the next city and remain on the tour.

In addition to Jones who hails from Emory, Texas, the competitors include Adam Sanders from Lake City, Florida; Blaine Bailey from Tahlequah, Oklahoma; Briana Adams from Winchester, Texas; Britnee Kellogg from Anthem, Arizona; Cassidy Daniels from Marion, North Carolina; Channing Wilson from Lafayette, Georgia; Cody Hibbard from Adair, Oklahoma; Forrest McCurrin from Jefferson City, Missouri; Jenny Tolman from Nashville, Tennessee; Jon Wood Wake Forrest, North Carolina; and Olivia Harms from Canby, Oregon.

When we spoke with Jones earlier this year before C&I premiered the music video for her single “Flame,” she dropped a huge hint that she had “something big” in store. Now that the cat is out of the bag, we caught up with her again to talk about The Road. Here are some highlights from our most recent conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.

A New Chapter on The Road

Cowboys & Indians: Tell us all about The Road. Have you already started filming episodes?

Billie Jo Jones: Yes, it’s actually all filmed and done. We filmed it back in February, March, and April, and it’s going to be really cool. I’m excited that we finally got to announce that I’m one of the 12 finalists on the show, and I’m excited for people to start watching it this fall.

C&I: I guess you can’t tell us how things worked out yet.

Billie Jo: I cannot, unfortunately. I wish I could, but all I can say is that it’s definitely worth the wait and it’s definitely worth watching. I think the show is going to take off and be something pretty special for future artists like myself to be involved with later on, so I think it’s going to be a huge success.

C&I: Were you at all intimidated by being part of this competition?

Billie Jo: Oh, a thousand percent. A thousand percent. There’s some stuff that kind of goes on during the show that people will get to see — and it’s real-life stuff that happens behind the scenes. So I think it’s definitely a reality TV show, where you see the kinds of things that happen while you’re actually on the road and touring as an artist.

Other artists are going to see this and be like, “Oh wow, this is exactly how it is.” So it’s definitely intimidating, especially being in front of Blake Shelton, and opening for Keith Urban’s crowd, and then having Gretchen Wilson as your band tour manager. It’s pretty intimidating, but it was really, really, really cool. So I’m very excited for everyone to be able to watch this.

Sharing the Stage With Keith Urban

C&I: Well, you’ve got to answer the burning question. What is Keith Urban really like?

Billie Jo: He is definitely one of the sweetest people that I have ever met. He is so smart, so extremely talented. I mean, I learned so much just watching him. Because every night that we were on the show, after we performed, we actually got to watch Keith put on his set every single time. And it is truly a magical thing.

I’m pretty picky, and there’s some people that I would go buy tickets to see perform, and some I wouldn’t. And I would be one of those people that would pay tons of money to go be front row watching Keith Urban play, because he just puts on one heck of a show. I learned so much from him and I think I became a better performer even just being around him and watching what he does, so he’s truly remarkable.

C&I: What sort of venues did these performances take place in?

Billie Jo: I can’t give away too much, but they are venues that probably hold around a thousand to 2,000 people in ’em. We went to different cities, different states, performing for Keith’s crowd, so it was pretty awesome.

Getting Sassy With “Why You Gotta Be So Cowboy?”

C&I: Your new single “Why You Gotta Be So Cowboy?” is quite amusing — and definitely sassy. How would you describe the underlying message of this tune?

Billie Jo: You could kind of take it several different directions. Actually, I didn’t write this song — Len Snow and Aaron Weatherholt wrote it. But of course, as an artist, you kind of have to take the song and make it what you think or how you see yourself singing and performing it in order to get into the character of the song. I’m a huge, super independent woman, so I take this as, “I’m an independent woman. I don’t need no Marlboro Man. I don’t need no wannabe cowboy. I want the real deal.”

So I think it’s just a little cutesy, sassy song that is a lot of fun to play at different venues. And it’s cool that we went and did a remix of it. We added banjo and a lot of bass, and it’s not a radio single, but it’s just a single that we’ve dropped to all the dance clubs all over the world. We’ve got people making up a line dance to this song, so it’s been really cool to see all the line dance videos coming in from different places, doing a line dance to my song.

Embracing Sass and Vulnerability

C&I: This seems to be carrying on the tradition of your being sassy and defiant. Just like “Some Girls Don’t Cry” and, more recently, “Flame.” Do you find yourself proud of that image? Is that image the real Billie Jo Jones?

Billie Jo: It really is. I mean, that really is me. I do have my vulnerable side that people also can see. We’re currently working on my brand-new album that’s coming out this October, and there are a lot of real-life vulnerable moments on it, which I’m excited for people to see.

But I definitely have that sass in me. I love to perform. I don’t want to be just a stick on the stage and just stand there. I love to move around. I love to run around the stage. I love to go out into the audience and sing to the audience members and really interact with them, because that’s what makes a great show. I just love putting on a show for people, and I do love my sassy side. I think I’ve gotten sassier over the years, but I think it’s all in good fun too, so I love it. I do love my vulnerable side, too. But I’m definitely more sassy.