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WTR (What’s Toby Reading)? provides unsolicited and unsponsored (I don’t get paid) opinions of books I have recently finished.
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Bobby Bones is more than a morning radio host to country music listeners in nearly 180 U.S. markets, he is a friend and omnipresent source of daily joy.
Bones brings it every day (at 4 am, no less). His diehard fans reciprocate with fierce loyalty.
- How did this happen? Can Bobby Bones’ success be duplicated?
- There are plenty of listening options packed with funny segments, crazy sidekicks, and likeable hosts – how has The Bobby Bones Show risen to the top?
- What compelled Forbes to label Bobby Bones, “the most powerful man in country music“?
I assumed the answers to these questions were buried within the 453 pages of Bobby Bones’ two, New York Times Bestsellers – one, a memoir called Bare Bones and, the other, a self-help book entitled Fail Until You Don’t.
But, after devouring the two books in as many days, I discovered that there are no secrets revealed, no magic framework that will bring instant fame and fortune. No, there are no hacks to becoming a big star.
That ambiguity, I think, is intentional. And, that word – intentioned – is one I couldn’t shake when reading each of Bobby Bones’ books.
Bare Bones: I’m Not Lonely if You’re Reading this Book
Being intentioned is often borne out of necessity – the realization that wasting resources (ie: time, money, energy) is intolerable, inexcusable, and, likely, unrecoverable.
Bobby Bones’ early life teetered on a ledge of hope and tragedy. Bare Bones is a first-person account of Bones’ years running from a disadvantaged past as a poor, shy, often-bullied kid raised by his grandmother and, at times, an alcoholic mom.
Bobby Bones had to be intentional early – and always – to have the audacity to believe there was more in store for him outside the woods surrounding his rural Arkansas trailer home.
Though now speaking to nearly ten million people around the country each week, Bobby Bones, in fact, had never left his home state until a childhood friend brought him along on a family vacation to Colorado.
“The McGrews also took me on my only childhood vacation…they took me to the mountains and paid for everything. I’m not kidding when I say that it is still one of the highlights of my life and something I am still incredibly grateful for.”
As difficult as his home life is portrayed, Bones was an intentioned student. A self-proclaimed “nerd”, Bare Bones makes note of Bones’ quest for knowledge – saving up to buy encyclopedias one-by-one and captaining the high school Quiz Bowl team.
“Whether in school or out, I was super focused…I enjoyed studying and learning. By working hard in school I knew I could get past the railroad tracks that led out of our town, and that is what I wanted to do.”
Bare Bones had me painting a mental picture of a young Bobby Bones as I read: a cross between two mid-80’s movie characters. One character was Chris Chambers (River Phoenix) from Stand By Me and the other, Lucas (Corey Haim) from the movie Lucas – both smart kids, dealt an unfortunate hands, who I pridefully pulled for.
Bones’ rise to radio fame – from late night college jobs, to his own Pop music show in Austin, Texas, to national syndication for The Bobby Bones Show through iHeart Radio – felt like less of an underdog story and more of a rugged, bare-knuckle fist fight. A match won after Bones’ opponent couldn’t lift his arms as the bell signaled the start of Round 15.
Bare Bones is not a story of luck, or the transcendent power of quick wit and humor, or about accidently/viral success.
No.
Bobby Bones’ memoir is about consciously doing whatever it takes to move forward – with heart, unapologetically, and surrounded by people who propel you forward.
Intentionally.
Fail Until You Don’t: Fight. Grind. Repeat
If you listen to The Bobby Bones Show or watch his work as a mentor on American Idol, Bones’ is incredibly relatable.
His diehard fans, called the B-Team, often post to social media as if Bobby is their friend or neighbor. And, because Bobby Bones seems like a wise brother or the successful next-door neighbor, a book about his professional successes seemed a logical next frontier.
That is exactly what I got in Bobby Bone’s second book, Fail Until You Don’t – well almost.
This book is not about becoming a star radio personality. The book is not really about success at all. On the contrary, the book is about failing.
And failing.
And failing again.
Bobby Bones, in fact, is proof that through repeatedly failing at something you’ve determined worthy, success will eventually follow.
Bones’ rise to the top of country music, as a Dancing with the Stars Champion, American Idol mentor, or leader of a musical-comedy band, The Raging Idiots, did not come without many long, arduous, defeat-filled tastes of humble pie.
In Fail Until You Don’t, Bobby Bones spends little time relishing in his numerous successes. Rather, Bones takes far more time exploring the learning experiences spawned by his shortcomings – in relationships, with television show auditions and pilots, and in coming face-to-face with the biological father that had abandoned him as a child.
Bobby Bones’ accomplishments did not happen by chance. They did not come overnight. Bones was, again, intentional – devising simple, daily, meticulously mundane lists of ‘to-do’s’ to get closer to goals each day.
Bones’ kept himself accountable, made sure that his goals were visually present on his iPhone’s home screen, and thoughtfully deliberated over his disappoints. Then, Bobby Bones intentionally made adjustments and started again.
The B-Team
At the end of both books, Bobby Bones does what fans have come to expect – acknowledges the unwavering support of his joyful group of super fans otherwise known as The B-Team.
While I continued to come back to my one word (intentioned), I was curious about the adjectives B-Teamers might use to describe Bobby Bones. As such, I posted a message on the B-Team’s official Facebook site (#BTeam), asking The B-Team to describe Bobby Bones in one word.
Several themes became immediately apparent in the comments that flooded in from Bones’ caring fans:
Resilient.
Kind.
Inspiring.
Friend.
Bones’ fans love him – and not in the scream-and-cry-at-his-likeness type of love.
They love him so much that they worry about him – the way you harbor concern for an old friend, or little brother.
The B-Team comments about his disposition if he seems abnormally down or tired – like a concerned colleague.
The B-Team is overjoyed that the notoriously single bachelor is now engaged to be married. His fans celebrate Bones’ pending nuptials like a close friend whose wedding day, they assumed, might never come.
The B-Team is explicitly supportive, joyful, empathetic, and authentic. Just as, I gather, Bobby Bones intended.
Motivational & insightful.
Steve….agreed! Thanks for reading.