A visit with Billy Ray Cyrus

I got the chance to chat with Billy Ray Cyrus for a few minutes after his 6/6/09 show at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA.

Check my Tweets from that night for comments about the show and some more pictures at Twitpic.

(Quick side note about the Emerald Queen: before every show an announcement is made asking all the veterans in the house to stand up for a round of applause. Classy, and quite moving).

And FYI: during his show Billy Ray did bring up a “Doc” reunion movie, but I didn’t quite make out all of his comments. He either said “we’ll film it in Seattle” or “we OUGHT to film it in Seattle.” Either way, that got a big crowd reaction.

As I entered his dressing room he was talking about KMPS, and how the crowd had reacted well to some of his newer songs (like “Somebody Said A Prayer”) because of hearing them on the station. I thanked him for that, and he jumped right in to talking about his upcoming appearance on “Australian Idol.” I asked if he’d toured Australia before, and he said “oh yeah, several times.”

He told me how Carl Perkins years ago had advised him years ago to “tour the world,” warning that US audiences might tire of you someday, but that a global audience would be welcoming for years if the time was put in to develop a following. Later when we talked about Miley, Billy Ray added that “Miley was 3 years old, holding Carl Perkins’ hand right there on our front lawn when he said that, and that’s what she’s going to do. Tour the world.”

Speaking of Miley, Billy Ray said (of the nearby Tacoma Dome), “and they tell me Miley just sold out 2 shows there! Sold OUT! Isn’t that SOMETHING?!” The gleam of pride in his eyes was touching. He is one proud papa.

I asked about how Miley felt about being able to tour with her brother Trace’s band, Metro Station. He lit up again with “oh she’s SO excited, SO excited!”

During his concert that night at the end of “Somebody Said A Prayer,” at the final “Can I Get An Amen” Billy Ray shouted out “Twitter THAT!” I told him I did as soon as he said it and he smiled and gave me a huge high five, saying “Oh, I LOVE IT!” I showed him that the message had already been re-Tweeted, and that got us into a long enthusiastic chat about…Twitter!

Let me tell you what: Billy Ray LOVES Twitter. He grabbed his Blackberry and said “I’ll show you what I do. First thing, I always check my replies.” He lit up when he saw the “Amen” message appearing over and over. “Look, another one! And another one! That’s you!”


He mentioned how he loves hearing from fans all over the world; “Brazil, Australia, it’s amazing.” And he told me that when he misspelled Tacoma as “Tocoma” in a Tweet earlier in the day, “man, did I HEAR about it!”

He said he loves keeping up with Miley via Twitter, and that he’d had fun recently cheering up son Trace with animal pictures from home while Trace was away on tour.

I asked if I could take a picture of him with his phone out looking at Twitter stuff, and he said “Sure! You know nobody’s had that! Miley tried to take a picture of me on set the other day while I was on Twitter but the picture didn’t come out! You’re the first!” We then snapped the picture of us together with his trusty Blackberry in hand. If Twitter ever needs a celebrity endorser, BRC will be on board!

I asked how excited he was to have the summer to focus on music now that the 3rd season of Hannah Montana has wrapped. He sighed and smiled, and said “that’s why tonight, for the first time in 9 years, I called a band meeting. I just got all the guys together and said I just wanted to see all your faces in one room, and share some pizza for a few minutes.” He explained that with the Hannah Montana movie done and the series wrapped for the season, there finally wasn't "something else" to take time away from focusing on music.

And Billy Ray is excited about “Thrillbilly” becoming a single soon. And about how many good comments he’s gotten on “I Could Be The One.”

At about this point my phone rang. Seeing it was my wife, I quickly excused myself and let her know I’d be a little longer because I was visiting with…he smiled and took the phone, and said “how come you didn’t come too?” He was sweet and talked with her for 30 seconds or so, then handed the phone back to me with the Mrs. suitably wowed.

Then after more conversation about Twitter and the real-time feedback it allows, it was time for Billy Ray to go back to his hotel. On the way out of his dressing room, he grabbed a bottled water from the top of a cabinet, then reached to grab another, saying to me “you want a bottled water? Always good to have water.” I humbly said sure and thanks, and wished him safe travels.

Then as he was again almost out the door, he did a 180 back to the other side of the room and grabbed a mostly-gone bag of chocolate covered peanuts. “Gotta grab this chocolate too, it’s too good.” He came over to me and said “here, take 5 or 6 of ‘em.” I took 2 or 3, and he insisted “no, take some more. Stuff ‘em in your shirt pocket! You’ll be glad you did!”

So with a pocketful of chocolate peanuts and my bottle of water, I bid Billy Ray goodnight. An artist, family man, gentleman, motivator, Twitter enthusiast. And about the nicest guy ever.