Backstage with Buddy

Frances Walston (left) and Jenny Huggins not only received autographed copies of Buddy Jewell's newest single “Somebody Who Would Die For You," but also got a hug and a great interview with the popular country singer.  Jewell signed autographs for his fans after his concert Saturday night at the Choctaw Casino in Pocola and invited the Poteau Daily News reporters and his fan club back to his tour bus after the concert.
PDN photo

By Jenny Huggins
News Reporter and
Frances Walston

The original Nashville Star Buddy Jewell performed live at the Choctaw Casino in Pocola Saturday night before a crowd of nearly 200 fans who packed the stage area.
 Before the performance the country singer took time for an interview so his local fans could get to know him on a personal level.
Before each show Jewell said he has a few things he likes to do before taking the stage. The ritual usually includes taking a nap, joked Jewell.
"But now I have found that I've started warming up before a performance," he said.
Meeting with his fan club is also an important pre-show tradition for the singer.  He said he is very conscious of his fans and does his best to spend as much time signing autographs and interacting with them during the show - much like he did with Saturday night's towel girl.  
Jewell picked a woman out of the audience who happened to be from Heavener to be his towel and water girl for the Pocola show.  He talked and joked around with her during the show as she stayed ready with the bottled water and towel. When the show was over he signed the towel and gave it to her.  
Another pre-show activity includes watching football - Dallas Cowboys football.
Jewell's career was jump started in 1991 when he won the June Jam singing contest and had the opportunity to open for Alabama.
“Well, I say I got to open for them but it was more like I played in the afternoon," Jewell said. "A lot of people played after me, then they came on at 10 that night.”
He was also the the male vocal champ for three weeks on Star Search hosted by Ed McMahon in the early 1990s.
Jewell and his wife Tene´ have three kids, Buddy III, 19, Lacey, 15, and Joshua, 9.  
“My favorite song is a toss up between 'Sweet Southern Comfort' and 'Help Pour Out the Rain',” stated Jewell.  
He wrote the latter himself for his daughter, Lacey.
"Writing the song for her made it more meaningful," Jewell said.
Jewell has a new single out, “Somebody Who Would Die For You” available at Amazon.com.  
“We kinda got ahead of ourselves on this one,” laughed the ACM, CMT and CMA award nominee. "We released the song to radio, not expecting it to take off so fast. When it hit radio everyone wanted to know where they could get the CD. It's not expected to be in stores until early 2010. But this is not a bad problem to have.”  
Jewell's first two albums were recorded on his own record label, My Little Jewell Music. He said the name for the label came from his football glory day's as a quarterback for Arkansas State.  
“When the coach would make us run sprints we ran by our position,” stated Jewell “He discovered that I was slower than the rest of the quarterbacks and so I had to run with the line backs.  Well, I was smaller than they were so when the coach wanted to find me he'd yell, 'Where's my little Jewell'.”  
His first record after winning Nashville Star was recorded in two weeks with Sony Records. In 2006 he signed with Lyric Street but they decided to pass and at the end of 2007 he had created another label he called Diamond Dust Records.  
He currently sings under the new ALL Entertainment label. Jewell is their first artist to sign and "Somebody Who Would Die For You" is the first single for the company.  
Jewell met his manager, Louis O'Riley, through church.
He explained that O'Riley had spoken with Brad Allen from Midus Records, the label responsible for Emerson Drive's hits. Allen and Jewell knew about each other but O'Riley was the one who said he believed in Jewell and felt he had a great song. At the time Allen wanted to start his own label.  ALL Entertainment is a play on words. The first five letters spell Allen.
"Most people don't notice it,” laughed Jewell.  
Allen then brought in Radio Promotions to discuss what to do next.
 “It was casual and fun," Jewell said. "We didn't have to do everything through other people, like agents, we just sat and talked.”
Jewell is also involved in several causes close to his heart. Nile Peayett of the Tennessee Titans started a charity called Songs for a Cure.  The charity finds people in the Nashville community who are in need and various artists perform in benefit concerts to raise money for that specific charity.  
When Jewell left Pocola Saturday night he headed to Nashville to participate in a Songs for a Cure benefit on Tuesday. The proceeds went to the family of a two-year-old boy with brain cancer.
“I have been really blessed," Jewell said. "God puts us in positions to make a difference in peoples lives."
Jewell is also involved in Read Across America.  
“Being a dad I try to do a lot for kids and things that keep them in school and to inspire a love for reading, to get them involved in it,” he said.
One of the most risky things Jewell has done during his singing career was appearing on a show called "100 Greatest Love Songs."  He was asked to sing Garth Brooks' “Unanswered Prayers” on the television show.
“I was very nervous," Jewell said. "You just can't touch someone like Garth Brooks. I think I sucked both times."
However, reviews on Youtube.com differed. Many stated that his rendition of the song was an amazing cover of the legendary singer's song.  
Jewell said he would really like to meet Brooks.  
“I love playing at the Opry and getting the opportunity to meet legends,”  Jewell said. "But I would have liked to have met Johnny Cash."
Jewell has toured with Trace Adkins and has opened for ZZ Top. He proudly stated that Kenny Rogers had loaned him his tour bus for the trip to Oklahoma.
Jewell closed the interview with a little advice his dad had given him, “Find something you love doing and make a living at it. Find a way to make your mark on the world.  God put us on the world for a purpose. No one's an accident. We all have a purpose.”