John Schneider might be best known as Bo Duke on the popular TV show, Dukes of Hazzard, but he’s also an accomplished singer and songwriter. The 57-year-old, who had several No. 1 songs in the ’80s, is currently working on Odyssey, a 52-song project that will also give fans behind-the-scenes videos, including interviews and a look at the recording process.
It’s a huge undertaking, but for Schneider, it was the best way for him to recover from what has been a challenging time for him.
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“What happened is we had a 100 year flood in March of 2016, and then [girlfriend and production partner] Alicia [Allain] and I have a movie studio down there,” Schneider tells PopCulture.com. “It was basically destroyed, because it was under three feet of water. We repaired all that, put the roads back up, got everything that was destroyed, which was just about everything. Water did not get in the house, but everywhere else, repaired that and made two movies. In August, we had the 1000 year flood, which was four feet higher than March. Everything we repaired in the summer was destroyed again, and everything that March didn’t get, was destroyed in August. It was bad.”
It was Allain’s idea that the best way for Schneider to move forward was to make music again, and the idea for Odyssey was born.
“Alicia’s just as insanely ambitious as I am, and I’m not sure why she came up with the idea,” says Schneider. “It was her idea to do music again, about the flood. We had song writers that were friends of mine, who had wonderful tragic imagery of people’s prized possessions all destroyed out on the side of the road. So some songs were written, and if you’re going to write some songs, why not record them? So we wound up recording them in the flooded house that we used to live in. Because it was pecan wood, it was great. It was from 1910, the house was built in 1910. So it sounded cool.”
Schneider hopes that his new music will draw in new fans, who are unaware of his talents beyond the stage.
“I hadn’t done music since 1990. People responded to that music, and one thing led to another,” shares Schneider. “It’s funny. Even though I had a bunch of No. 1 songs, people say, ‘Oh, I love that Dukes of Hazzard song you sang!’ Well, I didn’t sing it, Waylon Jennings sang it. I’m famous for music by a song I never sang. Crazy.”
More than a dozen artists are joining Schneider in recording songs for Odyssey, including Tanya Tucker, John Conlee, Steve Wariner, Colin Raye, Mark Wills, Jamie O’Neal, Heidi Newfield, Bobby Bare, Kelly Lang, Jim Brown and Marty Raybon, among others. More information about Odyssey can be found by visiting Schneider’s website.
Photo Credit: Facebook/John Schneider
