'Fire Country': Wade Bowen Talks CBS Livestream Event and Musical Connection to Series (Exclusive)

CBS is doing a special livestream event for Fire Country, and Wade Bowen is taking part in it! The country music artist had three songs on the first season of the hit series, including "Phones Don't Work," "Say Goodbye," and "Where we Call Home." CBS has partnered with First Tube to air two livestreamed music events, headlined by Bowen and fellow country artist Ashley Cooke, the first of which will be debuting on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS' YouTube channel.

Hosted by CMT's Cody Alan, this Friday's livestream will showcase Fire Country, as well as Bowen and Cooke, their songs, careers, and connection to the series. The livestreamed music performances and intimate sets were taped outside Nashville last month and feature them singing their songs leading into – and during act breaks of – the very first episode. Both livestreamed events will debut on CBS's YouTube channel and will be simulcast across Fire Country's social media accounts. The musical performances, meanwhile, will be amplified across CBS social media platforms and the artists' personal social media accounts. The second livestream will take place in January, with more information to be announced at a later date.

Ahead of tomorrow's livestream, PopCulture.com spoke to Wade Bowen about the special event, his connection to Fire Country, his music background, and more. Take a look at what he had to say and make sure to watch a clip above from the livestream, which will be debuting Friday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS YouTube. Fire Country Season 2 premieres on Friday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

PopCulture: How did you first get started with music?

Bowen: Oh well, music was around. I grew up with three sisters; two of them were older, and one younger. And so, between my older sisters and my mom, they constantly had music on around the house and constantly dragging me to concerts, and still to this day, I'm the only one that does it professionally in our family, but it's a huge part of our lives and always has been. So, I just loved music and started writing songs when I was about 17 or 18 and playing guitar and never looked back.

PC: And now you've made a whole career out of it, too.

Bowen: Yeah, still here. This crazy business has tried to get rid of me multiple times; I just hang around like a stubborn mule.

PC: What drew you to Fire Country? Why did you say yes to including some of your songs on the series?

Bowen: Well, it's a huge hit show, first of all, that never hurts, as they know. But when you have opportunities like this, they don't come around a lot; they had it for me, so this was really special to not only be such a huge show but a great show and a major network and just an opportunity for my music to get out there and be heard on such a major platform and such a huge, huge show for us. I've been playing music a long time now, so anytime you get a chance to have an opportunity like this, you wanted to jump at it and welcome it with open arms. Huge, huge for us. It's been so fun.

PC: Speaking of getting that type of exposure on the series, you're going to be taking part in a special livestream for CBS on Friday. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

Bowen: Yeah, this is something they threw together last second, and it was a really cool idea of getting... My guitar player and I went out, filmed some stuff for them, and they were really professional all the way around. It was just amazing camera work, and everybody was just really great. And we played, got to do a little mini concert for everybody and they filmed it. And I just thought it's a really cool, unique opportunity and experience for all of us. I think it's going to be great for the show and great for us as well. I think it's going to sound great and give us a chance to play some songs from the show that they use, but also some other ones as well that are popular for us.

PC: What are you most looking forward to with the livestream? 

Bowen: Hopefully, to get in front of a new audience, that's going to be really fun. A bigger audience, maybe people that may have not heard of us before, give us a chance to get in front of some new faces and fresh ears. And I think it's just a really good opportunity all the way around. I'm excited to be a part of it.

PC: Despite being a firefighter show, Fire Country has included a lot of musical performances, whether they're live or in the background, that are really important and integral to the main storyline. How does it feel to be part of that storytelling?

Bowen: Well, I think I'm a songwriter, not only just being an artist, but it's the songs that I'm writing too. So when you sit down and write a song, and you have it come alive, and you put it on a record, you hope people hear it and hope people gravitate towards it. And to have this show love what we do so much and want to include it; this is their art. This is what they do, their passion. And so it's like being included at someone's wedding or something. You're a part of something very, very special and meaningful to somebody. So when the music that I love, am very passionate about gets included in something like this that I know someone else is passionate about, it really means a lot to us. It's something, like I said, it's a huge opportunity for us. We're just so glad. It's been a lot of fun.

PC: Do you ever have a say about what scene your songs are playing in, or is it just they choose how they want to tell it?

Bowen: Yeah, they choose. They choose where they want it, and they choose how they're going to use what song and bring us the idea. And usually, I'm like, "That sounds amazing. Go for it. That's really, really fun." Because you can see it in your head when they're explaining, but for the most part you really don't have a clue until you watch it and you're like, "Oh, there." It never gets old. Seeing it, hearing it on the radio, or singing on a show or something. It never gets old. It never will. And I pray that it never does because it's so fun to be watching the show, and all of a sudden, your song comes on. It's just one of the cooler things.

PC: Could we look forward to that continuing in the second season if you're able to say anything?

Bowen: Well, yeah, if I have any say, I'd say use it every dang episode. We love it. It's a great show. And my family, all my family back home in Texas, they love watching us. They're the kind of family that, "Okay, we haven't watched this show, but now that your music's in it, we're going to watch every episode." So yeah, I'm all for it. I love that they love what we do with our music, and I'm so glad that they gravitate towards and I hope they continue to do so. We got more music we're working on right now, so hopefully, I'll just keep funneling it to them as much as I can.

PC: If you had to choose one scene that you would have loved to have your music play in the background from any movie or TV show, what would it be?

Bowen: Oh, golly, I don't know. There's a lot. Because I love movies. Since it's Christmastime, I would've loved to have had a song in Christmas Vacation. That would've been really cool. Maybe the squirrel scene or something, one of my fast songs. I don't know, that's a terrible answer, but that's the first thing that came to mind.

PC: No, it's great for the holiday season! 

Bowen: I do have a Christmas record, so maybe some Christmas song during the squirrel scene of Christmas Vacation. There you go. That's my answer.

PC: Kane Brown, whose music is also featured on the first season of Fire Country, made his acting debut on the series. Would you ever want to follow in his footsteps and make a guest appearance if you're ever asked?

Bowen: I would love to. I would love to. I think it'd be a lot of fun. I'm not going to assume that I can be an actor. I try in my videos, and I have so much respect for actors. You're talking about there's no music going on while they're doing that. You're just having to pretend there's something going on, so there's no mood. You have to really get in the role. But I do love when we do it. I love making the music videos when I get to do real acting. I think it's a lot of fun. It's a good change of scenery for me, and I think it'd be fun to try some of that.

PC: For my final question, is there anything that you want to say to the Fire Country fans who will be tuning in for the livestream?

Bowen: I would say thank you for welcoming us, for listening to our music, giving us a chance. I would assume most people hadn't heard of us before. And so to be able to be a part... I love how music has become such a part of so many shows through major networks or just movies in general, or the streaming services as well. It seems like music has become such an important part of it, and so I'm really glad that people are finding new ways to hear music and experience music and new artists that they may not have heard. So thanks for giving us a chance, and hope you really enjoy our show we put together.