Bon Jovi adds country to its pop-music sound

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, March 2, 2006

With more than 100 million records sold during a two-decade career, it’s been proven time and again that the members of Bon Jovi know how to expand their audience.

On the band’s new CD, “Have a Nice Day,” Bon Jovi has tried to reach out to another demographic: country music fans.

The band teamed up with Jennifer Nettles, singer for the country band Sugarland, to record a country version of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” a tune that also appears on the CD in a straight-ahead rock version.

The country version – with additional fiddle, mandolin and other instrumentation – checks in at No. 19 on the latest Billboard country singles chart.

For a band that on its early albums helped create the pop-metal blueprint (hair metal was the more derisive term), and with later songs came to embody radio-friendly mainstream rock, this foray into country may seem calculated.

But as guitarist Richie Sambora explained in a recent teleconference interview alongside keyboardist David Bryan, doing a country version of a song isn’t a big stylistic stretch.

“Honestly, there’s been a little country with “Wanted Dead or Alive,” and things like that,” Sambora said, mentioning a popular hit for the band. “One of the things that I tried to be very instrumental in doing was to bring back the acoustic guitar for rock and roll. You know what I mean? Because if you listen to the Rolling Stones, they are playing country music. If you listen to Led Zeppelin, they are playing country music in their own way.

“There was definitely Appalachian things going on in this music form. …”

Time will tell whether “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” will be Bon Jovi’s ticket to a new audience segment. As it is, “Have a Nice Day” has gotten off to a strong start. With first-week sales of 202,000, the CD generated the band’s best single week of sales in 15 years.

“Have A Nice Day” comes after a period of resurgence for the band, which in addition to Sambora and Bryan includes singer Jon Bon Jovi and drummer Tico Torres.

Several of Bon Jovi’s new rockers have been finding their way into the live set early on the tour, along with plenty of familiar material from earlier albums.

One twist on the new tour is the presence in Bon Jovi’s touring lineup of two members from Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes guitarist Bobby Bandier and keyboardist Jeff Kazee.

“We’re always evolving and changing, and I think it just was a change up, you know, to see, let’s see five guys singing, and let’s see if we can make the sound a little bit” more fuller, Bryan said. “I mean, Jon and I started out in Atlantic City Expressway where you had 10 guys, you know, with a horn section. So, we’re used to a big sound.”

Associated Press

Jon Bon Jovi and the group Bon Jovi perform Monday at KeyArena.