Report: Bobby Bones’s Podcast Gold Mine Of Insider Info

Bobby Bones with Kelsea Ballerini

Apparently, it takes about 11 minutes before a country singer is comfortable enough to start spilling secrets.

Not on purpose — sometimes, it’s just what happens when the artist is relaxing in a cozy armchair, curled up to a microphone for an interview that just feels like a chat between friends. That’s the setting of iHeartMedia’s Bobbycast, a podcast by country WSIX 97.9 FM Big 98 personality Bobby Bones, whose primary job is hosting a syndicated morning radio show in Nashville that reaches about 5 million listeners.

As the podcast hits its six-month anniversary and 35th episode, the Washington Post reports “Bobbycast” has unwittingly become a treasure trove of unusually candid anecdotes and inside information about country music. The casual conversations often expose how the genre really works, as singers, songwriters and Nashville experts share stories behind hit songs; how and when they actually get paid for making music; and their genuine frustrations with the industry.

Bones started the podcast because he wanted to have longer conversations without the time constraints of radio, where he has to leave time for music and daily segments.


His podcast questions are relatively straightforward. However, during hour-long conversations, particularly with people who don’t typically do in-depth sit-downs, it’s easy to forget you’re being recorded. The stories naturally pour out.

“There’s about an 11-minute mark when people start to crack — because usually no one gets interviewed, ever, for longer than that,” Bones, 36, said recently during an interview in Washington. “You can feel people start to put their guard down … and they can actually just speak from the heart.”

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