The \u201cBye Bye\u201d singer released her first album in 12 years last month titled \u201cBridges.\u201d<\/a> The 11-track record also helped kick off a new tour for Messina that began in mid-June and continues into the fall.<\/p>\n One of those tour stops will be at Billy Bob\u2019s Texas on Saturday, Aug. 1.<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n Ahead of her Fort Worth show, Messina spoke with the Star-Telegram about \u201cBridges\u201d and what inspires her after 30 years in the music business.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n Star-Telegram: Ms. Messina, how\u2019s your summer been so far?<\/p>\n Jo Dee Messina: It\u2019s a bit hectic [laughs]. I just dropped off my son at robotics camp and [am] running to another appointment. Every day is a little crazy.<\/p>\n S-T: Are you ready for this Texas summer heat when you get down here?<\/p>\n JDM: Oh my gosh, I know. It\u2019s gonna be warm.<\/p>\n S-T: \u201cBridges\u201d is your first album in 12 years since \u201cMe\u201d in 2014. I just want to ask this plainly: Why the break between records?<\/p>\n JDM: Well, I\u2019ve been a single mom raising two boys. That\u2019s taken up a great deal of time. We\u2019ve still toured, but I\u2019ve just really been kind of caught in the day-to-day of being a mom.<\/p>\n S-T: As a songwriter, I assume you\u2019re always thinking about lyrics and are writing ideas down constantly. I\u2019m curious about the distinction between saying, \u201cOK, this is something I want to record and not just an idea floating around in my head.\u201d Could you speak on that?<\/p>\n JDM: Oh well, I\u2019ve had those too [laughs]. I\u2019ve had the ones where you have an idea, you go in, you write it, and you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, this isn\u2019t that great.\u201d Like the idea is great, but the song doesn\u2019t turn out good. So yeah, I\u2019m always thinking songs, and sometimes they make it, and sometimes they don\u2019t [laughs].<\/p>\n S-T: You\u2019ve been doing this for around 30 years at this point. Do you find it easier to write songs now than before? Or, is it still hard to bang out some ideas and make something?<\/p>\n JDM: I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s ever been hard to write songs. I think because I was in the writing process, co-writing for other people and co-writing with other people and whatever, it just kind of flowed out. For me, it\u2019s an idea. Usually, I come up with like the melody and the hook, and then I\u2019ll work from there. Like, [Messina begins to sing] \u201cIt\u2019s all about you. Ooh. You got everybody fooled.\u201d You know what I mean? It kind of starts with the hook or with the idea or a melody, and then I kind of work my way out from there.<\/p>\n S-T: This new album and tour are celebrating 30 years of your career. I\u2019m curious what keeps you inspired and makes you get out of bed nowadays ready to go play music?<\/p>\n JDM: Oh my gosh! Well, I\u2019ve always been touring, so I\u2019ve always been doing shows. It\u2019s just I was working off a catalog, and I love it. It\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever done. I started when I was a kid, I was like 13. I think about that now, like, \u201cSon, I was working for four years when I was your age.\u201d It\u2019s what I\u2019ve always done and what I love the most. To get out there and do it, there\u2019s no like, \u201cOh, I have to find a reason to do it.\u201d I just love it, it\u2019s part of what I do. I enjoy the people. Especially now, like being in it so long and having a different perspective. I have the ability to just kind of hear people\u2019s stories and just enjoy it. And coming from a position of gratitude. I\u2019ve always loved the touring.<\/p>\n As far as new projects, it was my co-writers that really were saying, \u201cHey, we need you. You need to record this song.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cI don\u2019t know how to put a record together anymore.\u201d You know it\u2019s so different, and I don\u2019t have the label in place. I don\u2019t have the millions of dollars in promotion and all that stuff. One of my writers was a producer, and was like, \u201cHey, if you want to put a record together, I\u2019ll help you do it.\u201d And he did. That\u2019s David Spencer, who produced this record. I have stuff to say, to write about, because that\u2019s what I\u2019ve always done. Writing is just what I do. It\u2019s, \u201cOh, here\u2019s an idea. Or, man, if I could only da, da, da, whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a little bit of everything on the record too. You got the funny songs, you got the serious songs. If you look at like the song, \u201cCan Anybody,\u201d that came from a conversation with one of our teenagers. The teenager was like, \u201cI feel like my mom and dad don\u2019t hear a thing I say. I\u2019m like invisible in my house.\u201d I was thinking, \u201cWow, as adults, we feel that way too, right?\u201d Like you\u2019re going through something, and you got to get up and go to your job, and you have to live the day, and no one has a clue that you\u2019re falling apart inside. Very inspired by everyday things.<\/p>\n S-T: I\u2019m wondering if you could describe the energy in the room when you\u2019re playing a show? It\u2019s such a rare thing for most people to feel.<\/p>\n JDM: You kind of play off that energy. Some people are like, \u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite song to sing?\u201d For me, it kind of depends on the crowd, right? One day they might be like rocking onto “Heads Carolina, Tails California\u201d or \u201cBye Bye\u201d is having a resurgence right now with the wrong lyric, by the way. It\u2019s got its own life going on right now. What blows me away now, I told you I didn\u2019t have the record label in place. I didn\u2019t have the millions of dollars to promote things. When we released this record, my past has mainly been, you release a song to radio, and little by little, the audience starts to know it. You\u2019ll see one or two people singing it, and then a couple of people singing it, and then you know it\u2019s number one record, and everybody\u2019s singing it.<\/p>\n Now with digital streaming, the album\u2019s barely a month old. And we go out, and people are singing words to all the songs. Because there\u2019s not a single, right? I mean, technically they have songs that you focus on as a single, but I mean the whole album\u2019s out there. They\u2019re singing like \u201cWelcome to the Show\u201d when I get on stage, or songs that I\u2019m just like, \u201cOh my gosh, they know these.\u201d That is mind-blowing. I would say, what does it feel like? It\u2019s mind-blowing. It adds energy to the show. That energy rolls off the stage, which goes in the audience and rolls back up on the stage. If you come to a show, we have a lot of fun. I mess with the audience. I try to stump them with songs, and it\u2019s just like hanging with a big bunch of friends.<\/p>\n S-T: You\u2019ve played at Billy Bob\u2019s Texas a few times now. What\u2019s it like playing there?<\/p>\n JDM: Well, it\u2019s a fixture in the industry. To be able to go back there and play it is always a thrill. I\u2019m always nervous to see who shows up because so much of it is tourists passing through, which is crazy, but it\u2019s amazing. They did just have some sort of appearance on a Yellowstone spinoff the other day, so that\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n S-T: Right, that was in \u201cDutton Ranch.\u201d<\/a> Jo Dee, is there anything else you want to add before we wrap up here?<\/p>\n JDM: Follow me on social media. I tell everybody to follow me on social media. We do so many crazy things. Not crazy like irresponsible, but just funny, like goofy. I\u2019m so goofy. Somebody asked me to do a Christmas song with them, and I was like, \u201cYeah, you can be the sexy one, and I\u2019ll be goofy.\u201d I was like, \u201cYou can be all sultry, and I\u2019ll be the elf.\u201d We do a lot of fun stuff on our social media, so I always ask folks to follow me there because it\u2019s fun. If you look at like the \u201cBye Bye\u201d thing that\u2019s blowing up right now, you\u2019ll see the followers join in the fun. They\u2019re not like, \u201cYou\u2019re so stupid, you\u2019re dumb.\u201d They\u2019re not insulting. They get the joke, and they\u2019re showing up at shows with the wrong lyrics on signs.<\/p>\n If you go look at the last few posts on social media, you might get a kick out of it. I hope you do. I mean, that\u2019s one thing I notice: people don\u2019t laugh a lot these days. Next time you go out to lunch, I want you to sit there and notice how much laughter you hear. There\u2019s not a lot of laughter these days, and so, I don\u2019t know. I grew up laughing, so let\u2019s share the laughter.<\/p>\n Jo Dee Messina performs at Billy Bob\u2019s Texas on Saturday, Aug. 1.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n![\"NASHVILLE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2264669450-GI.JPG\" "\\"2264669450-GI.JPG\\"")
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 03: Jo Dee Messina performs onstage for The Listening Room 20th Anniversary at Ryman Auditorium on March 03, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jason Kempin Getty Images <\/p>\n![\"NASHVILLE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2267451999-GI.JPG\" "\\"2267451999-GI.JPG\\"")
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 19: Jo Dee Messina and Ella Langley speak at the Omni Nashville Hotel on March 19, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jason Kempin Getty Images <\/p>\n
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