There’s something special about a hometown kid making good, and such is the case with Kobe Bailey. Hailing from Skowhegan, this country singer-songwriter is poised to take his craft and talent to the next level with an upcoming tour, so it only seemed right and proper to give him a call to learn more about what’s happening in his life nowadays. I connected with him late morning on March 29 and here’s how our conversation went …

Q: How are things going with you, Kobe?
Bailey: I’m doing great, man — just writing some new music.

Q: How long have you been into songwriting?
Bailey: Oh, man, I’ve been writing music probably since I was 16.

Q: Well, it sounds like things are starting to really click for you.
Bailey: Yes, absolutely. … Man, life’s changing awful fast, and I’m just taking it one thing at a time.

Q: I guess that’s the best way to do it.
Bailey: (Laughter) Absolutely.

Q: Am I reaching you at home in Skowhegan?
Bailey: No, actually right now I’m down in Nashville, Tennessee. I just moved down here recently, and this is where I reside now. I’ve got a house here, and I’m very happy with everything that music has given me so far.

Q: Well, congratulations! So you’re going to be heading out on tour, did I hear that right?
Bailey: Yes sir, late August, the beginning of September I will be heading out on tour. I can’t really reveal who I’m going out on tour with quite yet, but it’s going to be pretty big. I’m beyond excited, you know? It’s going to be really, really good, so I’m very excited about it. All my team’s excited by it. We can’t wait to be able to share the music with you all.

Q: I also heard you’re going to be doing a show back in your hometown of Skowhegan, correct?
Bailey: Yes, June 2. I was thinking back a while ago and went, “I’m coming home for a week or so; I want to put on a show for my hometown!” I mean, I grew up there my whole life, and I just really want to give back in some type of way and throw some type of show together for them. It’ll be at T&B’s (414 Madison Ave.) right there in Skowhegan from 7 to 11 p.m. with $30 a ticket. It’s going to be really good. It’s going to be amazing. Rob Burnell and Josh Ackley will be there, and we’re going to have fun. We’re going to rock out. It’s going to be a great time!

Q: Now, as far as recording goes, are you working on something?
Bailey: Yes, I’m currently working on an album, and we’re hurrying up, trying to get it finished so it’ll be out just before my tour starts.

Q: Can you talk a little about what the songs will be like, what they’ll deal with?
Bailey: They talk a lot about who I am as a person, everything I’ve been through, and talk about my hometown, the state of Maine, and just my whole life. And also everyone back home that has had my back along the way and without them I definitely wouldn’t be where I am right now.

Q: I understand that there’s a special reason for this show.
Bailey: Yeah, I’m really doing this for the Skowhegan Area High School and the seniors. My sister’s graduating this year, and I hope that everybody comes out and has a good time.

Q: Now, being from that town, I’m sure you would go to the Skowhegan Fair and probably catch the live shows there, right?
Bailey: Yeah, and I even went to the concerts in Bangor and Portland and always wondered what it was like to be the guys onstage and getting that feeling from the crowd and stuff like that. I always knew that I wanted to come back to my hometown, once I made it in the music industry. I wanted to be one of those guys up on the stage at the Skowhegan Fair, or the Bangor Waterfront or the Portland Cross Insurance Arena, you know what I mean?

Q: Yeah, I do. Now, Kobe, is there anything you’d like me to pass on to the folks reading this article in the Morning Sentinel and the Kennebec Journal?
Bailey: Everything I’m doing, I’m doing for my hometown, and I’m doing it for the kids who have dreams. So my message through all this is to just show that little kid, that little girl or boy, that if you do have a dream don’t ever let anyone put a finger in your face and tell you that you can’t do something. No matter your background or where you come from, what color you are, it doesn’t matter, you can do whatever you want as long as you work hard and can go for it. I guess that’s always been my big motivation: to always be the best I can be, to be that person that little kids can look up to and say, “If he can do it, I can do it, too!”

Lucky Clark, a 2018 “Keeping the Blues Alive” Award winner, has spent more than 50 years writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at luckyc@myfairpoint.net if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.

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