Some things in life just kind of click. Like when Aaron Benward and Scott Reeves met.
The Blue County duo met through a mutual friend while at a country-music video shoot in Nashville. "It was like we were brothers from another mother," said Reeves. "We hit it off instantly, and we've been best friends ever since." Reeves said their wives and kids have also bonded.
But it took Reeves and Benward a few years before they thought of playing music together.
Benward, a native of Indiana, had toured extensively with his father, a gospel singer, and was trying to make it on his own in the music world. Reeves, born in Arkansas and raised in Los Angeles, had left acting to pursue music full-time.
"It wasn't until about 3 1/2 years ago that we said, 'You know what? Let's try this together instead of trying to do this separately,' " Reeves said. "So we sat down in Aaron's living room with our two guitars and started singing, and it just felt like magic. It felt like family. Therefore, Blue County was born."
Things continued to fall into place when, two weeks later, they approached various record labels, and No. 5 — Curb/Asylum — picked them up. "We were told, 'One of you is going to really have to screw this up for it not to work.' It just blew us away. I said, 'I think this is where we need to be.' We wanted someone who was going to believe in us, believe in what we were about and able to do, and we signed our record deal the following week." A month later, they were on the road.
In some ways, Reeves said, things were kind of backwards with their first album, the self-titled "Blue County." "A lot of people say you have your whole life to get ready for your first record, or write it. To figure it out."
But Blue County needed material fast. "We didn't have very much time to figure out who Blue County was while we were out there on the road, going at it."
Reeves said he and Benward are proud of their first record, but they're really looking forward to the release of their second, as-yet untitled CD, which will come out this fall. A music video of a song from that album, "Firecrackers and Ferris Wheels," is available online at CMT.com. "For the past six, seven months, we have been holed up in the studio and just getting it right — figuring out who we are, stripping layers away from ourselves.
"This next record is really indicative of who Blue County is, and who we are as men, and we're really excited and really proud of it."
So who is Blue County? "One of our big objectives here was authenticity. We're accessible, we're authentic, we're fathers, we're husbands, and we're regular people." "And from a vocal perspective, we went in and did this the old-school way. We went into a small, little off-the-beaten-path studio, put up two microphones and just sang. And took away all the bells and whistles and hoopla of a big studio. We said we wanted to do this really bare, organic, and as real as possible, and I feel like we captured that on this next record."
If you go
What: Blue County
Where: Sandy Amphitheater, 1300 E. 9400 South, Sandy
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
How much: $15-$20
Phone: 568-2787 or 800-888-8499
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com