Bo’s Extravaganza with Laura: John Schneider

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As children, we all have dreams of what we will do “when we grow up” and if we are very blessed and work hard, they come true. I can remember watching, as so many of us did, The Dukes of Hazzard on television. Yes, the guys loved “Daisy Duke” and her outfits and us girls loved our “Bo and Luke Duke”, for reasons much more reasonable than their looks, right?!  They were the guys all the girls wanted to date and the guy every boy wanted to be. 

John Schneider, also known as "Bo Duke", talked with us in Nashville recently about Bo’s Extravaganza. Schneider put together a Dukes of Hazzard fan’s dream and did so at his personal home (which is also the location of John Schneider Studios) in Holden, Louisiana.  The event was the first of it’s kind and was held on Schneider’s birthday weekend, April 7-8, 2018.

We were invited to come and hang out and spend the weekend on the property and how could we resist?  Again, a dream come true. We arrived on Friday, April 6th with plans for setting up and getting familiar with the grounds, only to quickly realize that Louisiana “dirt” is nothing like Kentucky dirt.  We followed the GPS and completely drove past the main entrance, taking us to the Lard street entrance.  Any other time, this would not have been an issue, however, Louisiana had been experiencing heavy bouts of rain, and again, Louisiana mud dries quickly on the surface, making it appear to be simply dirt.  Let me mention that two days prior to this trip, we have taken delivery of a brand new motorhome and this was its maiden voyage.  We saw the sign marked “Bo’s Circus” and tried to back up and turn around, which resulted in us being stuck in the mud, and I mean, s.t.u.c.k.  There was no getting out of this without help.  While I found this very funny and of course an opportunity to Facebook Live our situation, my boyfriend was a little more aggravated. I was thinking, “this is perfect!  Here we are, stuck in the mud on Bo Duke’s property!”.  Then the comments continued along the line of, “Hey, we just need “Bo” to come over in the "General Lee" and save the day!” or “Wouldn’t it be cool if Cooter showed up to pull us out?” Again, he still couldn’t laugh about it but at the end of the day, the town of Holden’s own “Cooter”, known as Phil, got us out of the Louisiana mud and we ended up going into the correct entrance and set up in our spot for the weekend.

Schneider and his staff and volunteers did this up right. Despite the rain and tons of mud, the event included live music in the “Yee-Yaw” barn, with comedy routines from Schneider, LuLu Roman (from Hee-Haw), Renee Lawless (The Have and The Have Nots), Tom Wopat, even Kix Brooks. Once the rain stopped, the music continued with Brooks and Schneider on the outdoor stage providing an intimate concert for all the VIPs in attendance. 

Saturday morning, there was no doubt where you were, as the "General Lees" in attendance were playing "Dixie" throughout the grounds and that was our alarm, which while I may not have been ready to wake up that early, was a really cool touch to the event.  It was time to kick off the main event for the public with autograph signings from Schneider himself,  his castmates from the Dukes of Hazzard as well as castmates from The Have and The Have Nots. Additionally, there was continuous live music sponsored by Whiskey and Cigarettes Radio Show, with new and emerging artists all day on stage, with main stage concerts from artists such as Jo-El Sonnier, Paul Overstreet, Cody McCarver, and several others, including Schneider himself. 

The event also featured the official “first time a member of the Dukes cast” has ever jumped a General Lee and Schneider had the honor of making this jump.  It has been talked about for months and everyone, including Schneider, was looking forward to watching history in the making.  As previously mentioned, the weather conditions leading up to the event were not ideal, affecting the "big jump" as well.  With modifications to his jump, Schneider geared up and made the very first jump in a General Lee by a Dukes of Hazzard cast member and the crowd cheered him on all the way.  On Sunday, a  professional stunt driver did make a jump, that was actually a record-breaking jump in the "General Lee".  Again, everyone in attendance, as well as Schneider himself, were on hand watching as history was made in the "General Lee".

From a kids’ play area, carnival rides, food vendors of every kind, music, front porch sittin’, a General Lee car show complete with General Lee parades, this was an atmosphere of spending a weekend with a few thousand of Schneider’s closest friends, hanging out at his house for his birthday. 

We were able to catch up with a few people and we brought these conversations back to you. Please make sure you check out Bo’s Extravaganza.com as well as the “BoZaar” coming in December. These events are something you must make a point to attend. 

The last interview, but certainly not least, was with the birthday man himself, John Schneider.  After spending this weekend celebrating all things “Bo Duke” and “Dukes of Hazzard” there is something that you can quickly notice about Schneider, and that is that he stayed “himself“. Although he had no sleep, he worked for weeks, up until the day this event started to have it as perfect as possible for a visitor, he never gave anyone any less of himself. 

THAT, my friends, is a true star, a true artist. Someone who loves what he does so much and is so appreciative of those who support him, that he will do whatever it takes to make it special for them.  I was truly in awe watching Schneider and how he interacted with anyone and everyone that wanted a photo, an autograph or even a hug.  

Make sure you check out all the new things Schneider has coming up including touring, new songs released every week as well as new videos for those songs released every week. He also has new movies in the works and you can stay up to date with all of this by subscribing at www.johnsneiderstudios.com

John and Alicia, thank you so much for your hospitality. Thank you for reminding everyone why we love John so much and what being a “true star” is all about. Y’all are the best. Thank you again, my friends, and hope you enjoyed the Woodford!