NEEDTOBREATHE guitarist Bo Rinehart, a member of the houndstoothed army of Bryant namesakes (TM) along with his lead singing brother Bear, explains why he decided the drop one of the “Bo’s” from his “redneck / clown” nickname (which he took as a child instead of his redneck / clown real name):
al.com: I wanted to start things off with a question that I hope isn’t immediately alienating for you, but NEEDTOBREATHE is a band with a unique Alabama connection that some people might not realize… You and your brother [lead singer Bear Rinehart] were named after the legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant. Bear goes by “Bear,” but you use the name “Bo” instead of your given name of “Bryant” — why is that?
Bo: It’s kind of a weird thing how that happened. My real name is Bryant, but growing up, when I was a baby they called me “Bo Bo,” just as sort of a redneck/clown thing… I don’t know. I guess I dropped one of the “Bo”s whenever I started playing sports because Bo Jackson was kind of all the hype at the time, and my dad just decided that he was going to do a whole “Bo knows” campaign for me. So yeah, I just kinda dropped one of the “Bo”s and just became Bo.
al.com: Even though Bo Jacksonwent to Auburn instead of Alabama — so you’ve got ties to both teams here.
Bo: Yeah, I do.
al.com: Well, at least that gives you the chance to get embraced by fans of both sides.
Bo: Yeah, I hear ya. He was a big deal back then.
al.com: Both of them, certainly…
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