Blue Star
It’s a very meta moment: former CBS soap star Scott Reeves (ex-Ryan, Y&R) is appearing as himself on another CBS soap, ATWT. The idea came from Executive Producer Christopher Goutman, who’s also directing the episode in which Reeves’s band, Blue County, are performing “Nothin’ But Cowboy Boots” at the Street Jeans party. “I’m a fan of country music — believe it or not for an Eastern boy — but I love it,” says Goutman, who wanted to bring a country star to Oakdale. “Someone a few months ago told me that Scott Reeves, who I was a big fan of on Y&R, had a country band. We got the album and it sounded great, so we called his management and they were very enthusiastic about it. It happened very easily and I think it’s amusing and terrific that Scott Reeves, who used to play [Ryan] on Y&R, is now playing … Scott Reeves.” It’s a bit of casting that both surprised and delighted Reeves’s old friend, Mary Beth Evans (Sierra; ex-Kayla, DAYS), who rushes up to chat with him during every break in the performance. “I vaguely remember reading something about him singing,” says Evans, who was very close to Scott’s wife, Melissa (Reeves, Jennifer, DAYS), when they were both on the soap. “Every time we’re not rehearsing or whatever we’re jibber-jabbering so fast about our lives. Scott is one of the most adorable people ever anyway, so it’s been great. And his song is so fun. I’m gonna hunt him down until he gives me a CD!” Count Jennifer Ferrin (Jennifer) as another new fan. “Actually, the first concert I ever went to was Reba McEntire in like, ninth grade, but I like bluegrass a lot. But these guys are awesome. They have so much charisma and they’re just so good, it’s like rock/country,” says the actress.The music industry agrees — they were nominated for a Country Music Award for Vocal Duo Of The Year in 2004, even though Blue County was first signed to a record contract in 2003. But Reeves and Benward clicked long before they formed the band, at their first meeting in Nashville seven years ago. “It was like meeting your other brother, like wow, literally bam! We were instantly bonded, best friends and our families as well,” says Reeves. 
“Before we started the band, I guess four years ago, my wife [Kenda] and kids and I went to L.A. for almost six to eight weeks and we stayed with his family in his house,” explains Benward. “So there were was nine of us in this three-bedroom house, plus two Labs, a Chihuahua, a hamster, a snake, a turtle and a tree frog. It was like we had our own reality show.” “We come from two completely different pasts,” continues Benward. “Obviously he had his time on the soap opera. I come from a gospel music background. So a former gospel singer and a former soap actor get together to form a band. As for the rest of it, it’s been incredible from day one. I think the different influences and different pasts create Blue County.”They do both have acting backgrounds and actress wives, though Benward has never done a soap — until today. And he’s already causing mock trouble about it. “I had my first two lines on national TV ever. I’m positive that next time we do anything, I’ll probably have monologues,” he boasts over lunch in his partner’s dressing room (they each got their own, though Benward jokes that he may be demanding a bigger one for future dates). “Yeah, I caught him in his room in front of the mirror,” grins Reeves. “But his son’s a bigger star than either one of us.” (That would be young Luke Benward, currently starring in Because Of Winn-Dixie).
These two dads are doing pretty well for themselves on the country music scene, considering they got the gig without even using Reeves’s soap past to their advantage — no one at the record company knew who he was until fans started showing up at appearances calling him Ryan. “I think from fans’ or consumers’ eyes [our success has] been pretty quick. It’s gonna be two years next month that we first talked about it, and it really was in six weeks’ time that we had a record deal. But we really worked hard even before we formed the band,” says Benward. “Try to look at it, though, that Blue County’s been in the making for 20 years,” says Reeves. Catch Blue County’s performance on ATWT on March 9. Their debut album, Blue County, featuring “Nothin’ But Cowboy Boots,” is in stores now.
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