INTERVIEW / PROFILE: The Boxmasters – Billy Bob “Bud” Thornton and J.D.Andrew

Tour Dates

 

In advance of their two upcoming area shows, W♥M got a chance to talk to bandmates Billy Bob “Bud” Thornton and J.D. Andrew about all things Boxmasters—

The band, which blends late 60’s/early ‘70s British Invasion pop with outlaw country and other “modbilly” influences, promises to rock the rafters as they play a regular tour stop venue for them, Knuckleheads in Kansas City, MO on Fri Aug 20 (tix link here) and then circle back to the stately confines of the recently-restored 1926 Jayhawk Theatre in Topeka, KS on Mon Aug 23 (tix link here).

On the latest album:

Light Rays (on Keentone Records) was released in October 2020 with its initial single, “Breathe Easy”, which sounds very Covid-appropriate, but the lyrics actually reveal why Thornton can sometimes be over-protective ofhis daughter, Bella.  “We recorded it all before the pandemic and were of course, disappointed to have to delay the tour we had planned” (which thankfully has now recently resumed). 

On future albums:

Three additional album’s worth of material were recorded during lockdown, including an upcoming new Christmas release out this November, which “features eight original Boxmasters songs and two covers” including their version of Paul McCartney’s peppy, “Wonderful Christmastime”, but don’t expect the “normal” take on a holiday album, as the band promises to “make the sad songs sound sadder, and the funny songs even funnier”. 

Andrew mentioned the album that should then follow, will be a psych-rock themed record “that’s a further example of who we are”, with Thornton adding that it will take influence from classic Austin psych-rock band The 13^th Floor Elevators, who themselves have influenced a range of Texas-based bands we’ve previously covered such as The Black Angels and White Denim.

On producing and producers:

Guitarist Andrew was initially trained as a sound engineer, even working on staff at the Record Plant and worked on seemingly very opposite albums from The Rolling Stones and The Pussycat Dolls. The approach to each “was completely different” according to Andrew, and his utmost satisfaction has been to self-produce their own work, calling he and Thornton’s “love of the same things” the easiest fit in making the sounds they want most to hear. 

The Boxmasters are also not adverse to bringing in an outside producer, as evidenced by Marty Stuart producing an early Thornton solo album, and previous studio effort, Speck, being a collaboration with legendary Beatles engineer/producer Geoff Emerick.

Calling their time with Emerick “magical” and “a great experience”, drummer Thornton reminisced about being in the studio trying to get that ideal particular percussion sound, finally doing so “by bringing in cardboard boxes instead of drums” and was glowing when Emerick would relay to him the very same instructions Ringo Starr received, some fifty-years prior, in terms of playing in a certain way. 

On playing venues from saloons to historic theaters:

 

 

Playing live for the last dozen+ years, The Boxmasters seem to fully understand their live crowds.  “Not everything is a glossy radio hit” for them and the aim in playing live, is “to make every show like being in a rock club”. 

Playing biker-type bars like Knuckleheads, “the audience is already ‘there’ “they remarked, while sometimes playing in stately older theaters can take a bit of convincing.

“Some of the audience are there to see something more like Peter Pan” Thornton said, with the band’s live strategy in front of an initially more sedate audience, being to gradually ramp up their momentum and as the show progresses, letting the crowd know “it’s ok to turn into a rave” or something even more energetic. 

On being immortalized in Comics/Animation:

The band was not only the subject of a 2017 Source Point Press graphic novel (available to read for free here), but also a set of 2007 animated shorts for the short-lived Dell Lounge (on the band’s FB video page here) saying the most recent multimedia experience “was always our dream – we were thrilled to become time-traveling secret agents, who wouldn’t be!”

Saving rock history for the world, they also praised writer Garrett Gunn for getting their personalities right and artist Stan Yak for drawing them “much more handsome” than they actually are. 

Boxmasters play throughout the Midwest all week, stopping in Kansas City this Friday and Topeka, KS on Monday.