 |
Outside the boxBilly Bob Thornton’s Boxmasters
|
Most people peeping this article are going to be drawn to the fact that the Boxmasters feature the cool drawl of acclaimed actor Billy Bob Thornton at the forefront. After listening to their new, 24-song album, Modbilly (their third release), it quickly becomes apparent that this is no marketing event for a new Thornton blockbuster but rather real-deal rockabilly, country and hillbilly twang served up straight from the heart—hardly a reflection of the piss poor state of mainstream Americana. The Mirror talked to Thornton over the phone during a tour stop. Mirror: Because of the celebrity culture we live in, do people show up to Boxmasters shows just because they are fans of your acting work? Billy Bob Thornton: Maybe when I did my first two solo records, but the Boxmasters have kind of carved out our niche in the Americana music world over the past couple of years, so the band has just become fact and we’ve been able to build our own fanbase. M: Amid the current sorry, saccharine-encrusted, mainstream country music, you guys stick out like a sore thumb. Do you guys feel like odd men out? BBT: Well, I hope we do. Everybody in mainstream country is out to make a smash and that’s not really what we’re about. In Nashville, they’ll have things like writing appointments at 2:30 or whatever—I can’t imagine having something like a writing appointment. Nashville is just out to write the same song over and over again. The current music coming out of radio-driven country is just crap. It’s the same as big, commercial movies. It’s the same horseshit over and over again. I don’t want to sound bitter but I think a lot of what we do is based on us being outraged at what happened to the music we really love. M: Has the opportunity to join the mainstream ever come your way? BBT: Until we can appeal to housewives, that is never going to happen. All of these video channels and radio have all these songs that are specifically manufactured so it sounds like the song is being sung to housewives. They are trying to make these songs sound like they are made for the people and it’s terrible. If one of America’s greatest songwriters, like Hank Williams, came around now, the marketing people would just say he sounded like a hound dog. WITH WILLIE NELSON AND RAY PRICE |
