Billy Bob Set to Rock Military Audiences

The Military Hollywood Insider - Mary McIntyre Brown

I’m back once again with tales from the crossroads between the Military and Hollywood.

And for a change of pace my travels have lead me from movies to music through an interview with Academy Award-winning actor/screenwriter, musician and singer-songwriter Billy Bob Thornton who is about to go on tour with his band, The Boxmasters, following the June 10th release of their self-titled debut album.

The Boxmasters is comprised of W.R. “Bud” Thornton (vocals/background vocals, drums); J.D. Andrew (acoustic/electric guitars, bass and background vocals); and Mike Butler (electric guitar, lap steel, and dobro).

The Boxmasters will be playing a couple Naval bases on their upcoming tour. (See Tour Calendar) Thornton is no stranger to playing for military audiences and I was nicely surprised by what he had to say about it. I had a great time talking to Billy Bob about The Boxmasters and the new album, as well as his experiences playing for military audiences and even at times, life in general.

And, a rare treat for me was that our “interview” turned into the most real and enjoyable conversation I’ve had with a star in Hollywood.

MMB:  You’ve played music on Military bases in the past -- what is that like for you?

BBT:  I've played a few military bases - Camp Lejeune being one -- which was huge. Camp Lajeune -- the audience it must have been 40-50,000 people -- huge. And, what was interesting about that was we were on a bill with other people--the other ones I've played it's just been us. But, we were on the bill with LeAnn Rimes and a rap group in one night – obviously, there's a lot of people on the base who like a lot of different kinds of music. So it was really cool that everybody in the audience got something.

MMB:  What’s it like playing for a military audience?

BBT: The crowds at military bases are always amazing -- they're so into it. And, you know when you come out there that they're not there because they just want to go out and party one night -- they really want a show -- they really want to hear some music… because they can party any night when they're not on duty, I guess.

MMB:  Well, you work hard, you play hard... But, I know that they appreciate it when folks come out to entertain...

BBT:  And when you play for military crowds, it's like there's a mutual respect right away. They respect you for coming to do it and we respect the military, obviously, for putting their asses on the line for us -- you know what I mean? So it's like the second you go on stage, you know that's two groups of people facing each other that already have respect for each other without having to prove anything. And all they want is to be entertained and make some kind of connection with you and we want to make a connection with them. I tend to talk more to the audience when we're playing for military audiences.

MMB:  Really? Why do you think that is?

BBT:  I think because they want you to. I mean, I feel that I need to talk to them and you know it's also - you know, the military -- they've got their own town in a way.  So you know, the whole family shows up. We played at Ft. Carson in Colorado last year and it was an outdoor stage. It's just like this huge park and when we were doing a sound check, there were already some families out there messing around in the park and they saw us and said "Hey, we're gonna come to the show tonight..." It was just such an easy atmosphere. But, a lot of people who don't know have it in their heads that the military is like a prison or something. But, you just live your life and you can go out and do your thing.

MMB:  It's a job...

BBT:  Absolutely. I mean we were taken around by the MPs who showed us the base and I didn't really realize that the MPs were really cops -- I thought the people in the military were just all one group and if there was any trouble the MPs just had to say "Hey Chad, don't do that" or whatever. I didn't realize that the guys and the girls in the military looked at them like cops. And the MPs were like "Oh yeah, they don't like us." And I was like "I thought you guys were all in the same organization here." You know? But what I was going to say about that in terms of just living a regular life in a town, these MPs were telling me about how many DUIs on the base that they have (LAUGHS).

MMB:  Well, yeah, there is that aspect of life there too, like anywhere else.

BBT:  Oh yeah. But, it just brought home to me that you're dealing with regular people and so I find that it's a hell of a lot better to deal with people in the military when you're playing out there for them like they're me or I'm them, you know as opposed to having this -- you know like when somebody has cancer or something and people are very careful around them-- that kind of stuff. And I think a lot of people do that with people in the military.

MMB:  There are those preconceptions... but I'm sure as a celebrity you get that sort of thing all the time only magnified times a million...

BBT:  Well, I look at the people we play for in the military as a type of celebrity to people. So I think I relate to them in that sense because we're all sort of like naked out there. Like, if you're a soldier and you're out there in your uniform at the airport -- you're open for anybody to come up and either say something bad to you about the war or say something good to you about what a hero you are. And it's like; it probably makes you feel weird. And I'm sure you appreciate it when you hear that and there are people who do go to war and put their lives on the line, but at the same time I think people in the military want to be treated like regular people. So I get those things too. So I think in that way I really relate to people in the military because you're exposed that way.

MMB:  Yeah, you're like a target.

BBT:  So when we play for them. then we're both targets and we can both sort of go "yeah, here we are." (LAUGHS)

MMB:  And these days especially, I mean in Hollywood where liberal politics are sort of worn on the sleeve -- because I'm a veteran, my background is very different from many of my colleagues and it's so surprising sometimes the things that people say about soldiers, out of ignorance.

BBT:  It's so bizarre how people can talk -- you know, if you're against the war -- fine. That's fine. But, to be against the soldiers is bizarre. And in the meantime, they're sitting there safe at home in their houses not doing shit about it.

MMB:  Exactly, I mean, I admit I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder when I got out of the Army as far as criticism of the military coming from civilians who never bothered to serve their country, but I mellowed out -- I hope...

BBT:  But, I understand what you're saying, I'd probably feel the same way because you do know -- I mean I grew up real hard -- and I'm still growing up real hard (LAUGHS) and you know I've seen a lot of bad things, had a lot of tragedy in my life, so I don't have a real high tolerance for whiners. I mean I get a little sick of it. And, also, I'm perceived as somebody who's got it made and people don't understand that you don't ever have it made.

MMB:  It's funny how no matter what great things happen later on, those hard things and that tragedy still shapes you in a way.

BBT:  It does. That's how I write a song. That's where it all comes from. People ask me, as an actor or musician or a songwriter, they ask, "What's your process?" And I say my process started when I was born. (LAUGHS) I mean that's my process. I don't have some trick I perform. I just kind of say what I think and that's what I do as an actor, a musician, a songwriter -- everything. Gotta say what I think.

MMB:  I listened to your new CD and I enjoyed it very much...is it personal stuff and memories that you draw on or are you creating an entirely new story when you write music?

BBT:  It's a little of both, a lot of it is personal stuff or things I've observed. You know I mean, I've lived a lot of my life as a sort of semi-hobo. So it's really all about the lower middle class lifestyle, which I grew up in, and that's sort of what it's based on in terms of the songwriting and the songs we chose to cover. But, the genesis of the band was really to create a group that was -- you know I'd always done my solo stuff, which is more singer/songwriter kind of stuff -- and this was a way to incorporate all the kinds of music I liked into one hillbilly band. And to take 60s pop and rock, which is what I love, and kind of marry The Kinks and The Stones and The Beatles with Buck Owens and Johnny Cash.

MMB:  So I'm listening to the album and I get to the song, "I'm Watching the Game" – did you write that one for the guys?

BBT:  It could be for either -- I mean there are things that women want to do where the guy bugs the hell out of them too. So it just so happens since I'm a guy, I sung it from my point of view. But it's an old problem -- you know guys when they're watching sports -- it's sort of sacred time. And it's kind of hard to get anyone to understand that...

MMB:  Yeah, and as a woman sometimes it's hard getting a guy to even hear you when the game’s on...

BBT:  Oh yeah.

MMB:  So this song you really meant then -- you take your game watching seriously it sounds like.

BBT:  I'm a big baseball fan.  I'm a big Cardinal fan.

MMB:  So your girlfriend can't go up to you in the middle of a big play and go, "Honey, would you like some dip?"

BBT:  Yeah, the dip's okay -- but “I can't go to Pottery Barn right now” -- that kind of thing.

MMB:  As a songwriter or even as a screenwriter, can you schedule your writing where you just sit down and the words are automatically there -- or is it more like that 3 am waking inspiration that demands to be written regardless of sleep?

BBT:  It's more that.  But, I'm not in bed at 3 am. I stay up all night.  But, yeah that's what it is for me. I've never been able to write on command. I can't do it.

MMB:  You and J. D. write so many songs together. How easy is it for you and J.D. to work creatively together?

BBT:  We work together very easily -- I think part of it is that we don't have any ego involved about it. I mean, I write all the lyrics and he and I write the music together. Like he'll be sitting here playing the guitar and he'll play some chord progression and I’ll hear it while we're just hanging out or whatever and I'll say "Hey, what was that? Hang on a second,” and I'll take a piece of paper and I'll start writing lyrics or whatever -- you know, it happens like that...very easily...

MMB:  Your songs sound real to me – no false moments -- you know how sometimes, regardless if it's a song or a movie or a play -- and you're watching and then suddenly something rings false and sort of throws you out of it, you know what I mean?

BBT:  Oh yeah, exactly, I mean some stuff that's supposed to be brilliant -- I don't get it. I mean, I swear to god, I've seen movies before where like an actor got an Academy Award or something and I've been an actor a long time, and you know and I've always had a pretty good "fake meter" (laughs) you know what I mean? And so I would hear like all these actors and journalists and everybody talking like "Oh, have you seen so-and-so in Movie X" or whatever it is and I would think "Wow, am I insane or something? Am I from another planet because that's horrible!" I’ll tell you about one off the record.

MMB:  But, I know what you mean, and now it's like once "Oscar season" starts. you know, right after "Oscar season" ends and suddenly they're saying "Oh this is the greatest film" all over again...

BBT:  Oh yeah, well that whole thing has just become such a dog and pony show. Now it's just a TV show. I happened to get involved in the Academy Award stuff before it got just completely ridiculous. And now, I don't even know what they're doing with these shows and like with all the reality shows and people with camera phone shows and people jumping off buildings and you know stuff like that -- it's like, are you kidding me? I never thought I would see this day -- I really didn't.

MMB:  Me neither, and it’s not just TV, it seems like so many thing’s have taken a turn for the extreme. I know you’ve got kids and I do too and man, sometimes it seems like you just cross your fingers with everything that’s coming at them…

BBT:  It's such a different time now. When I was growing up, it was a lot different. I mean, it's like we were more relaxed and yet more disciplined somehow. It's weird. I mean I was a Hippie, but everything was kind of okay, you know? I mean, even if you did drugs or anything or if you hung out all night -- somehow things still were semi-tame. And now it's scary.

MMB:  But, positive things like having music in your home is great – I noticed that your kids contribute to the record too…on the covers “Sawmill” and “House at Pooh Corner”

BBT:  Growing up, I used to work at a sawmill and my father’s family, were all sawmill workers. I love Mell Tillis and always loved that song. That’s my son Willie doing the scream at the very end.

And ‘House at Pooh Corner” – I did this track for my kids. Kenny Loggins wrote it, but I knew it from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their Uncle Charlie record. At the end of the song, that’s my little girl Bella saying the words there. What’s great about it is that when I was having her saying all this stuff into the microphone, I told her to say “Oh bother,” but then she said, “Now, let’s play music.” And J.D. said “we got to use that one.’ I feel a little melancholy when I hear it because it reminds me of childhood. It’s a beautiful song.

MMB:  Your album is a double album -- two discs, “Ours” which is The Boxmasters songs and “Theirs” which are covers. I noticed you covered two Michael Nesmith songs…

BBT:  Two tracks on the record were written by Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, whom I have always thought of as a genius songwriter, as well as a filmmaker. Years ago I had the opportunity to work for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as a roadie, and when I would hear them play their live shows, I always loved ‘Shelly’s Blues.’ The Boxmasters do have a certain Monkees element about them anyway…And “Propinquity (I’ve just Begun To Care)” – just a beautiful love song about the girl you’ve known forever but you’ve kind of ignored as a romantic partner. Throughout your life, you’ve been with all these maniacs, and then you realize one day, ‘Wow, you’re the girl I should have been with all along.’ I always loved that subject, of the guy finally realizing that he’d loved somebody all along and didn’t even know it.

MMB: What influences your songwriting?

BBT:  You know, The Boxmasters stuff -- there’s lot of humor in it even though it's about real people. It's about these people and about the struggles. But at the same time, you know, some of them are sad. Like "20 Years Ago" is a song there that's pretty sad. That's based on a friend of mine who's got cancer and there's emotion in those songs. And "The Poor House" -- that's a sad song. I mean, when you think about it, it's about a poor schmuck that's trying to take care of his family but he's not capable of really thinking shit through and he thinks "I'll go gamble our money in Reno -- that's how I'll do it. I won't get stoned, but I'll go gamble" So they are sort of earthy stories -- like the southern authors you know, that I grew up reading, that's who I'm influenced by more than anybody -- Erskine Caldwell, Faulkner, people like that. So the songs are stories to me.

MMB: With a sad song, it’s easy to connect emotionally. As an artist do you want that -- do you want to make people feel something?

BBT:  Absolutely. I absolutely want that to happen. I firmly believe the world's gotten out of control and I think people are so not in touch with anything real any more that anything I can do -- I mean we don't have Nathan Hales and Patrick Henrys and people like that any more. It's like we've got plenty of preachers, we just don't have the right kind. So yeah any time you can make people feel anything -- we've gotten so cynical and you know, I just can't stand it.

MMB:  By the way, what does "Boxmaster" mean?

BBT:  What does the word mean, well I'll give you the polite version -- it's a term we used to use when I was growing up down south that means playboy...

MMB:  Oh, that kind of 'box'...

BBT:  Sometimes someone will ask me, 'what is a Boxmaster' and I'll say, ‘well, you know, a box - you know like a UPS guy’ - I say 'you know somebody's who's good at packing things...’ (LAUGHS)

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Copyright 2012 by Mary McIntyre Brown