BACK THE BOXMASTERS
Boxmasters backstage in Kingston, Ontario: Daniel Stuart Baker (aka Unknown Hinson), Billy Bob Thornton, Chuck Garric, Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson's harp player for 35 years, official Boxmaster when they're on the road with Willie), J.D. Andrew, Michael Wayne Butler, and "the winner of the Porter Wagoner look-a-like contest" says Mike Bruce, drummer for the Boxmasters.
Jimmy Kimmel Show, April 21st, 2009
Sound check, Jimmy Kimmel Show
Backstage, Kimmel show
Onstage in Ottowa, April 2009
THE BOXMASTERS '08: Marty Rifkin, Brad Davis, Mike Bruce, Chuck Garric (currently with Alice Cooper), J.D. Andrew, Teddy (Zig-Zag) Andreadis (formerly with Guns And Roses)
The Boxmasters with Billy Bob Thornton
Cool shot from the NAMM Show 2009
Mike Bruce with BBT & The Boxmasters at The House of Blues, Dallas, 3/15/08
Lanice Morrison, BBT, Mike Bruce
Mike & Billy lookin smooth. BBT's outfit is the original worn by Paul Revere when the Raiders performed on the Jack Benny Show
Mike and BBT with Paul Revere from Paul Revere & The Raiders in Boise, Idahoe
Mike Bruce, Billy Bob Thornton, JD Andrew, Mike Butler, Marty Rifkin with Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes
Mike Bruce with Levon Helm, former drummer for THE BAND, in his kitchen in Woodstock, NY
"With a voice like a rusty hinge, Thornton's Boxmasters bolster and

bounce like a skidrow mattress. Aqua Velvet perfection."

- American Songwriter

"....The Boxmasters salutes vintage honky-tonk and seminal Brit-

rock with a mixture of humor, pathos and unhinged attitude."

- Washington Post

Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters will be performing at The Joint

in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino at 8:00pm. Following the show,

Billy & The Boxmasters will be hosting an after show/end of tour

party at Wasted Space featuring musical guest Unknown Hinson!!!

The band will be celebrating the close of their 41 city, cross

country tour in support of their self-titled 2CD set. The

Boxmasters tour was met with acclaim with fans and critics alike.

One of the highlights included the recent show at Levon Helm's

Midnight Ramble Session in Woodstock on August 23rd

(www.levonhelm.com to check out the photos from the show).

The Boxmasters have been generating quite a buzz with appearances

on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, VH1 Rock Honors

salute to The Who, guest hosting Jonesy's Jukebox on Los

Angeles' Indie 103 and a special in-studio session with

legendary DJ Jim Ladd at KLOS. Beginning September 5th, The

Boxmasters will be hosting GAC's weekly show Edge of Country for

four consecutive weeks, the first time an artist has had that honor.

The Boxmasters continue to remain at Top 20 on the Americana radio

chart and recently reached the #2 spot on the AIMS retail chart!

Their current video "The Poor House" continues to receive airplay

at GAC and CMT.com.

Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters' sound combines the influence

of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Kinks, and the Animals, fused

with Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Their upbeat

rhythms, infectious arrangements and dark lyrical themes create a

unique musical experience that has astounded critics. American

Songwriter explains, "...Thornton nails the gut Appalachian

realities of his home state with a raw hillbilly vigor...Aqua Velva

perfection." Dirty Linen states, "...a rollicking 2 CD set of

country rockers and cover tunes that would probably bring a smile

to Gram Parsons and Johnny Cash." The Los Angeles Daily News

hails, "Billy Bob Thornton's latest musical excursion is a clever

and ambitious album of raging hillbilly rock."
"WIPE ME OFF YOUR SHIT LIST..."
Boxmasters in Levon Helm's studio, Woodstock, N.Y.
Rick Allen, drummer for Def Leppard, with Mike Bruce- at a bowling alley in Grand Rapids, Michigan where The Boxmasters challenged the Brits to a death match.
House of Blues, Los Angeles, Sept. 7th, 2008
Boxmasters at Hog Fest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin . Mike Bruce with BBT on left, Teddy Andreadis on right
Dusty Hill and Mike Bruce after Boxmasters played HOG FEST in Milwaukee. ZZ Topp performed the next night.
Mike and Billy with the legendary Jim Dandy Mangrum of Black Oak Arkansas at center. Check out the BOA tat. Roy D. Mercer, By God! fiddn' ta' whup somebody's ass!
Great shot of Mike at work
(above and below) Recording session at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, where the whole thing got started. It was cool as hell, but kinda spooky at the same time.
(L to R) Micky Gilley, The Killer, Mike's wife Joani and Mike Bruce on the bus before the Boxmaster's show in Memphis
Tommy Lee with Joani and Mike
Boxmasters with Charlie Louvin of the legendary Louvin Brothers, before the show in Nashville. "He came onstage and we did 'Knoxville Girl', and he told a joke about screwin' a goat. I kid you not."
Billy, Mike and Willie Nelson
Mike Bruce with Jon Andersen of YES, taken at Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation benefit in Walnut Creek, CA, just outside San Francisco, January 10, 2009
Mike with Chester Thompson, world class drummer (Genesis, Phil Collins) at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, Jan. 17, 2009
Various great pics of Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters, with Frank Beard, the great ZZ Top drummer, sitting in. The Boxmasters played Billy Bob's in Ft Worth with ZZ Top, and Frank played with them on the last tune. Billy played with ZZ on their encore.
"Moses exaggerates the size of a catfish that he caught in the Red Sea, to a rapt, but skeptical audience of funeral directors" (hilarious quote from Mike Bruce, drummer for the Boxmasters).

This is a fantastic behind-the-scenes shot of Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top talking to Billy Bob Thornton and the guys from the Boxmasters. Remember the line that Dwight Yoakam delivered in Slingblade about playing cards with J.P. Shellnut? The guy in the blue shirt next to Billy IS JP Shellnut.
Boxmasters with Billy Gibbons, Dec.17, 2009, Fitzgeralds, Houston, Tx