THE BOXMASTERS
SUMMER TOUR A RETROSPECTIVE
by Michael Buffalo Smith What a summer it has been for that “Little
Ol’ Band from L.A.,” The Boxmasters. The band, lead by Bud Thornton (aka: Billy Bob, the Hollywood film star, producer, director, screen writer, etc. Winner of the Oscar and the Golden Globe Award, and a heck of a rock and roll drummer!), along with the uber-tal- ented J.D. Andrew and Teddy “Zig Zag” An- dreadis and tour mates Dave Fowler on bass and Eric Rhodes on drums. Former lead gui- tarist Brad Davis retired from the touring band prior to the summer tour due to con- flicts with his solo career, but remains an ac- tive writer and recording member. For the summer tour, the band brought in Pat Tra- vers guitarist Kirk McKim, another outstand- ing player. The Summer Tour included a lot of South-
ern dates, so I was naturally happy to hear that. I had seen the band back in April prior to the Summer Tour down in Huntsville, Ala- bama at Merrimack Hall and they were excel- lent. (see review last issue.) I am happy to say that I was able to be the
conduit that brought Billy Bob and one of his old heroes together for the first tim. Former Allman Brothers Band Road Manager Willie Perkins and a full compliment of Macon’s finest descended upon Georgia Theatre in Athens on August 25th for the show and to hang out on the tour bus with Billy Bob and the band. Besides Willie, there were Allman Bros. family members Skoots Lyndon, John
Lyndon, Big House Director Rob Schneck and “keeper of the Les Paul,” Richard Brent, who brought along Duane Allman’s ‘57 Gold Top for Billy Bob to see. Both J.D. and Kirk had the golden opportunity of playing the guitar during their show. The very next night, the band was set to
play in my hometown of Spartanburg, SC. I caught up with Billy Bob and J.D. early in the afternoon, and paid a visit at the hotel, during which time Billy and I were able to catch up a bit. I am crazy busy these days. Multiply that by three and you have how busy he is. J.D. was around for a few minutes before
he got called back out to the club. My friend Dan Armonaitis, who wrote an excellent arti- cle on the band for The Spartanburg Herald Journal, came by to visit right before I left, sporting his Arkansas Travelers t-shirt, which naturally brought a smile to the face of Mr. T. I arrived at Ground Zero in plenty of time
to introduce some of my friends to Billy Bob, J.D. and the band. I rode in with Joey Par- rish, Colleen Knights, and Steve and Laura Flacy. Linda, Pat Ellwood’s (Marshall Tucker Band) significant other, was waiting for me. She had new MTB t-shirt and photo she wanted to give to Billy Bob, so I followed J.D. onto the bus, Linda close behind. She spoke briefly with Billy and gave him the swag. I took her photo with him, and she left. She came back later having reached the elusive Mr. Ellwood on the cell, so that he could say hi to Mr. Thornton. I knew that I had several friends who de- pended on me to help them meet Billy Bob,
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