Billy Bob Thornton is on a country music writing kick.
Many people know the 70-year-old actor as just that… an actor. The star of Sling Blade and Bad Santa is a Hollywood legend, and he’s really succeeded in his role as Tommy Norris in the Paramount+ hit show Landman. The first season of the Taylor Sheridan series set streaming records, and the second season continued to bring in millions of viewers.
But some might not know that when Thornton isn’t busy with projects meant for the big and/or small screen, you just might catch him playing with his rocking country band: The Boxmasters. He’s very talented and gifted musically, and The Boxmasters have been crafting and releasing music since 2008. Their sound could be described as a melting pot of rock and classic country (many of their songs prominently feature a steel guitar).
And Billy Bob Thornton played a role in helping with the Landman soundtrack that’s released last September titled Landman – Songs From and Inspired by the Paramount+ Original Series (Volume I). He and Mark Collie, who plays Sheriff Walt Joeberg in the hit series, are credited with helping out on 5 of the 15 songs that are featured on the soundtrack.
Thornton had previously said that he had put together songs that were inspired by the show itself, and that he wasn’t sure if they’d ever find a home:
“We wrote a couple of songs (that) were kind of inspired by the area, that business world. We’ll see if they end up on anything. And maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but they’re at least there.”
Just in case there’s any confusion, “maybe they will” ended up being the right answer.
Because Thornton and Collie are co-writers on the songs “Livin’ It Up In Texas” (along with Billy Gibbons), “She’ll Dance For Whiskey” (with Parker McCollum), “That’s What Lonely People Do” (with Dwight Yoakam) and “Blood for Black Gold” (along with Ronnie Dunn). That last one even includes Thornton on the drums.
Billy Bob and Mark also have solo writing credits for the Flatland Cavalry performed track “Midland After Midnight.” And in a recent interview with KSBY News, Thornton revealed that his help on the Flatland song led to dozens of other country music collaborations.
While the actor sat down to talk about Cal Poly (where his daughter goes to college) and the central California area, he was asked if he had any surprising projects on the way. Because he been involved with music just as long as acting, he noted that it’s probably not surprising that he’s been working on songs lately.
That being said, the genre that he’s been writing in is a little different than what he normally does:
“I don’t know if anyone would be surprised about them. I’ve been writing a lot of country music. For some reason, and all of the sudden. I grew up in rock and roll. I don’t know how to write a country song. A friend of mine named Mark Collie, who I’ve known for 35 years, he said, ‘We should write a song for this soundtrack thing. A country song.’ I said, ‘Alright,’ and we wrote one. This young band out of Lubbock, Texas called Flatland Cavalry recorded it.
The next thing you know, all the country guys want to write songs with me. So I’ve probably written 18 to 20 songs, and about 14 of those have been recorded and are going to be put on albums. Some are on albums already. That’s a thing that is kind of new to me. Writing in that world.”
It’ll be exciting to see what other country music hits Thornton played a part in as they come out.
Billy Bob went on to say that he doesn’t mind writing within the country genre at all… but he does tend to gravitate towards the older, traditional country music. He’s not a fan of modern country, and said that anything he writes can be likened more to the greats of the genres than the names that are at the top of the genre right now:
“Once you catch on to it… I don’t write what they write these days. Modern country music doesn’t thrill me. I call it Def Leppard with a steel guitar. It just sounds like pop music, mainly. These (songs I’m writing) are more like the old days of Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. People like that, that kind of thing.”
I think I’m comfortable speaking for everyone when I say that we’re all here for some classic country music written by the one and only Billy Bob Thornton. Considering he used to be close friends with Johnny Cash, it’s safe to say that he has a good understanding of what country music should sound like.
Keep an ear out for anything else that Thornton may have had a role in bringing to life, and in case you haven’t heard “Midland After Midnight” by Flatland Cavalry just yet, make sure to check it out:
“Midland After Midnight”
