There’s this Los Angeles band called the Boxmasters. Heard of ’em? They play country-pop (or “Modbilly” as they like to call it) in the vein of the Byrds, Muswell Hillbillies, and Mike Nesmith. Ring any bells? They put out three albums in the past year! Still never heard of them? Oh, well, their singer and sometime drummer is actor/screenwriter/director Billy Bob Thornton. Now let’s say you’re a journalist. What are you gonna ask about: the music of yet another country-pop band or the fact that your singer is a pretty famous dude in another industry? Yesterday, CBC host Jian Ghomeshi made the unpardonable mistake of placing the Boxmasters’ music in the context of their singer’s more well-known endeavors. He paid the price with an interview that careened from awkward to esoteric to combative.
