Published: November 21, 2008 11:50 pm         

Oscar-winner Billy Bob Thornton and band to appear at the Coliseum

Billy Bob Thornton doesn’t like to answer questions about his movie career when he’s playing the role of lead singer in his self-professed hillbilly band, The Boxmasters.

Thornton’s publicist said the A-list Hollywood actor began as a musician more than 30 years ago and loves to talk about anything that has to do with his records and concert tours with his bandmates. She said to steer clear of movies and his personal life.

But his movie career — specifically his Oscar-winning screenwriting skills — no doubt comes up when he’s asked about the songwriting process.

“I do movies every now and then because I have to pay for the house,” Thornton said in a recent phone interview while The Boxmasters were on the road in Austin, Texas.

The Boxmasters pull into town today as the opening act for legendary country singer Willie Nelson and his band. The 8 p.m. concert at Chisholm Trail Coliseum kicks off a 12-show tour.

Thornton spoke this week about the writing process and how his upbringing in Hot Springs, Ark., and life experiences have inspired him.

“I was raised real poor,” Thornton said, adding he has lived “a pretty eclectic life” with “a lot of fun to a lot of tragedy.”

The Boxmasters holiday CD “Christmas Cheer,” released earlier this month, features two songs penned by Thornton and bandmate J.D. Andrew and another tune by Andrew, Thornton and Mike Butler. The titles “My Dreams of Christmas,” “Slower Than Christmas,” and “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas,” are far from traditional tunes. But the band also included more conventional holiday songs like “Silver Bells,” “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” on “Christmas Cheer.”

The most recent release is the third of the year for the new band. The Boxmasters released a two-CD set this summer and enjoyed a two-month tour promoting it. The self-titled release includes one full CD of “Ours,” songs written and performed by The Boxmasters, and one full CD of “Theirs,” a set of covers that run the gamut — from The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” to Kenny Loggins’ “House at Pooh Corner.”

Thornton said he writes “songs all the time,” but “screenplay writing is a really interesting process.”

“I wrote ‘Slingblade’ in nine days,” he said of the Oscar-winning effort in which he also starred.

Butler, an engineer who has worked with The Rolling Stones, Death Cab For Cutie, Reba McEntire and others, and who is one of the three recording studio members of The Boxmasters, said Thornton is “a human encyclopedia” in his musical knowledge.

“He just lives and breathes music,” Davis said.

Butler and Andrew, who also is a studio engineer, were recruited by Thornton when he needed to record a tune on short notice at the trio’s base in Los Angeles. Davis and Andrew were familiar with Thornton’s acting career and they knew he was a musician.

“I knew he made records,” Butler said. “I didn’t know to what extent.”

Andrew said after the first studio session with Thornton, the three were happy with the way they worked together and with the sound they produced.

“We were kind of amazed at what we did with each other,” Andrew said. “We all kind of have the same influences.”

Butler said: “The chemistry was real obvious.”

The band’s influences include Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, John Prine, Mel Tillis, Buck Owens and even The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, for which Thornton was once a roadie.

Thornton said concert goers tonight will hear a little bit of everything The Boxmasters have to offer.

And he won’t have to answer any questions about his movie career or his personal life.