Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters
Public ticket sales will begin on Wednesday, April 15th at 10am!
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2026 at 7:00PM
Ticket Price(s): $50-$60 ($4 per ticket fee included)
Venue: Madame Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis Theatre (EK Theatre)
The Boxmasters release 21st Album “In The Bay” and announce “2026 Morro Rock Tour”
In conjunction with the release of their newest album on June 12th, The Boxmasters will
follow by kicking off a tour of the United States in June. This marks their 21st release as the
ever-prolific J.D. Andrew and Bud Thornton showcase their love as always for the sounds of the sixties and the inspiration of their heroes on an album of called ‘In The Bay.’
Says Bud in regard to the album. “’In The Bay’ is our 21st release for The Boxmasters.
Songs were all inspired by and either written or partially written in the small beach town of Morro Bay, California. It’s a slight departure from our Abbey Road influenced album ‘Pepper Tree Hill,’ but is still in the same wheelhouse. ‘In The Bay’ has a strong Brian Wilson influence in the way the instrumentation is used. It is our humble attempt at making our ‘Pet Sounds’. We’re certainly not The Beatles or The Beach Boys, no one will ever be, but those heroes
continue to inspire us.”
“When we started this album, we had the general idea that we were going to make one of
our more Sixties pop influenced albums. The songs came very easy and are based on Bud’s time spent on the central coast of California when he was spending time with his daughter at college. But what we didn’t realize until we spent time listening to the rough mixes on the bus during last years tour was that we were paying more homage to our heroes The Beach Boys than we had ever done. We didn’t intend to make a Beach Boys style record, but when their influence runs so deep through us it just happens” Says J.D.
Joining Bud and J.D. on piano on a couple of songs is Teddy Andreadis who has been a
longtime collaborator and band member since Bud’s first major label release “Private Radio.”
Notably, Teddy plays the “wind-up” piano on the song “The Swift” which was a production technique popularized by The Beatles’ producer George Martin. It involves recording a part on
the tape machine at half speed and then playing it back at full speed to give it a “Chipmunky”
effect.
The “2026 Morro Rock Tour” starts in mid-June and runs into August, ending on the 8th
in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Legendary venues The Ryman in Nashville, Billy Bob’s in Fort
Worth and Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, 2 nights in Kansas City at Knuckleheads on July 3rd and 4th are of course highlights. Cities that have always supported The Boxmasters such as Huntsville, AL, Sellersville, PA and Tomball, TX are on the tour schedule as well.
Formed in 2006, The Boxmasters have recorded an impressive and diverse catalogue of music that touches on their love of a wide array of influences, but most importantly, the rock and
roll of the 1960’s. Listening to The Boxmasters, one can hear obvious odes to the Beatles, Byrds and Beach Boys, but also important to The Boxmasters are The Mothers of Invention, The Allman Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Big Star.
As a touring band, The Boxmasters have cultivated a rabid cult fanbase across the United States, Canada and now Europe and the United Kingdom. In 2025, The Boxmasters opened for
one of the top 3 bands in history, The Who, on their “The Song Ends Tour” in Sunrise, FL and Newark, NJ. In Sunrise, manager Bill Curbishly told Bud that only 3 bands had received a standing ovation as the opening act in The Who history. The Boxmasters were the third.
On April 25, 2026 The Boxmasters will make their Stagecoach Festival debut playing along with a huge lineup of Rock and Country artists.
Opening for the likes of The Who, ZZ Top, Steve Miller, & George Thorogood, The
Boxmasters have proven to win over large audiences. As a headliner, frequent stops in Kansas City at “Knuckleheads”, Los Angeles at “The Troubadour” and in Sellersville, PA at the “Sellersville Theater” have shown dedicated yet still growing audiences. Two appearances at Levon Helm’s “Midnight Ramble” in Woodstock, New York were highlight performances for the band, as well as the “Ramble at The Ryman” that Levon hosted in 2008. Other highlights
include The Boxmasters performing on “The Grand Ole Opry” in 2015, and in 2023 The Boxmasters fulfilled a life-long dream of playing The Cavern Club in Liverpool.
