The Boxmasters are playing at the Impact Fuel Room in Libertyville Tuesday night.
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Thornton was barely a teenager when he started a band, but his first love was baseball. His dream was to be a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. But he was injured after trying out to play with the Atlanta Braves, and hit the road to play rock 'n' roll instead.
Thornton is originally from Arkansas, and that part of the south still influences his music today.
"Oh absolutely, there's no doubt about it. The south in general is a rich place for music in general. We had a lot of bands and music was the thing for all of us," he said.
"It's always based on 60s rock and roll," said bandmate J.D. Andrew. "We always keep growing and trying new things and ways to write a song or make a sound, so since we started this band I haven't wanted to do anything else."
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Thornton has taken an extended break from acting to concentrate on music.
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"I never think about missing it, really, until I'm there, and when I get there it's like, oh yea, this is pretty cool isn't it?" said Thornton.
And while Thornton and Andrew are Midwestern and Southern guys, don't assume the band plays country music.
"With names like Billy Bob and J.D. they assume we're gonna be singing about trucks and tailgating," Andrew laughed.
"The time to complaint about the volume or the lack of country songs, the time to complain about that is now before you buy a ticket," said Thornton.
Click here for more information and to buy tickets.