By Chris Rockson

Introducing a brand new feature to SoundCheck, 8-Ball Deluxe....8 questions posed to the artist in an attempt to grab a 'bar room interview'....see how we did when Chris caught up with an amazing talent based in York, Daniel Lucas, AKA Boss Caine. This guy has rock n roll running through his blood, and yeah, we know that is a cliche, but some either have it, or they pretend to....this one's got it!

He knocks out some great tunes on his beat up old acoustic, and has shared stages with some of the finest. A tour of the US is due in 2011 along with some more recordings....check out what the Boss has to say...and, can you send me one of those logo tees, XL? Ta!

 

In less than twenty words, describe why you play music? What drives you to be a musician?

It's a cliche but I would go (and have gone) mad without it. Music is as vital as breathing to me.

Early influences? Who/What made you have that moment of awakening?

I always remember being a kid and seeing the first Back to the future film at a mates house. I wasn't allowed to listen to 'rock n roll' for a long time as a kid and was force fed classical music and made to learn the piano. The second I heard Chuck Berry playing 'Johnny B Goode' I knew I wanted to play guitar. I got heavily into punk and rock music as a teenager and would always go back to the roots of the bands i was into and listen to what they cited as influences in interviews or check out bands they had on their t-shirts. Getting into blues and country and folk will always follow if you take that path to it's logical conclusion, as it is the basis for what is at the core of almost all guitar music. I spent years working in an independent record store and would absorb as much as I could from what passed through there, and learn from the other people working there and the regular customers with whom we would trade tips and recommendations. Also, I always loved live music and would go and watch anything that was on if there was nothing on that I knew about. There is much to be learned from opening your mind to other peoples passions and craft.
 

Your style of music can best be described as?

Hmmm....I always struggle with this without just tagging lots of names of musical styles together into something that usually resembles blues tinged country rock n folking roll or something.....I guess the term 'Americana' covers it but does nothing to let you know what it will sound like as that genre is many and varied.
Hopefully it sounds as real and heartfelt as it is.

Some of my fave quotes describing Boss Caine are....

"Dylan-esque angst ridden lyrics played with raw brash style" - BBC N.Yorkshire

"Tom Waits singing Ryan Adams if they had both had the good fortune to grow up in Yorkshire" -The Fly

"The real deal! They will rip your heart out and toss it back to you many songs later doused in whiskey, soul and more emotions than you know how to handle!"
- Northern Music

"...the best album Tom Waits, Ryan Adams & Johnny Cash ever didn't make, a little 'Unplugged'- era Nirvana too, Post punk-post-grunge-country music. GT writes better lyrics than most anybody I know, and sings 'em in a voice that makes Louie Armstrong's sound kinda girly" - Folkslut Magazine
 

Your first ever stage appearance is one that you never forget....so, what was yours like?


I suppose that technically my first stage performance would have been performing something on the piano at school which inevitably led to girls wanting to talk to me and boys taking the piss or picking on me as kids do....or something like that.....
My first REAL stage performance was in my old punk rock n roll band The Nosedivers.....it was a sell out show at Fibbers in York supporting then local hip hop/metal heroes Tung....we played about 5 of our own songs and a couple of covers at a million miles an hour, all dressed up in black cowboy outfits and we kicked ass.

Tell us about your current position....what are ya up to?

Well the last couple years have seen Boss Caine gig all over the UK with the likes of Alabama 3, Guillemots, Arlo Guthrie, Stacey Earle, Otis Gibbs, The Supersuckers, Ricky Warwick and many many more and the Boss Caine ship just keeps on sailing the high seas.
At the moment Boss Caine have just released a mini album called 'Meanwhile, back at the ranch....' available to download from http://littlenumnummusic.bandcamp.com/ along with the debut full length album 'the ship that sailed' that was released to critical acclaim in April this year....physical formats are available from www.littlenumnum.com the label website, or www.bosscaine.com



How about your recorded works? Do you have a personal favourite, if so, why?

Well I usually go through a process of listening to them whilst recording them and making any additions, adjustments and edits, and then when I am happy with them i won't listen anymore. Not for a good while anyway. I would rather listen to work in progress and crack on with it than listen to completed stuff.....though there may come a time in the future where I sit down and enjoy listening back. Some songs mean more to me than others but I attach more meaning to the songs themselves and performing them than any recorded versions I suppose.

What does the future hold for you short and longer term?

Well, short term is all about promoting the 'Meanwhile, back at the ranch...' mini album/split with Mark Wynn.....gigging here, there and everywhere that will have us. And when not gigging I will be writing new songs and working with various collaborators on the next 2 full length albums. Long term, I hope to be gigging in the states next spring and will be booking shows and promoting the Boss Caine name that side of the pond in anticipation of that, as well as scheduling releases and gigs in the UK. The cover artwork for the 'Meanwhile, back at the ranch...' album was done by the wonderful American artist Kathleen Wright and has been included in her latest exhibition in Selma, Dallas County, which is also quite exciting.

ok, last one, your house is on fire, you gotta get the fuck outta there pronto, the Fire Dept are gonna evac you in 10 seconds...what do you grab and why?

As long as all people and pets were safe, I would grab a bottle of booze, some smokes, and maybe some marshmallows and a fork to toast them on, and kick back and enjoy the blaze. I am not one to place great importance on physical possessions. And, anyway... fire rocks.

 

Chris