Jamie Perry better known as alt country troubadour Bocephus King hopes audiences will share his admiration for American “saints” like bluesman Willie Dixon and Neal
Cassady, who was the inspiration of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” as well as numerous other beat poets’ works after listening to the music from his new CD.
He is touring on his soon to be released new CD “Willie Dixon, God Damn,” which will come to the Slice, Aug. 14 with special guest Charlie Hase on pedal steel guitar.
He is just about to begin his tour, which will take him across Western Canada and to Europe next year.
“Italy has really been good to us,” he said adding Holland also responds to his music, which has more of a world music influence on the latest CD.
He is excited about “Willie Dixon, God Damn!”
“It is like a Hallelujah. I like the idea of saints. American saints like Willie Dixon, Nina Simone and Neal Cassady. They wrote and inspired these incredible bits of wisdom and truth. And it was dangerous for people like Willie Dixon to be on the road in the ’40s and ’50s (because of prejudice and discrimination)” he said.
“These guys supported each other, but they didn’t get a lot of support all the time (from ordinary people).These guys did it anyway,” he said.
While the songs on the Cd are not necessarily about these saints, he hopes people will be able to hear their influences on the music, though “Willie Dixon God Damn” is one of the songs and ‘Cowboy Neal’ is a phrase from “On The Road” describing the Neal Cassady character, Dean Moriarty.
It has been a few years since he released his last CD, being preoccupied with raising children and personal problems.
“I just stopped doing music. I went down a different road. I had a kid. I had to get myself back to normal and it took a few years,” he said.
Much of that time was spent going to open mics at East Is East in Vancouver, where he met some of that city’s most talented world musicians who ended up appearing on the new CD.
“It’s a real exotic place — a real oasis. And working with these musicians has been incredible,” he said.
He is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge.
“It will be an incredible night of good times, good, tunes and who knows what else,” he said.
