Tracing the Days James Wait, the Underground staff writer interviews Lonnie Boss, the lead singer for Tracing Days
JW: What age did you start playing music? LB: I was forced to take piano at 6. I quit until I was 17. I also tried and quit the following: drums/violin/saxophone (although I played Sax through high school). I didn’t realize it at the time, but I found the wide variety of instruments helpful in hearing various parts of composition later. The lack of discipline was less helpful. It wasn’t until I realized you could play by ear that I enjoyed playing any of those. It was more like practicing math tables, until I learned that I could create. JW: What are some of your influences in music? LB: My mom played piano when I was little, and sang, and my brother and I always asked her to quit, so we could hear the tv. Now my kids look dismally when they see me sit at the piano, knowing they’ll have no tv tonight.
I sang with Neil Diamond, Glen Campbell and others in my parents red 70 something station wagon, until someone saw me, at which point I hid. This terror of singing in public followed me through high school, and remains to this day in a smaller form.
I heard 80s bands like Journey, Def Leppard, Sting, U2 and others that hit my music passion switches. Nirvana, DC Talk and others influenced me later. Now Switchfoot, the Killers, Franz Ferdinand hit the same switches. It seems my ears hear melody/music and lyrical nuances before I hear meanings of songs.
I have to work to pay attention to the messages. I was terrible at poetic interpretation in school. It’s different when I’m doing the writing, since the meaning is critical for me to get acrossthough some struggle understanding my songs at times. JW: Can you tell me a little about you? Where did you grow up? What you like doing for fun? When did you get saved?
LB: I grew up in Bozeman on a farm. We had every animal you could imagine, and my dad taught me how to drive a team of horses when we’d feed the cows (just for fun). I rode a real horse chasing real cows, and laugh at Hollywood ’s take on that scenario.
I played basketball in high school (which was my second religion, since I’d no inclination towards music at the time. I listened to country music with my dad until I was about 11, and then discovered rock, which suited me better. I loved Indiana Jones and Spiderman, and wanted to be both of them. I asked my mom and dad questions about predestination and other hard subjects when I was about 7. God put that desire to understand spiritual things in my mind pretty early. I could tell when our teachers were blowing smoke, and didn’t really know what they were talking about. That grew into a firm distaste for clichés and pretending, which I saw as a temptation in my own life. I also saw that I was a jerk to my brother, and knew God saw that as sin. I asked him to forgive me over and over, not realizing that it wasn’t my thoroughness that gained the forgiveness, but his faithfulness. Jesus became alive to me at about 15. I was tested for Epilepsy in 8th grade, which leveled me. I realized I couldn’t keep this whole thing together, and it jeopardized me getting a drivers’ license. ( I was able to get it, and had good health throughout high school). I find it interesting that the day I had to go get tested for it was the day I planned to get into trouble with some of my friends. Those same friends walked away from the Lord and into the partying scene later. JW: What is your favorite bible verse? EB: Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” It’s the ultimate pride killer verse. We belong to God. He made us, and then remade us in Jesus for his own purposes. God has even seen to it that our works are waiting for us. It goes
contrary to our pride, where we want to be the ones thinking up the plan and getting the credit. It also shows God’s concern and care for us in our daily living. It’s where real joy lies. JW: Are you coming with any new albums or singles? Or doing any touring days? EB: I’m always writing and they always feel like a single when they start. Not touring much. We set out with a specific plan to serve our local church and our families primarily, and leave the other stuff up to God. We push radio and video hard, and I occasionally do radio/video tours to do interviews. If a single takes off, we’ll hopefully play some larger venues. Our Tracing Days marketing plan got sidelined when the economy tanked. My wife and I funded our music by building/selling a house every couple years. We ended up losing all of our equity in 24 months, and with it our Tracing Days budget. It’s one thing to theoretically wonder if you would still walk with God if you lost all your money, it’s another to lose it, and find him faithful. He is, and Tracing Days will only go forward as He provides. For more information on Tracing Days, visit www.tracingdays.com or www.myspace.com/tracingdays.
–James Wait, the Underground staff writer Tags: christian, Modern Rock, Montana, Switchfoot, Tracing Days, U2 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2009/05/tracing‐the‐days/
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