Biography
by Jason Ankeny
Berlin-based weisenheimers the Bosshoss reinterpreted contemporary pop and hip-hop hits in the style of traditional country music. Singer/washboardist Boss Burns (born Alec Völkel), singer/guitarist Hoss Power (Sascha Vollmer), lead guitarist Russ T. Nail (Dean Micetech), bassist Guss Brooks (André Neumann), mandolinist Hank Doodle (Mathias Fauvet), and drummers Frank Doe (Ansgar Freyberg) and Ernesto Escobar de Tijuana (Tobias Fischer) co-founded the Bosshoss in 2004, taking the name from a song by the legendary U.S. garage band the Sonics. Clad in ten-gallon hats and fringe-adorned western shirts, the septet developed a sound they dubbed "country trash punk rock," performing rockabilly-inspired covers of songs by Britney Spears, Nelly, and OutKast. The gag quickly caught on with audiences, and by year's end the Bosshoss signed with Universal Music to record their debut LP, Internashville Urban Hymns. A 180-date tour followed in 2005, as did a sponsorship deal with ice-cream manufacturer Langnese, whose trademark jingle "Like Ice in the Sunshine" the Bosshoss regularly covered. After contributing to the soundtrack for the 2006 film FC Venus, the group issued its sophomore effort, Rodeo Radio, which debuted in the Top Ten on the German pop charts.