The BossHoss

The Bosshoss, a crew of Berlin-based wiseacres, transformed current pop and hip-hop numbers into traditional country arrangements. Vocalist and washboard player Boss Burns (born Alec Völkel), vocalist and guitarist Hoss Power (Sascha Vollmer), lead guitarist Russ T. Nail (Dean Micetech), bassist Gus Brooks (André Neumann), mandolinist Hank Doodle (Mathias Fauvet), plus drummers Frank Doe (Ansgar Freyberg) and Ernesto Escobar de Tijuana (Tobias Fischer) launched the band in 2004 and borrowed its name from a track by the storied U.S. garage act the Sonics. Wearing ten-gallon hats and western shirts trimmed with fringe, the seven-piece unit coined the label “country trash punk rock” for its sound and delivered rockabilly-tinged renditions of material by Britney Spears, Nelly, and OutKast. The playful premise spread quickly among listeners, so by the end of the year the Bosshoss inked a deal with Universal Music for its first full-length, Internashville Urban Hymns. A 180-date tour came next in 2005, along with a sponsorship from ice-cream maker Langnese, whose familiar jingle “Like Ice in the Sunshine” the group began featuring regularly. After placing tracks on the soundtrack of the 2006 film FC Venus, the outfit delivered its second album, Rodeo Radio, which cracked the Top Ten on the German pop charts, revived interest in the debut, and eventually earned it gold status. The band kept its strong following throughout the German-speaking territories for the next several years, racking up multiple awards and another gold record in Austria. Adhering to an “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” policy, the members kept issuing albums at a rapid clip while folding in more self-written material: Stallion Battalion appeared in 2007, followed by Do or Die in 2009, Low Voltage in 2010, and Liberty of Action in 2011. The year after, vocalists Boss Burns and Hoss Power joined the judging panel of the German edition of the talent-show franchise The Voice. The group resurfaced at the close of 2013 with the studio album Flames of Fame.