Press >> The Delta Optimist 1997

Jaime Perry puts the antismoking advocate in an untenable position.

He's a chainsmoker whose duMaurier Lights are as much a part of his appearance as the dayold stubble on his face.

Now you want him to quit smoking so he can live well past his 26 years -he's a nice guy, after all. But the problem is, he credits the deep, raspy voice that everyone loves on his new CD to those dreadful little cancer sticks.

"It's from smoking and drinking coffee," says Perry.

Perry, who goes by the stage name of Bocephus King, has just released "Joco Music," an instantly likeable, 16-song collection of blues, jazz, country and rock and roll sounds. Every song is honest and real, kind of like Perry himself.

That's not bad considering a couple of years ago, this Tsawwassen/Point Roberts product had given up music altogether.

"I'd become very frustrated playing here because the audience had stopped listening," says Perry. "They were listening to the worst crap because the standard had become so low."

So throwing up his arms, Perry and a buddy went down to New Orleans for a few months and hung out in the clubs there. Eventually, the music influenced Perry enough to woo him back to the stage -and you can hear the result in Joco Music.

"The fact it sounds like it does is a miracle," says Perry.

The CD was recorded inside Perry's parents' cabin in Point Roberts with help from an army of volunteer musicians and partner Dave Staniforth of Tsawwassen, who also has a CD due out soon: "Without Dave, it couldn't have happened like this."

Perry's interest in music, particularly American music, began when he was a little kid. He grew up in a musical environment and his childhood memories include nights spent harmonizing around the piano with the family.

As a teenager, Perry didn't fit in at South Delta secondary and spent a lot of afternoons jamming with friends.

"Our lack of popularity gave us lots of time to practice music," he quips.

Once Perry and the others were good enough, they graduated to playing at the Fireside Lounge at the old Pillar's Inn in Tsawwassen while their peers were in school. Was he old enough to be there? "Well, maybe not," he says.

Today, there is no more Jaime Perry in the music world. He had to adopt a stage name to match his cajun-sounding voice -people couldn't believe Jaime Perry was the name of the southern black guy they thought they were listening to.

"No one would believe my name was Jaime Perry,"

Perry picked Bocephus (Bosee-fuss) after the nickname Hank Williams gave to his son, Hank Williams Jr., who later wrote about it in a song. Bocephus has since been adopted to describe the old style of music and storytelling that made Williams famous.

Williams also influenced Perry's music, as did his heroes, Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle.

Joco Music is available at The Java Man on Delta Street in Ladner, which is appropriate since Perry's spent so much time there singing at the coffee house's twice monthly open stages. (Also, look for pictures of the historic village on the CD jacket.)

A CD release party is set for Fat Tuesday (in honor of Mardi Gras), Feb. II, at The Gate, 1176 Granville St., Vancouver. Everyone who likes good music is invited.