Raucous, Rowdy Bluegrass-Busting BIG SMITH Band Makes First West Coast Swing June 12-19.Entertainment Editors NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2003 "When Big Smith-fever hits the crowd...there's enough perspiration, chills, delirious de·lir·i·ous adj. Of, suffering from, or characteristic of delirium. laughter, spilt spilt v. A past tense and a past participle of spill1. beer and falling tears to meet the quota of entire festivals." Mike Warren of Pitch Weekly As regional all-stars, the Bluegrass/Rock/Gospel-band Big Smith has run the bases of the Midwest club circuit since 1996. Since that time, their genre-bending blend of music has generated fans across the Heartland and the southern States. They have opened shows for Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury Band The Del McCoury Band is a Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band. Originally Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on bass, the band went through a number of changes until the 1980s when the band solidified its line-up, adding McCoury's sons, Ronnie and Doc Watson. Don't be fooled: this is not just another bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. band from Missouri. Junk-drawer percussion (washboard, spoons, bones, etc.) mixes with heavenly mandolin mandolin (măn'dəlĭn`, măn`dəlĭn'), musical instrument of the lute family, with a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum. and guitar work, train-lonely harmonica harmonica. 1 The simplest of the musical instruments employing free reeds, known also as the mouth organ or French harp. It was probably invented in 1829 by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, who called his instrument the Mundäoline. , gut-punching upright bass, in-your-face lead vocals and spine-tingling harmonies, making Big Smith a monster musical force. Raucous, rowdy and always irrepressible, Big Smith works a crowd like nobody's business. Big Smith is big time - and big fun. With their innovative double-disc, live CD-ROM, GIG, debuting in stores nationwide on MayApple mayapple (māˈ·aˑ·p Records June 10, and a big Western swing in the making, Big Smith is standing in tall cotton. The band consists of five cousins, including the Bilyeu brothers, Mark (acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica) and Jody (mandolin, keyboards, guitar); The Williamson brothers Jay (drums, percussion) and Mike (electric and acoustic bass, sousaphone sousaphone or helicon Spiral circular bass or contrabass tuba. Traditionally made of brass, it is now often made of fibreglass for lightness. The helicon was probably first developed in Russia but was perfected in Vienna in 1849 by Ignaz Stowasser, who , mouth bow), and Cousin Rik Thomas (mandolin and guitar). Between them, the men of Big Smith play an amazing 20 instruments. West Coast listeners will have the chance to hear what their cornfed counterparts across the country have known for years: Big Smith is the real deal.
June 12 San Francisco, CA The Parkside (w/ Red Meat) 10 p.m. $10
June 13 Albany, CA The Ivy Room (w/ Red Meat) 10 p.m. $10
June 14 Newman, CA Westside Theatre 8 p.m. $15/$12
(w/ Red Meat)
June 16 San Francisco, CA The Makeout Room TBA
(w/ Smelley Kelley's Plain
High Drifters and
Scott Young)
June 19 Anaheim, CA The Doll Hut with Russell 10 p.m.
Scott & The Red Hots
For interviews contact martha@somuchmoore.com. For downloadable artwork and an updated itinerary, click on www.bigsmithband.com. For a press-only download link, log on to http://www.bigsmithband.com/pressonly.html. |
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