By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, March 12, 2009
One of the acts announced yesterday was Big and Rich a country, rock, and hip-hop crossover group we don’t normally see in this neck of the woods. These boys are deep country. I know the description sounds incredible but that’s the way it is in country today. Country is not static and Kenny Alphin and John Rich show their fans they are hip but they’re still country. This is sure gonna be a great time in Cavendish.
Country music always liked bad boys and cowboys. These boys keep that tradition alive with a stage act that can have the fans whooping and then holding hands and lighting their iPod candles. It’s safer than a lighter: your hands don’t get burned. Big and Rich are crowd pleasers and will be a fun time in Cavendish. Links are at the end, after all the good stuff.
Here’s Jalapeno a blues driver –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRa7QJyGLA4
Here’s a video with Cowboy Troy that moves over to hip hop land –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpLxj3jT1p4
As Warner artists, you won’t find much in the way of official videos on YouTube. Warner is at odds with Google and YouTube and spends their time with take downs. The fan vids are great. For the “official videos” mosey on over to their official site Big and Rich.com. That should keep you busy for hours.
Official bio
In their mixing of traditional country sounds with hip-hop, rock, and the occasional Native American yell. Their employment, in their Muzik Mafia troupe, of a painter who works on a canvas during B&R shows, and of a former Foot Locker salesman, called Cowboy Troy, who’s become the most prominent black country performer since Charley Pride—with one major difference. Troy raps. In Spanish, sometimes. As does Big Kenny, doing a little “hick-hop.” And then there are their social messages, including “Love Everybody,” flashing on big screens behind them, and emblazoned on the back of Big Kenny’s guitar.
Muzik Mafia, that was the informal jam session they set up in Nashville, a town notoriously not interested in looseness—at least not when it comes to the music industry. Kenny Alphin and John Rich grew it into a scene and, ultimately, into a stable of talent, with several of the participants joining them in the leap onto the radio, the charts, and concert stages. Gretchen Wilson, anybody?
Their third CD: Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace came from a conversation he had with a friend, said Kenny, “and the realization that between raising hell and ‘Amazing Grace’ is that fine line that we’re walking on all the time, trying to live life to its fullest and at the same time knowing that every day of our lives is a blessing. And I feel like, to those given much, much is expected.”
And if, indeed, Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace has Big & Rich leaning towards Grace, that’s the idea, to take you to a “zone,” as Kenny would say. “Here’s a feeling we’re going to stay in, and thoughts we’re gonna express in a certain style for awhile. And then we’re gonna switch gears and rock your balls off.” “We’ll do it like you’re listening to an album. Here’s the first side; it’s got this mood to it. Then you flip it over, and it’s got this mood to it. And we leave it on a happy note. We love our country, and we love it loud.”
Here’s the current line up Cavendish Beach Music Main Stage Artists:
Friday, July 10, 2009
Aaron Lines
Doc Walker
Big & Rich
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Tim McGraw
Tara Oram
Steve Azar
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Reba McEntire
Paul Brandt
Crystal Shawanda
For ticket information see – www.cavendishbeachmusic.com
or www.ticketpro.ca
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