What about that name?

A lot of folks ask us, “How’d ya come up with that name, Big’uns?”
It’s a long story that goes way back to the days when Sterling and I played with the GroanUps in Little Rock. I’ll not get into the whole story, but there was this fictional character, whose spirit was frequently invoked named Emerson Bigguns.
Every band has one guy who kind of pushes the group through the birth canal. Any three or four good musicians can get together and create a respectable musical ensemble. But in order to survive, you have to have that person who coordinates the rehearsal space, schedules the rehearsals and most importantly, books that first paying gig. Sterling was that guy in our band. He convinced our friend Suzie Stephens (more on her later) to let us camp our gear in the back room of her store and push the noise ordinance envelope after business hours. He booked the first gig.
When it came time to decide on a name, Sterling wanted to call the band Emerson Bigguns. I argued that would be a hard sell to the mother of prospective brides for wedding gigs. But he did persist, and here we are with this curious moniker, compromised to the shortened version.
Is it fraught with suggestiveness and double entendre? Well, no…Yes…Maybe. I suppose it’s all in your mind. We did have one very respectable organization in Springdale who came to us last spring and said, “We really like your band, but do you think you could change your name to play our big social event?”
Of course, being staunch adherents to artistic principle, we said, “You betcha.” In fact, that’s what we called the band: You Betcha. We softened up the repertoire a bit, agreed to play “Proud Mary,” put on nice clothes and gave them exactly what they were looking for. Are we musical mercenaries? Well, no…Yes…Maybe. But it was a really good version of “Proud Mary.”
We recently played an event our keyboard player, Carl couldn’t make. Not wanting to compromise the integrity of the Big’uns name with a group that couldn’t do the whole repertoire, Sterling suggested the alias we used, Late for Dinner (as in “Call us what you want, but don’t call us late for dinner”).
So, if you come out and hear us, want to book us, but your mother-in-law to-be recoils at the suggestion of Big’uns, just bear in mind, you can call us what you want. Will we play your gig with another name? You Betcha.
By the way, we do have a few choice holiday dates open still. But they're going fast, so call soon.

This week in Big'unsville

Little belated post here. I took my son Will, who’s developing into a good guitar player (he and a bunch of guys have a band they’re calling Young’uns), for his first visit to New York. If you’re ever there on Monday night, catch Les Paul at his regular gig at Iridium. At 90 years old, he has a great band, still plays some really interesting stuff and he’s just as funny as hell.

Friday before we left, Big’uns played our happy hour gig at George’s. As I’ve mentioned here before, Brian Crowne, George’s proprietor has done a great job of building the consummate live music venue. They have an excellent sound system and good sound guys. They’re bringing in some class touring acts from around the country. Many of us recently got to see one of our favorites there, Tower of Power, without a doubt the tightest R&B ensemble in the world today.

We’re looking forward to playing again at George’s on Saturday, September 10, after the Arkansas-Vanderbilt football game, when we’ll be in the front room.

Slim Big'uns at Herman's

We had a great time at Herman's last night.
Kudos to Shelby and her crew for making this venerable Fayetteville establishment better than ever. The staff are without a doubt the friendliest folks of any we get to work with and the food is marvelous. (Here's a tip: Herman's long-known for steaks and ribs, has a really unique and wonderful garlic chicken.)
If you're looking for a place to go hear acoustic music up close and personal, check out their deck on Mondays and Thursdays.
We'd like to thank our buddy Phil Mayo for being a great supporter always, and especially helping us out here at Herman's.
Slim Big'uns will be back there on August 25.

Big'uns This Week

There will be a couple of Big’uns appearances this week in NW AR, beginning on Thursday night, when a pared-down version of the band, Slim Big’uns, plays on the deck at Herman’s from 7:00-10:00. This group is an “unplugged” combo, consisting of the hardest working man in northwest Arkansas show business, Darren Ray, along with Sterling and Ed, all on acoustic guitars and vocals. It’s a lot of the music people give the big tips to hear, and then some…other stuff. Wow. Can’t you feel the electricity in the air already? I can. Come on out. It’ll be fun. It’s a great venue, quite possibly the most perfect place in the whole world to spend a Thursday night. And you can get a big ole slag of red meat, cooked as you like it. Or crackers and salsa if you're a vegetarian.


Then on Friday, the band returns to one of our favorite spots, the garden at George’s, for happy hour (or as we like to think of it, adult hour), from 6-8. George’s has a great sound system, good sound guys, and it’s an opportunity to hear the band play some of the stuff we don’t play at other gigs. Plus Friday afternoon at George's almost always presents a dazzling display of dancing diversity. Oh the humanity! All that for only a two buck (I think) cover.

Come on out, and you might just find your picture here.

When things go wrong.

We had a little bit of an “opportunity” Tuesday night: The thermal overload circuitry in our main mixer just decided to go on strike against the AC delivery system at Jose’s. What that means is that certain key parts—primarily vocals—would just completely disappear right in the middle of a song, usually when we were cookin’ the hardest. Musicus interruptus. After several attempted re-patching schemes, it became obvious we were just not going to get it back up and running dependably. Fortunately, Darren had along his little 150 watt PA head. Not enough to really carry the band, but better than no vocals at all.
So here we are. We know we are just not going to sound as good as we should. We know our audience has already faced several distracting interruptions. Our monitors are out. Kluging things together has been frenetic and traumatic. It’s turning into a bad night. Early in one’s career, this is where you cue the s**t fit. Stomp around, throw things, just make it perfectly clear that something's definitely not right. But after a few of these experiences, you learn that’s not the most productive line of action.
Best adapt to the situation. Keep the energy up. Have yourself a good time, doing the best you can. More often than not, the audience will move right in there with you. That’s what happened on Tuesday. It wasn’t the usual Big’uns, but it didn’t suck.
When we play an event gig, we usually hire a sound company. They carry backups of their backup. Even then things can go awry (like the time the computer-controlled electrical system in the building in which we were playing shut down at its normal time of ten o’clock, right in the middle of our first set). But when they do, we try to keep smiling.

Why do we play clubs?

Though our target market is events, we do the occasional club gig. Like last night at Jose's. A six-piece band playing a club in Fayetteville just isn't going to make enough to pay that health insurance premium for the month. So why would we do it?
Number one, it can be a lot fun. You can invite your family and friends. You can try out new material or play material that you couldn't play at a country club gig (that extended version of "Whipping Post," for example). You can dress as you like. You can basically let your hair down (if you have hair). You don't have to worry about whether or not people are dancing and you don't have to play that request for "Brick House" (unless you just feel like it).
When we play events, we're buttoned up and professional about it. People are paying a premium, and we want to give them exactly what they want. It's their gig. But when we play clubs, we claim a little of that for ourselves.
We hope you'll come out to George's and see us next Friday.
Next post: What do you do when things swarm on you?