Party in the Park--let's try again

Well, we had a little precip throw a monkey wrench in Thursday's performance at Gulley Park. At 4:30, it looked like that line of T-storms was going to slam Washington Co. at about 6:00, so the powers-that-be postponed. About an hour later, it all dissipated. Can't stop the rain. Sometimes you can't predict it. WTH.
The good news is that we're back on the schedule for this Thursday, the 31st.
So, we'll be hoping the weather gods smile upon us this week.
If not, at least the adults can join us at the George's HH on June 8.

Down in the Gulley

This week (Thursday, May 24), the family-friendly edition of Big'uns (we've been trying to call it "Big," but the name just won't seem to stick) kicks off the summer music series in Fayetteville's Gulley Park.
We'll be playing from 7-9pm.
If history is an indicator, there will be local TV news teams there (for about 15 minutes), ready to tape the first kids that even act like they're dancing. Parents, this could be the initial monumental step in sending your child down that grueling path to the American Idol finals.
So round up the young'uns, rinse the winter dust out of the cooler, dig out the Jarts set, pack up the pickup and head on out for an idyllic spring's evening of music wrought Big'uns style.

Heads up for your calendar: Next George's happy hour sighting will be June 8.

It's wedding season

Before we go into a busy two months of weddings and events, Big'uns will be playing a more casual happy hour at George's this Friday from 6-8.
If you've been there before, you know what a party this can turn into.
The next gig will be this happy couple's reception. If you'd like to send a gift, they're registered at Rod's Mobile Home Supply and the Tobacco Superstore in Farmington.


Actually, we will be playing some REAL weddings, in addition to some respectable engagements where we feel compelled to dress and behave nicely. So we'll need to get our ya-yas out on Friday. Come on out and help us. (We promise to behave better than we did on Sterling's birthday)

Big'uns Comix

Our pal, Gio got a new Photoshop filter and created this image from one of our old shots.

Pretty cool, huh?!

Thanks, Gio!

Put April 27 on your radar screen. We'll be back at George's for Happy Hour.

It was just that kind of a night

Every once in a while--even when you pass the half-century mark--you gotta paint your hair green and turn into a giant, happy Leprechan.
We can only hope that those who consider themselves otherwise musically discerning were approaching the same state of consciousness as ours at eight o'clock on Friday. If not, we apologize, and promise never to do that again. 'Til next St. Pat's Day/Sterling's Birthday, of course.

We're told we've been bringing record crowds to George's happy hour.

We just want to thank you all for supporting us.

You can't have this much fun playing golf.

An Important Announcement

To my valued constituency—

I’d like to use this occasion to announce, with regrets, that I am formally discontinuing my campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008. I know there are people out there who are quite convinced I could be an effective president (thanks, Mom), but it has become painfully obvious that the field is entirely too crowded. Plus, securing a major party nomination is now more about raising money and good looks (best of luck, Hillary) than it is about candidates with great ideas and ironclad principles. I know Tom Vilsack beat me to the distinction of being the first candidate to drop out of the race, but I figure I'm a much better candidate to likely lose (even though I'm pretty certain that little thing with the LRPD in 1972 has long been expunged).
On a positive note, I did have the good sense not to give up playing in the band, so I’m pleased to announce that Big’uns will be back at George’s this Friday, during our normal happy hour slot. While you can’t write the $3 cover off as a political donation, at least it’s cheap. And the experience, while fun, is not extremely time-consuming.
Friday is also Sterling’s birthday (please excuse his behavior in advance—we don’t act like that at real paying gigs), in addition to kicking off a gala St. Paddy’s Day weekend.
And as the old saying goes, on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone’s a Big’un.

Jeez, has it been two months since New Year's Eve?

Sterling ran across this photo he took onstage at our Fayetteville, Arkansas First Night performance. Ever tried moving your fingers accurately for an extended period in freezing weather? As uncomfortable as that sounds (and was!), it was lots of fun. Gave some young people a chance to hear the old guys. Some of them really seemed to enjoy it.

New Stuff

On Saturday, Feb. 24, we'll be playing the annual Arts Center of the Ozarks Ball at the Mall.
This is a gala affair, featuring great food, and perhaps the largest charity silent auction in Northwest Arkansas.
Usually 600-700 people there at the NW Arkansas Mall.

Following that, we'll be back at George's for our annual St. Patrick's Day/ Sterling's Birthday party, at happy hour on March 16.

Some dates to save. And some still open.

I know it’s probably a little early to be planning for New Year’s Eve. But hey, now might be a good time to think about it, before that frenzied Halloween candy shopping spree begins. After all, beyond that it’s just turkey and dressing, turkey and cake, turkey and presents, turkey and bourbon, turkey sandwiches... And maybe some ham. And before you know it, it’s December 26, and you couldn’t care less about how you’re going to bring in the New Year; just gimme another bourbon. And a steak.

This year, why not try something different. Each year, Fayetteville has a celebration on the square called First Night. It’s really lots of fun. Good music of all varieties in the businesses around the square. It’s a family deal, so you can bring the kids. It’s non-alcoholic, so you don’t have to worry about amateur night drunks stumbling all over you. And you wake up feeling great to start the New Year.

Oh and did I mention Big’Uns will be the headlining act, playing up to the spectacular fireworks show at midnight? That’s right, all your favorite tunes, plus the Allman Brothers-meets-Queen version of “Auld Lang Syne.”

So put it down on your calendar now, before you get invaded by turkey.

Beyond that, we’ve just been informed we’ll be playing the Arts Center of the Ozarks Ball and Auction on February 24, 2007. This is another fabulous event, featuring, without a doubt, the biggest and coolest silent auction you’ll find anywhere. And this year featuring Big’uns. Or simply Big, as we’re known in the black tie circle.

Meanwhile, we'll be at George's for another happy hour on October 27. I'll send out a reminder on that one.

In case your organization needs a band for a holiday party, we do have some prime dates open in December. We can dress up nice and play a “grandma set” if you want us to. Just ask anyone who’s hired us for a wedding recently. If you or someone you know might be interested, email Ed or call me (479) 871-8006, or Sterling (479) 770-8901.

If you would like to be added to the Big'Uns email notification list, drop a line to Ed at the link on the right.

Back at George's this Friday

We've had some great gigs so far this summer:
Allison Leonard's wedding at the Springdale Country Club (a BIG improvement over the old room out there), followed by the Summer Salsa to benefit Children's House at the same venue.

The Cancer Road Challenge (we've really honed our "biker" repertoire--should come in handy at this year's Bikes, Blues & BBQ).
The annual fundraiser for the Ryan Gibson Foundation at the Fayetteville Town Center (where they're edging toward bearable acoustics).

This Friday (July 28) we'll be back at George's for another Happy Hour. It's big fun for those who've never made it out.

Coming up, to kick off the summer

Next up is the annual Summer Salsa event to support Children's House in Fayetteville. We'll be a the Springdale Country Club from 7-10 on Friday, June 23rd. Tickets are 50 bucks a pop, but that will get you free food and libations and it all goes to a great cause. This is probably one of those gigs where we'll put on our best behavior and really be more "Big" than "Big'uns."

Saturday, June 24, we’ll be playing from 11:00-1:00 (mid-day) at the Poker Run for the Northwest Arkansas Cancer Challenge. Also a great cause, and a rare opportunity to see Big’uns for people whose normal bedtime is before 5:00 PM.

Feather Fest---HHS Class of '76 Reunion

Feather Fest 06 2
Originally uploaded by Ederdn.

We'd like to thank the Springdale Chamber of Commerce for putting on a fine little festival in Feather Fest. We were out on a warm Saturday night, with a crowd of friendly, receptive folks, on both sides of the beer tent line.
We want to thank Stan Jackson, and especially our buddy Phil Mayo for making us part of this event.
Hope to see you there next year.


Also a big shout out to our friends from the Harrison High School Class of 1976, who had Big'uns over to Boone County for a rockin' party on Saturday the 17th. I can't believe these people are over...well you do the math to figure out how old.
They were still dancing and shouting for more at 1:15 AM. Wore us out. I graduated (also from HHS) with a special bunch of folks, but I'll guarantee there weren't too many of us awake much past 10:30 at our last reunion. We want to thank all of these people, but especially the "regulars" from this class who live in the Washington/Benton County area, who are out to George's almost every time we're there. Great party.

Big'uns Blogged

A welcome mention of the weekend from the guys over at the five forty.com. Thanks, guys.
Greg and Andy run an informative, entertaining piece of bloggery that delves into life inside and outside of this corner of the world.
I stumbled upon it quite by accident, and it's become a daily staple of my info diet.
Check it out.

Lots of Stuff Coming Up

A couple of Big'uns outings this weekend:
Friday afternoon finds us at George's for happy hour, but because of a later show, we'll be _inside_ this time. Kind of cozy, but usually still quite a bit of fun. Come on out; get to know someone new.
Later in the evening, Slim Big'uns (Sterling, Darren and I) open the show for Leon Russell in the garden at George's.
Then Sunday night, the band will be at Powerhouse for a "Tomorrow's Really Not Monday...is it?" Party on the Patio, from 7-11. You can come early, leave early, and be home in your jammies by TV news time. Or not.
Coming up on June 10, we play Springdale's Featherfest at 7:00 PM.
Stay tuned. We'll keep you posted about more.
For those thinking ahead to planning holiday parties (yes, it's time to start thinking about booking the band), we still have some prime December real estate open.
Oh yes, and in the interest of political correctness, we have decided that henceforth, we will book "respectable" jobs (your daughter's wedding, events for corporations with sensitive core values, any event that requires formal wear, etc.) under the moniker of Big. We want to be Big in Northwest Arkansas. And we can play a grandma set. Since we're that old, anyway.

Darren's New Web Site

If you get a chance drop by and see Darren's new Web site.
Darren Ray, singer extraordinaire, has a recently-released album "Guitar Man," which you can buy, along with his other albums, on the site.
He's just now got it up and running, and will be adding features in the next few days.
Nice looking site, Darren.

Next public Big'uns performance is March 17 for happy hour at George's. Be there.

Update

After some holiday private events and New Year's Eve at Rogers' Shadow Valley Country Club, Big'uns kicked off '06 with a great Friday happy hour at George's on January 13. A packed house with lots of old friends and several new ones.
Thanks to our good friend Suzie Stephens (Happy Birthday, Suzie), we've had a place to rehearse, and have spent some time working on our party repertoire, getting ready for some upcoming gigs.
The folks from our next gig, which is a fundraiser for St. Vincent DePaul in Benton County, have requested some 80's music, so we've been dusting off some dance floor favorites that we believe will be popular with a number of audiences going forward.
The spring is filling up with several private parties. We are looking forward to our next George's HH, which will be a St.Pat's day party on March 17. Should be fun. Sterling has promised to dye his hair green.
If you come out to see us at George's, just remember, we're basically there for our own entertainment. We'll be a little more "edgy" than we would be at your daughter's wedding.

It's beginning to sound a lot like Big'uns

It's that time of year. Seems like everywhere you go you hear the sounds of the season. Since Halloween. Falalalala (isn't that a city in Iraq?)
Jeez, you can't even walk into an auto parts store without hearing some spangled up version of "Silver Bells" on the musak. I don't know about you, but it's less than a week after Thanksgiving, and I'm afraid of going to the mall, not because of the immanent threat of being trampled by holly-crazed bargain hunters, but because I just might bust a vein from hearing the Chipmunks' singing "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays."

So here's how you can take a break from it: Come out to George's on Friday (Dec. 2)at Happy Hour and hear Big'uns. We're declaring it a Christmas-free zone for two hours, from six to eight. We promise we won't be wearing any silly Santa hats or reindeer antlers. No jingle bells and no "Jingle Bells." You don't have to come early and stand in line to get a deal to get in. It's three bucks, whether you come at five or seven.

So even if you have a high tolerance for yuletide cheer, come on out. We'll all have a merry old time.

BTW, how did "Sleigh Ride" and "Winter Wonderland" become Christmas songs?

Bikes, Blues and Boomers

Back in the summer of ’72 I lived with a bunch of bikers in North Little Rock who rode with a motorcycle club called the Road Barons. It was a lot of fun. Even though I didn’t ride, they didn’t mind me hanging around, because I was always pretty quick to pick up a guitar. They were a raggedy-ass bunch (but I was kind of raggedy-ass myself). We usually had about four bikes apart in the front yard (or living room), as they were continually looking for parts for their panheads, flatheads or shovelheads. I’ll bet they didn’t have more than $500 in each bike.
Take a walk down Dickson Street this week and you’ll see a different picture.
You’ll still see quite a few raggedy-ass bikers, but you also see a lot of do-rags hiding twenty dollar haircuts. Today a Harley Fat Boy will set you back, what, eighteen grand? You gotta have means to put a ride like that under you. And from what I hear, there’s a pretty good demand for what Harley is putting out.
I think it’s the same phenomenon that’s driving the market in vintage guitars. You have a big group of folks who have come into a little money in their maturity, and are saying, “I want a guitar just like I had when I was in high school playing with the Mohicans, that I sold to go to med school.” And, of course, there’s a finite number of ’68 Teles, so the price just keeps going up. That’s why I’ll never get one of those ’59 Les Pauls like Mike Bloomfield played that are now going for over $100K. I guess there are a lot of products like that: muscle cars, toys, baseball cards, comic books. So whether your interest is sixties Strats or Softails, you’re just gonna have to pay more. Damned doctors.

Bikes Blues BBQ and Big'uns

The week of the 26th finds us with a couple of appearances associated with Fayetteville's Bikes Blues and BBQ festival, quickly becoming the Sturgis of the South. There's some great music added to this mix of loud pipes. Come down and hear Big'uns on the main stage at 6:00 on Friday and stay around to hear one of our favorite acts, the Groove Hogs, later in the evening. I can guarantee you will never, ever pay less to hear a tighter group.
We'll be sharing the venue at George's with the Groove Hogs on Saturday night; they'll be outside, we'll be in. The action should start around 9:30.

UPDATE***UPDATE
Late change: Big'uns will now be in the garden at 9:00. The Groove Hogs are playing a show from 6-9 inside.

Sometimes it's not about the song.

Musicians and people who consider themselves musically sophisticated can be particular about the songs we listen to and perform. We tend to be suspect of anything that has pervaded the popular milieu too deeply.
But the best musicians can take any song, no matter how banal and overplayed, and add soul and energy to it to create a great performance. The first time I realized this was in the 70’s listening to the late, great Little Rock jazz pianist Art Porter, Sr. Art had a regular gig at Cajun’s Wharf in Little Rock for many years. He didn’t keep the gig by playing Bill Evans material all night—although he was quite capable of doing just that. He played songs the restaurant’s patrons knew, and he did it in a very accessible, but artful way. I once heard him play an inventive, inspired version of the theme from the Andy Griffith show (not a bad song, but not typically found in the jazz canon). The masses loved it. The musicians in the house appreciated it.
Now, Art could have narrowed his repertoire to material that might have been considered more “artistic.” But the venues for that kind of performance are very limited, especially around Little Rock. He would have had to hit the road to make a living. Instead, he decided to stay around home, teaching, entertaining and bestowing other legacies, including the more widely known Art Porter, Jr. And in doing so, he artfully adapted his repertoire to popular acceptance.
Musicians around the world face the same choices as Art Porter: You can stay “artistically true” and either hit the road or play less frequently around home (in which case, you’ll need to supplement your income—but you’d better not supplement it too effectively, or you won’t be a “real” artist). Or you can play to the local market. The best musicians can keep it real and do it their own way, even when they’re playing “Brick House” for the two thousandth time.