Big & Rich
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| Big & Rich | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Genre(s) | Country |
| Years active | 1998 - Present |
| Label(s) | Warner Bros. Nashville |
| Associated acts | MuzikMafia Gretchen Wilson Cowboy Troy |
| Website | http://www.bigandrich.com |
| Members | |
| Big Kenny John Rich |
|
Big & Rich is an American country music duo comprising two singer-songwriters: Big Kenny (Kenny Alphin, former solo artist and lead singer for the group luvjOi) and John Rich (former vocalist and bass guitarist of Lonestar). They first performed together in 1998. After writing several songs for other country artists, they were signed to a record deal with Warner Bros. Records in 2003.
Their first studio album, Horse of a Different Color, was released in 2004. This album featured what has become their signature song, "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)", as well as three other top-25 singles, including their debut single, "Wild West Show". The album featured collaborations with Cowboy Troy, Gretchen Wilson, and Martina McBride.
Comin' to Your City, released in November 2005, added another top-20 single, the Vietnam War-inspired "8th of November", as well as two other songs that reached the top 40. Joining the duo on this album were Troy, Wilson, and Kris Kristofferson.
Their most recent album, Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace, produced their first Number One single, the wedding ballad "Lost in This Moment". The duo also branched out beyond country music, collaborating with John Legend, Wyclef Jean, and Lil Jon. After releasing five singles that peaked in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, they achieved their first Number One song with "Lost in This Moment" in 2007.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Solo career and songwriting
Although the duo has performed together since 1998, Big Kenny and John Rich had both recorded solo albums in 1999 (Kenny's Live a Little and Rich's Underneath the Same Moon), though neither album was released until 2005. Both albums featured a song the two had written together, called "I Pray For You", which Rich released as a single in 2000. Rich also charted with a single that, to this day, has not been included on any album.
Songs that the pair co-wrote also started being recorded by other country artists. One of the first notable songs was "Amarillo Sky", which McBride & the Ride made the title track of a 2000 album. While this version was never released as a single, Jason Aldean later recorded the song for his 2005 debut album, and took his version to #4 in early 2007. Alphin and Rich also wrote "She's a Butterfly", which was cut by Martina McBride (with background vocals from the duo) in 2003 on her Martina album.
[edit] MuzikMafia
Big Kenny, John Rich, Jon Nicholson and Cory Gierman founded the MuzikMafia in 2001, which is an informal collection of singer-songwriters, musicians, and artists who would perform together weekly in Nashville, Tennessee. Among the many members included Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy, and James Otto.
Alphin and Rich began performing songs together that they had co-written, although at the time still maintaining their solo status. However, their unique dual-melody vocalization caught the attention of other members of the mafia and some fans, who would come to the weekly concerts to see "Big and Rich" perform. They began to officially consider themselves a duo, and the "Big & Rich" moniker stuck.[1] In 2003, they believed that they were going to pitch songs. However, the music executive wanted to audition them after his daughter saw them perform with the MuzikMafia at the Pub of Love. They struck a record deal with Warner Bros.
[edit] Horse of a Different Color
In February 2004, the duo released its first single, "Wild West Show". The song, with markedly Native American imagery and tone achieved moderate chart success, peaking at #21. They also released digital singles for "Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" and "Live This Life" in April 2004.
Their first album, Horse of a Different Color, was released in May 2004, and reached number one in both the Billboard national chart as well as the Billboard country music chart. The most successful song from the album was the second single, "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)", which reached #11 on the country charts. This song received wider exposure when ESPN featured the song in commercials for its coverage of the 2005 World Series of Poker. Big & Rich also showcased this song in a country-rap music blowout to conclude a CMT awards show.
They released two further singles from the album: a song dedicated to survivors of domestic abuse (especially Alphin's sister), "Holy Water", which reached #15, and "Big Time", which peaked at #20.
In 2004, Big & Rich shared a nationwide sell-out stadium tour with Martina McBride and Tim McGraw. Later that year, the duo embarked on the American Revolution Tour which they coheadlined with Gretchen Wilson and other members of the MuzikMafia. A live version of the band covering Madonna's "Like a Virgin" also was released on Yahoo's LaunchCast service.
[edit] Comin' to Your City
Their second album, Comin' to Your City, was released on November 15, 2005. The first single, "Comin' to Your City" received a similar reaction as "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" had a year earlier, although rather than poker, ESPN utilized an altered version of the song as the opening theme for their popular Saturday program College GameDay. However, the song only peaked at #21, their third single to barely miss the top 20.
Their next single, "Never Mind Me", achieved even less success on the charts, only peaking at #34. However, the third single from Comin' to Your City, "8th of November", while only peaking at #18, garnered the duo nominations for the CMA Awards, Grammy Awards, and the ACM Awards. The song was inspired by the story of Niles Harris. A subsequent documentary titled "November 8: a true American story of honor" was released also, debuting on Great American Country television network over the July 4 weekend. The documentary tells the story of Niles Harris and shows the making of the music video for the single. The documentary was included in 42 tablet boxes of Prilosec OTC[citation needed].
During a benefit concert held on October 9, 2006 in Atlanta, GA to raise money for the construction of the 173d Airborne Memorial, Big & Rich were awarded the status of Honorary Members of the 503d Regiment of the 173d Airborne Brigade. The concert was the subject of a documentary on Great American Country in November 2006.
[edit] Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace
In early 2007, the duo released "Lost In This Moment", which was the lead-off single to their third album, Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace. "Lost In This Moment" became the duo's fastest-rising single, becoming their first top-10 single in June 2007 and their first Number One in July 2007. The song also began receiving airplay on adult contemporary radio and became their first chart entry for that format, reaching #12. They released their second single, "Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace" to country radio in August 2007, although it failed to make an impact on the charts, becoming (at the time) their lowest-peaking single behind "Never Mind Me". In November 2007, they released "Loud" after premiering it on the CMA Awards, which had failed to reach the Top 40 on the country charts.
[edit] Collaboration and special appearances
Since its first collaboration, with Martina McBride in 2003, the duo has appeared on several other albums, and has had many guests for its own albums. Horse of a Different Color featured MuzikMafia members Cowboy Troy ("Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" and "Kick My Ass") and Gretchen Wilson ("Saved"), and in addition McBride provided background vocals for "Live This Life". Wilson and Cowboy Troy then appeared on Comin' to Your City on the track "Our America". Their third album featured John Legend on "Eternity" and Wyclef Jean on "Please Man", as well as Lil Jon on a remix of "Loud" featured on the album's iTunes release. Legend played the piano and sang a verse during the duo's performance of "Lost in This Moment" at the 2007 ACM Awards.
Big & Rich cowrote several songs, and provided background vocals, on Cowboy Troy's 2005 debut Loco Motive, including the single "I Play Chicken with the Train", which reached #48 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Rich also appeared on Cowboy Troy's 2007 album Black in the Saddle under the psuedonym J. Money.[citation needed]
In 2006, Big & Rich joined Wilson and Van Zant on Hank Williams, Jr.'s top-40 song, "That's How They Do It in Dixie".
Big & Rich contributed to Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur with a cover of John Lennon's "Nobody Told Me". Then, in June 2007, the duo was featured in a duet with rock band Bon Jovi on their Lost Highway album. The song, titled "We Got it Going On", was selected as a promotional song for the Arena Football League's 2007 season.
[edit] Hiatus
Rich stated recently in an interview that Alphin suffered a neck injury, which led to the decision for the duo to take a hiatus until 2009. Rich is scheduled to release a solo album later this year. According to their website, however, Big and Rich are continuing to tour, including participating in some dates of Kenny Chesney's Poets and Pirates tour.
[edit] Reaction
The duo's blend of country music, rock, and hip-hop has been very divisive among some country fans and even country musicians. Some applaud the genre-bending of the duo's music, and some bands and artists cite Big & Rich as an influence. Many different artists have also recorded songs written by Big & Rich, such as Rich's "Mississippi Girl", which Faith Hill took to #1 in 2005, and Alphin's "Last Dollar (Fly Away)", which became a #1 hit for Tim McGraw in 2007.
However, others in the genre (especially "alt-country" artists) have criticized the duo's musical style, with Texas country music singer Keith Davis naming "Big & Rich" as a trend he would eliminate from music.[2]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Filmography
- Las Vegas (TV series) - Season 2, Episode 24: Centennial (2005)
- The 8th of November: A True American Story of Honor (2006) (Documentary)
- NASCAR 08 - Soundtrack (2007) (Videogame)
[edit] References
- ^ Wal-Mart Soundcheck DVD, released 5 June 2007
- ^ http://www.galleywinter.com/main/News/article/sid=263.html Texas Music - Keith Davis, accessed 6 Sep 2007.
[edit] External links
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