The Big Lonesome

Artist Information

Biography

The Big Lonesome is brothers Chad and Luke Gosselin, Joe Ziemba, and Jerry Looper. Each member is one part of a sound memorable for its complete honesty, jarring purity, and unique brand of songwriting. The group is rooted in an Americana and Alt. Country tradition where the songbook is the focal point of the music. Bands like Wilco, the Avett Brothers, and Band of Horses are clear influences. On stage the group shows an immense sensitivity to dynamics and instrumentation. Each member of the Big Lonesome is a skilled multi-instrumentalist coloring their music with the sounds of the pedal steel, slide guitar, and mandolin.

The band's beginnings originate with brothers Chad and Luke Gosselin who grew up listening to a wide array of roots music. Early on they were strongly influenced by American classics such as Bill Monroe, the Carter Family, and Johnny Cash. Expanding on these brothers' acoustic music, longtime friend and musician Joe Ziemba became the full time bass player in 2009. A year later, the band organically grew into a quartet with the addition of drummer and multi-instrumentalist Jerry Looper. Today the band has become known for its individuality, minimalism, and energy both live and in the studio. The Big Lonesome has performed most notably at the House of Blues Foundation Room and the Hard Rock Café in Boston, and Tammany Hall in Worcester. They can be heard in the coming months regionally, on local radio stations, and in their home town of Boston, Massachusetts.

Instrumentation

Chad Gosselin - Vocals, Guitar, mandolin, Pedal Steel
Luke Gosselin - Vocals, Guitar
Joe Ziemba - Vocals, Bass Guitar

Discography

Official Website

http://www.thebiglonesome.net

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter

Audio

• I'll Sit And Wait
  Listen  
• Tired Horses
  Listen  
• Emily
  Listen  

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Song of the South [+ Show ]
  

  Boston’s the Big Lonesome travel the well-worn dusty highways and byways of alt-country heroes such ...Boston’s the Big Lonesome travel the well-worn dusty highways and byways of alt-country heroes such as Uncle Tupelo, with detours into modern genre iterations more akin to punk-grass pop darlings the Avett Brothers. A swirl of mandolin, pedal steel and slide guitars color the pop-informed songwriting of brothers Chad and Luke Gosselin, creating a forward-looking sound firmly rooted in twangy tradition.

• Show Crush: The Big Lonesome/Redletter/MountPeru/Seaplanes at TT's Friday [+ Show ]
  

  There used to be a band in Boston called Redletter, they changed their name to The Break Mission for...There used to be a band in Boston called Redletter, they changed their name to The Break Mission for a while and played all over the city back in the halcyon days of the aughts, eventually moving to Brooklyn before calling it quits. Like the Blues Brothers of old, they got the band back together after a series of incredible car chases; unlike the Blues Brothers, they don’t really play blues, opting for some turn of the century post grunge, alternative anthem rock instead. Also, to our knowledge, Carrie Fisher has never tried to kill any of them.
  
  They’ve joined a pretty swell bill over at TT’s Friday night, where The Big Lonesome will be headlining with their unique brand of shoegazey folk (folkgaze?). They’ve got lap steel and mandolin worked into the mix, but it’s a different sound that doesn’t quite let us label them as alt-country; they bring more of a rootsy pop along the lines of The Rationales. Our dear friends Mount Peru will be there as well, sounding like they came off Ford Prefect’s iPod. Their sound is dusty and forlorn; all Depression-era ditties as interpreted by alien travelers. Psychedelic power-country outfit Seaplanes will kick the night off.
  
  Facebook event page
  8:30pm / 18+ / $8 (advance tickets)
  

• The Big Lonesome (Church 4/27) [+ Show ]
  

  This Friday, April 27th, The Big Lonesome is returning to Church at Boston for the second time this ...This Friday, April 27th, The Big Lonesome is returning to Church at Boston for the second time this year, tucked into a tight lineup also featuring Peter Buzzelle, Airport, Scarlett Drive, and The Doug Kwartler Band. Treating it as the last stop on their “Daylight Savings Blues” tour (no longer blue, the band is actually celebrating the end of the depressingly dark winter New England days), The Big Lonesome is packing an eclectic punch and offering a spread of styles to their Church audience. With influences such as Delta Spirit, Fleet Foxes, and Townes Van Zandt, the band attests to a combination of country roots, indie rock attitude, and Americana accent. To truly do The Big Lonesome justice though, you really have to hear them for yourself. I sat down with bassist Joe Ziemba to get some insight into the band before their set this Friday.
  So who exactly comes together to form The Big Lonesome?
  Our band members are brothers Chad Gosselin—lead singer and rhythm guitar—and Luke Gosselin; lead guitar, backup vocals; and myself. I play bass and sing backup vocals. Right now we don’t have a permanent drummer, so for electric sets we use a sub.
  
  How did you guys get your start?
  The Big Lonesome started out in 2009. Chad wrote and recorded an EP by himself called “An Uncelebrated Homecoming” when he returned home after graduating college. He wanted to do a release party, so he asked Luke and me (we were college roommates) to play with him. We loved it, fell in love with his music, and loved playing together, so we continued playing and writing.
  
  Church’s show is like the last leg of your regional tour. What’s that been like?
  Right. Recently we’ve been on our “Daylight Savings Blues” tour, about how it gets depressing in New England in the winter. This kind of celebrates the end of that. We’ve played different spots in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York. It’s been awesome. Especially in Vermont, it’s very personable up there. It was a fun, positive experience. It was our first tour, so we basically put everything together ourselves, and more goes into that than you think. It was exhausting, but fun.
  
  Being from Boston, how do you see yourselves fitting into the Boston music scene?
  Boston is really cool because there are a lot of people playing, and it’s fun because our friends can come out to local shows. But the scene is mixed, so it’s hard to find a niche for our particular style. We find ourselves on mismatched bills with random bands. We’re really just exploring though, and getting as much experience as we can.
  
  Your sound itself doesn’t really fit into a particular style. Where do those hints of country roots come from?
  It varies whether we’re playing an acoustic outlet or an electric set with a drummer or sub. I’d describe our sound more as indie rock, more folk-Americana. If you’re from New England, you might say it sounds country, but if you’re from Nashville, not so much. We enjoy that country sound and influence though. We’re big on Towns Van Zandt, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, all the classics.
  
  So what can people expect to hear at Church?
  Church is going to be the full electric band, with special guests, so you don’t want to miss it. We’ve been playing with Scarlett Drive, and they have a blues-rock country sound. Another group has a violin player. But I’m giving it away. Oh and Tim (Novak) of course. We love Tim.
  
  What are your plans for the future, after this regional tour is done?
  We want to play some cool parts of the country, and play with some cool bands. We definitely want to release a record and have there be some kind of reaction to it. We just want to build relationships, networks. Music is so tangible, and you can walk away with that really awesome, inspired feeling. I’d like to share that with someone. I want people to walk away from our show and think, ‘Wow, I felt something.’ Something positive.
  
  -Hilary Milnes
  

Setlist

Originals:
I'll Sit and Wait
Tired Horses
Ohio
Emily
Daylight Savings Blues
Familiar Places
Talking in My Sleep
Undone

Covers:
High and Dry
Dead Flowers
California Stars
Sweet Virginia
Wagon Wheel

Basic Requirements

Calendar