Biography
The Big Sky Stringband performs a broad collection of original American roots music and unique covers. Founded by Jay Stanek (acoustic guitar/vocals) and Chris Meier (mandolin/vocals), the band builds a new generation of folk-rock around its core strengths: solid songwriting and textured grooves.
Initially formed in Champaign, Ill., in 1997, by current members Chris Meier and Jay Stanek, and former members Dave Johnston and Ken Wilson, the group played a limited number of shows around Champaign before Johnston relocated to Colorado to start Yonder Mountain String Band, and Meier and Stanek returned to their native Chicago. The latter duo continued to play as Big Sky Stringband, and in 2001 expanded the line-up to include drums, electric guitar, and bass.
The band concentrates its efforts on creating energetic and diverse shows that span the musical landscape from folk-rock, blues and country to funk, jazz, bluegrass and rock. The quintet of Meier, Stanek, Brandon Cochran (electric guitar/vocals), Zach Malasto (drums), and Dick Mallory (bass), create a unique form of roots music. With train wrecks, clotheslines and broken fences as the backdrop, the group weaves stories of mill workers, first loves, and mine fires into a tapestry of Americana. But these songs are more than a glimpse at American life, they are the quest for the American Dream embodied in song.
Recordings of Big Sky Stringband shows have been spreading across listeners' computers for years. The band's shows have been downloaded more than 5,000 times from Web sites including archive.org.
In February 2007, the band will release Turning of the Wheel, a six-song EP, and the band's first proper studio release. Recorded at SHIRK Music + Sound in just four, four-hour sessions, the album features the band's take on jam-rock ("Slow Train"), folk ("Eric Heywood"), folk-rock ("Dialog with John"), hillbilly surf music ("Sherman Hemsley"), country ("Get Down Boys"), and eclectic bluegrass ("Rich Koz"). The band capped off the recording of the EP by headlining the WXRT Local Anesthetic Live Show at Cubby Bear Wrigleyville on February 9. The band and it's song "Slow Train" was featured on Coke's entertainment Web site for the summer of 2007.
In 2005, Big Sky Stringband released Flyin' Blind, a live album featuring 12 original compositions and the band's distinctive take on 2 traditional songs. The collection highlights the energy of a Big Sky show and features the looseness that defines the Big Sky sound. Available for purchase at iTunes or CDBaby, the album's release was celebrated at Chicago's musician's heaven, The Hideout, in August 2005.
The band's song "Centralia," a straight-ahead bluegrass chronicle of the real-life underground mine shaft fires that caused the evacuation and near-condemnation of Centralia, PA brings perspective to the heartbreak and helplessness of the city's citizens. The song's dead-on message and easy hook have been featured in documentaries on both PBS and NPR.
Capable of a variety of live settings and situations, the band has performed shows in Michigan, Wisconsin, central Illinois, and at venerable Chicagoland venues including Martyr's, Cubby Bear, Kinetic Playground, McDunna's, and Wise Fools Pub, and performed multiple sets on the 2006 Chicago Auto Show's Emerging Artist Stage. The band has headlined the past six Barrington Brew Festivals, and performed a 4th of July set at the 2009 Taste of Chicago (the city's biggest festival), and the 2007 Sheffield Garden Walk (Chicago), Music in the Plaza (Tinley Park), and other outdoor festivals throughout region. Dynamic and powerful, these live performances cause the audience to get caught up in down-home Midwestern music. The stage presence displayed from the outset entertains the listeners while the Stringband lays down songs that captivate the audience and make them feel like they could be characters in each song, in each story, in each truly American moment.
To hear additional songs, please visit bigskystringband.com or myspace.com/bigskystringband
Instrumentation
Jay Stanek - acoustic guitar, vocals
Chris Meier - mandolin, vocals
Brandon Cochran - electric lead guitar, vocals
Dick Mallory - fretless bass
Zach Malasto - drums
The band can also perform as an acoustic duo or trio based on venue size and requirements.
Discography
1140 (2008) - 13-song solo LP from Big Sky frontman, Jay Stanek. Features several songs with members of Big Sky Stringband
Turning of the Wheel (2007) - Six-song EP featuring the band's first studio tracks since 2003. Called a "toe-tapping winner" by Illinois Entertainer
Flyin' Blind (2005) - Live album featuring 12 original and 2 traditional tunes
TwangOff Homegrown Series: August 2004 (2004) - Live album featuring band's winning TwangOff performance
Electric Demo (2003) - Featuring four original electric songs
Big Sky String Band (2001) - Ten song acoustic release performed entirely by Jay Stanek and Chris Meier, and featuring the song "Centralia" as heard on NPR and PBS
Links
| http://www.bigskystringband.com |