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 Big Smith's Profile |
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Ozarks Raucousness |
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| Location: | SPRINGFIELD, Missouri |
| Country: |  United States |
| Last Login: | Jun 21, 2008 (521 days back) |
About Me |
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| Big Smith is a band from Springfield, Missouri composed of five cousins, including two sets of brothers: Mark and Jody Bilyeu, Bill and Rik Thomas, and Jay Williamson. The newest member, fiddle player Molly Healey, brings the total to six creative individuals bound together by blood and harmony.
After coming together professionally in the fall of 1996, they quickly earned a devoted following playing raucous acoustic music that captured the spirit of their native Ozarks, equipped only with an acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass fiddle and washboard. These early gigs demonstrated to unsuspecting audiences what joy and liberation could be found in the raw mojo of indigenous, authentic Ozarks culture; albeit a culture interpreted through the eyes of modern, intellectually astute neo-hillbillies, if you will.
The ten plus years they’ve been together have borne witness to an evolving instrumentation and sonic palate. The original acoustic lineup is still there as a tether to their legacy, but anymore it seems Big Smith simply aspires to be a great American band, regardless of whether the guitars are solid and amplified or woody and earthen.
In 2007 music became the full-time profession for Big Smith, as their expanded touring schedule attests – 2008 will see them playing upwards of 110 shows. They are still adored in their native Ozarks, but years of travel have earned them a place as a Midwest institution. They have made their mark outside their region with several forays to Chicago, Nashville, Austin and Colorado; several tours to the West Coast including two in 2007; and along the length of the Mississippi from the Twin Cities to New Orleans. They have recently enjoyed high-profile opening gigs for the likes of Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, The Avett Brothers and the Del McCoury band. Summer of 2008 finds them traveling to Europe for the 21st Annual Country Rendez-Vous Festival in Crappone, France.
The documentary "Homemade Hillbilly Jam," profiling the band and the music of their extended family, has garnered rave reviews and a legion of new fans through numerous screenings at film festivals around the world. Much anticipated is the release of the DVD in Europe and the U.S.A with distribution from First Run Features."...a bunch of seriously good pickers in overalls playing what can only be described as evangelical-turn-of-the-century-electrified-acoustic-rock-an
d-roll hymns to a bunch of seemingly godless hippies in tie-dyes, and everybody gets off. The crowds following Big Smith are so intense that the fire marshall actually suggested they literally take out all the furniture."
- Nightflying "Big Smith gives you that certain hootenanny in your nook and cranny with a bluegrass style that is unbelievable." -Little Rock Free Press "Their strengths abound in the array of instruments that chisel out country-fried melodies. And then there are the lyrics-fun and flavorful, a real kick in the pants...Big Smith delivers big time." -Music Row Magazine, Nashville Click Here To Buy Our CD's! |
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My Interests |
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Music:Member Since: 4/26/2006Band Website: bigsmithband.com Band Members: Mark Bilyeu -acoustic guitar, electric guitarJody Bilyeu -mandolin, keyboard, mouth bowJay Williamson -washboard, drums, bones, spoonsBill Thomas -upright bass, resonator bass, boiled chickenRick Thomas -guitar, mando, whateverMolly Healey -fiddleEverybody sings! Big Smith T-Shirt (fish) Influences: Grandma, Grandpa; Led, Zeppelin Record Label: MayApple Records Type of Label: Indie |
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My Background and Lifestyle |
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| Occupation: | Music Artist (Americana / Folk / Rock) |
My Pictures |
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My Blog |
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To mitigate or not to mitigate |
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| Acting on a hunch, I just googled on "had the gall," and then googled on "had the unmitigated gall." It turns out that there’s roughly a one in twenty chance that if an internet user comments on... Posted by Big Smith on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:31:00 PST |
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A Very Big Smith February |
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| Big Smith is keeping busy, what with the knitting and the crocheting and the dungeons and dragons habit, and oh yes, the making of music.
It's been a fun few weeks, filled with good shows at g... Posted by Big Smith on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:21:00 PST |
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Tooting our own horn, rather, allowing others to toot it for us |
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| Big Smith has had a couple of nice notices come down the pike lately. The first was to be voted "Best Local Original Music Band" by the readers of 417 Magazine in their 2008 "Best of" poll. Thanks eve... Posted by Big Smith on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:18:00 PST |
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From OKC to Ol K.C. (with Tulsa in Between) |
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| The sun was not out, it was too cold to play, But I was packing the van to do so anyway When what to my wondering phone should appear,But a text from dear Roger, our sound engineer... Posted by Big Smith on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 08:29:00 PST |
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Juanita, Juanita, Juaneet |
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| One of our favorite gigs of the year happened last night. It's plenty good playing at the lovely Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts (don't worry about remembering the name--luckily, it ha... Posted by Big Smith on Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:35:00 PST |
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Gig Videos. GigVids? Gigeos? |
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| ... Posted by Big Smith on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:16:00 PST |
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Cousin Molly! |
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| We're pleased to announce that Molly Healey, long-time Big Smith serial guest fiddler, has consented to join Big Smith as a full-time member. I'll pause here while everyone applauds, and says things l... Posted by Big Smith on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:45:00 PST |
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Big Smith can play high-energy, bluegrass-influenced roots music with anybody on the planet! |
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| Get over the Deliverance bib overalls and the Ozark ax-killer faces. The five guys in Springfield, Missouri, outfit Big Smith have long cultivated the Ozark hillbilly look, and further it with a tear-... Posted by Big Smith on Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:28:00 PST |
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Big Smith & Documentary in Eureka Springs/MayApple Records Festival |
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| Friday, April 27 & Saturday, April 28
MayApple Records Festival
Eureka Springs, AR
MayApple Records, the City of Eureka Springs and Chelsea's present a weekend of original Ozarks' music featuri... Posted by Big Smith on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:30:00 PST |
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New Discussion Board |
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| We welcome you to participate in the new Big Smith discussion board at http://groups.google.com/group/big-smith-chat. Longtime fan Joe Hewitt has agreed to moderate the board (thanks Joe!). We took th... Posted by Big Smith on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:50:00 PST |
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My Friends |
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Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival, Lucas School House - Live Music Destination, FitzGeralds Nightclub, Country Rendez-Vous Festival, Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival, Grapegrass, The Rev Room, George's Majestic Lounge, The Blue Note, Cain's Ballroom, The Bottleneck, Granada Theater, Red Meat, BLUE MOUNTAIN, Charliehorse, The Avett Brothers, Ha Ha Tonka, dallas jones, Noah Earle, Mark Bilyeu, Jody Bilyeu, cousin bill, Jay, Walt from Fayetteville, Jenny Lynn, Billy Two Shoes, Angie the Space-Cowgirl, Kelli, Tammy, FASTPACKER, adam, Jedidiah, Melle Augustine, Lesa, ricky, Sean Bonnell, Tess, Lindsey, ~Jazzie Fizzle~, Maid Mari♥n, Panhandle, Tina, Jake, Johnny pSyChOsAw, Online Keyboard Recording, Amber, Kirk, Gary Nelson - American Acoustic Roots, Lindberg's, Christopher Curren (Acoustic), { ♥ jamie ♥ }, Star Anna, Mister X, Brent, rachel, kristi, Heather, Cory, Jesse B, Timbo Slice, Jenny
Big Smith has 5,890 friends (61 shown). Click here to add Big Smith as a friend. |
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Tags |
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Big Smith's profile has been tagged with the following keywords. Click a tag to search for profiles with the same tags. ozarks culture, del mccoury band, unsuspecting audiences, bass fiddle, fiddle player, time profession, crappone france, doc watson, avett brothers, raucousness, big smith, jay williamson, bilyeu, creative individuals, acoustic music, washboard, springfield missouri, music artist, hillbillies, traveling to europe |
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