Artist description "Once in a blue moon...a music industry buzz justified by proven talent and experience, rather than hype and unpredictable potential comes along." - Music Connection           It's a buzz earned by Big House, a band that tears away the excess of modern country music and injects a touch of soul into the vocals, and a heavy dose of energy into the rhythms. A buzz justified by a new kind of country music - found on their new album, "Woodstock Nation", set to be released May 23rd on Dead Reckoning Records. Just the kind of buzz Dead Reckoning, a label known for the artistic integrity of their catalogue, is proud to spread.           Rolling Stone calls Big House "one of the few modern country music outfits to incorporate soul into their repertoire." All the band members are seasoned musicians who cut their teeth on the sparse, gritty country music of Bakersfield, California, the town that produced the legendary Buck Owens (who happens to be one of Big House's biggest fans) and Merle Haggard. But the key to their appeal - the unique quality of their music is a reserved, comfortable aura that surrounds even the most soulful vocals and engaging rhythms.           The spirit of Big House's live performances is captured on "Woodstock Nation", the band's third album. "We record live in the studio. We then do a thing called 'underdubbing'. We go in and play everything live, then take stuff off, to keep it sparse and simple." Says lead singer/guitarist Monty Byrom. This kind of confidence in your craft is something you might expect everybody's compared to the likes of Merle Haggard and "you've gotta kick 'em" to be heard".           The story of Big House is a familiar one to the label - Dead Reckoning - whose founders and owners are all renegade artists who do everything possible to not conform to the business of being in Nashville, where bad 'hat acts' and teen-group wannabes are now a dime a dozen. "I've never been this proud of anything I've ever done," says Byrom. "This new lineup is scary - there's a synergy on stage that I've never felt before. This record has the same magic the first record had."           Big House came to Nashville from their home in Bakersfield in 1995 and were quickly snatched up by one of Nashville's hit-making machines. The band's first album "Big House" was an edgy attempt to bend the Nashville rules, and generated moderate success with two top 20 singles, four hit videos, almost 250,000 albums sold, and several country music award nominations. Despite the fact that the album was a favorite among both DJ's and radio staff, the brutal world of corporate radio consulting was too powerful a force. The band turned in a second album "Travellin' Kind", knowing their future was sealed - they were unwilling to compromise and record the kind of mass-manufactured cookie-cutter formula songs required to garner country radio airplay. The search soon began for a new home. In less than a month, the band was signed, the album was underway, and the tour was booked.           Byrom explains, "There's a couple of real heavy songs on "Woodstock Nation" that our last label would have never released. That's the beauty of being with a label like Dead Reckoning - they love what's different about us, and they didn't come in and tell us what we could and couldn't do." The fruit of their union is "Woodstock Nation", which Byrom calls a "return to the Big House sound: a little bluesier, a little more rockin'."

Music Style Country, Soul, Rock, R&B

Musical Influences T. Graham Brown, Kevin Welch, Gram Parsons, Waylon & Willie

Similar Artists Merle Haggard, Buck Owens

Group Members Monty ByromDavid NeuhauserBenny RappaSteve Vines

Instruments Guitar, Keyboards (Hammond, Wurlitzer, etc), bass, drums

Albums Woodstock Nation, Travelin' Kind

Press Reviews      The buzz on Bakersfield-born country band Big House is that a new album, titled "Woodstock Nation," is being slated for a May 23 release. The group split from major record label MCA after its 1998 CD "Travelin' Kind" failed to get the promotional push frontman Monty Byrom and the band thought it needed. So the boys of Big House shopped around and landed at independent label Dead Reckoning; the fruit of their union is the upcoming disc, which Byrom calls a "return to the Big House sound: a little bluesier, a little more rockin'."      The album will also be the first to feature a new lineup behind Byrom and longtime guitarist/co-writer David Neuhauser: Original Big House members like Byrom's drummer/brother Tanner and guitarist Chuck Seaton have been replaced by drummer Benny Rappa and bassist Steve Vines.      Ditching the slick production values of the last record, "Woodstock Nation," Byrom says, will be more raw and a whole lot better. "It's the Bakersfield tradition, going in and recording it live."      The first single off the album will likely be a pseudo-homage to Bako: a fictional Dust Bowl tale titled "Buck These Haggard Blues."      The band also just wrapped up a shoot for an alternative-country showcase show on the cable channel CMT. "The audience went nuts," Byrom confided.      Big House is currently hitting the road and Byrom says the band will perform in their hometown some time after the release of "Woodstock Nation." From The Bakersfield Californian, March 30, 2000

Location Bakersfield, CA - USA

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