Family band gets loose
Published April 13, 2007
The phrase "family band" conjures plenty of images from the saccharine warbling of the Von Trapp Family Singers to the pretentious bickering of Oasis' Gallagher brothers.
Springfield-based folk quintet Big Smith is a family band and proud of it. With a lineup consisting of five cousins — including two sets of brothers — Big Smith relies on family ties to connect creatively.
Guitarist Mark Bilyeu said his family's musical influence extends beyond the band members.
"We draw a lot of our music from our extended family — from our parents and aunts and uncles and even our grandparents," Bilyeu said. "So there's kind of a folky, old-timey element to what we do."
Even personnel changes to the band's lineup stay within the family. Bilyeu said the addition of his cousin Bill Thomas on bass has motivated the other band members to expand musically.
"My favorite part of this tour is getting to work on the new songs that he's bringing in," Bilyeu said. "He's a great songwriter, and it's also stimulated the rest of the band."
Big Smith draws a lot of its influence from living in the Ozarks and being exposed to that style of music and culture.
"A lot of the subject matter in the songs we sing — the songs that we've written — are about places that we've lived or people that we knew," Bilyeu said. "So you could say the Ozarks is very much a part of the vibe we're doing."
Although the band has mostly stuck to a traditional bluegrass sound, it has expanded both in the breadth and depth of its instrumentation and musical style over time.
"When we first started out, everything was really acoustic," Bilyeu said. "We had a stand-up bass and an acoustic guitar and a mandolin. What has changed over time is that we've expanded what we do. There's a set of drums onstage, and there's electric guitar. This allows us to cover a lot of territory from bluegrass to rock 'n' roll."
The band took another creative direction recently, channeling its inner child to record an album of children's songs entitled From Hay to Zzzzzz: Hillbilly Songs for Kids.
"It was a lot of fun, as you might imagine," Bilyeu said. "We felt really free to explore in the studio. We used a lot of sound effects. It was kind of an anything-goes atmosphere, and it was a lot of fun."
Big Smith has also had an opportunity to have its music showcased through film. Since 2005, the band has played at film festivals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe to promote "Homemade Hillbilly Jam," a film by Rick Minnich about the band's music.
"We were really pleased with the film, and it's been great for us," Bilyeu said. "We've gotten to go to a lot of screenings and play a lot of concerts in connections with the films, so it's been a big help to us."
Big Smith will bring its energetic stage show to The Blue Note today.
"We try to put out a lot of energy from stage," Bilyeu said. "People come to our shows to have a good time, to party, to basically let loose. You can't come to a Big Smith show worrying about what people think about you. You have to come ready to let loose and have fun."