Bill Norris, owner of Remington’s Hunt Club, promised an exciting venue for this semester, and he kept that promise with the booking of fan favorite Big Sky, at the Coyote Concert Hall, set for Jan. 24. Big Sky comes to Starkville fresh off their newly released album, “By Design,” which hit record stores nationwide Jan. 15.
“We are really excited and optimistic about the new album, and we hope that our fans will receive it with the same enthusiasm as our past albums,” Big Sky saxophone player Dave Kurzman said.
Big Sky has produced four albums prior to their latest release, and “By Design” is a compilation of various songs from the earlier CDs, plus new and original material. “By Design,” and the style of music that Big Sky has become known for playing can be classified as an “intelligent, guitar-driven pop with an active edge,” publicist Brian Cooley said.
“Paul Trust, who is a veteran in the music industry, produced the new album, and we believe that ‘By Design’ will reach a large number of people outside of our fan base, as well as the band’s originally devoted fans,” Cooley said.
The fan base that has surrounded the band has grown dramatically since the band first came together seven years ago at the University of Florida in Gainesville. One reason for this continued growth is the relentless touring schedule of Big Sky’s seven members.
“We play, on average, about 200 shows a year, so it is difficult to really tell where a tour begins and ends,” Kurzman said. “We basically live on the road, but we love it. We live for the music and the chance to touch and entertain people.”
The band tours coast to coast from Los Angeles to Miami with big name groups such as Soul Asylum, The Wallflowers, Cowboy Mouth and Blues Traveler.
“Opening for some of the really big name bands has allowed us to increase our fan base and to really gain the experience we need to become the artists we want to become,” Kurzman said.
The relentless touring and the great exposure from radio play is not the only manner in which Big Sky is growing in popularity. Many of their tracks have found their way onto soundtracks such as MTV’s “The Real World,” “Road Rules,” “Singled Out” and various commercials. The band recently signed off the rights to one of their songs for use by the comedian Carrot Top to be used on his upcoming TV special.
The exposure that comes with commercials and soundtracks has helped to boost sales of the band’s CDs, and the band hopes for this trend to continue.
“The attention brought to our work by TV and radio has definitely helped us to become more recognizable in the music world, and hopefully, we can keep the ball rolling as far as putting a good quality of music out there and getting it noticed,” Kurzman said.
Big Sky is comprised of seven members, five who met originally at the band’s conception seven years ago in Gainesville, Fla. Lead vocalist Mark Gaignard is accompanied by Kurzman, drummer Jerry O’Leary, keyboardist Ben Rowell, bassist Ashton Allen and guitarists Dave Moore and Chris Floyd.
Big Sky band members say they want to “continue with the creative process while touching people and playing good music forever.
“We have the best job in the world, and we just want to do what we’re doing now, forever,” Kurzman said.<</p>