Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Georgia’s Big City Sunrise Plays Canyons Saturday, February 10

Story by David Brewer

Sautee, Georgia sextet Big City Sunrise will return to Blowing Rock this weekend to perform at Canyons on Saturday, February 10. The show will start at 10:30 p.m. There is no cover charge.

Playing an infectious blend of funky, roots and blues-based rock, Big City Sunrise is a band that, unlike many of their contemporaries, isn’t running off to the big city to catch a break. Instead, the band is sticking to their rural roots and working to foster a sense of community that runs as a common thread through their music and fan base.

According to guitarist Chris Thacker, the band’s hometown shows bring out fans of all ages. “We get everybody from the 4-year-olds to the 60-year-olds,” said Thacker.

And while the band enjoys performing shows in their northeast Georgia home, BCS has begun enjoying success throughout the Southeast. BCS’s original yet accessible sound has earned them the adulation of college kids and adults alike.

What has earned Thacker and his BCS bandmates prime festival slots, as well as the right to open for such notable acts as the Derek Trucks Band, Mofro, Moonshine Still and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, is their undeniably melodic songs backed by percussive, feel-good grooves. According to Thacker, it is the presence of Jeff Bynum’s fiddle that gives the band’s sound its big, melodic backbone.

“We try to build around the essence of the riffs that are brought to the table,” said Thacker.

For Bynum and Thacker, the band is the second stop along their musical journey together that started several years ago. Prior to joining forces in BCS, the pair spent eight years together in a hard rock band.

“We started when we were kids, just making horrendous noise,” said Thacker.

It would be fair to say that the pair, along with bandmates Doug Meads on guitar, harmonica and vocals, Sam Steele on percussion and vocals, Adam Kahn on bass and vocals and Kevin Rainwater on drums and vocals, have moved well beyond the making of horrendous noise.

Though the band’s funky, progressive roots rock echoes that of many of their southern musical brethren including strong hints of the Allman Brothers Band and the harmonica-drenched grooves of “Whiskey River”-era Willie Nelson, BCS isn’t afraid to dip into dirty south hip-hop and throw a cover of Outkast’s “Rosa Parks” into their set.

As if that weren’t enough, the band also throws in break-neck two-step tunes that, in the hands of a rock and roll band, sound more like black gospel than the bluegrass that likely inspired them.

After recording their first CD in an old gymnasium built in the 1930s in Sautee, the band, determined to make the most of their second recording experience, has tasked famed Athens-based producer John Keane with manning the mixing board.

Coming to prominence by recording such acts as R.E.M., Uncle Tupelo, the Indigo Girls and Widespread Panic among others, Keane has had his steady hands on the pulse of southern music for more than two decades.

“It’s been pretty humbling working with John Keane,” said Thacker. “The first thing you see when you walk in are his platinum R.E.M. records.”

A major reason for choosing Keane, according to Thacker, was the band’s belief that he would be able to “trim the fat,” working the band’s stimulating live sound into a great studio release.

The band’s recording efforts hit a bit of a snag, however, when Keane took to the road again with Widespread Panic, putting a kink in the recording schedule. But, with Keane back in town, the band is determined to keep their nose to the grindstone and make the best record they can.

“We want to make sure we get everything done right,” said Thacker. “He’s a great guy to work with. He knows how to pull on the strengths of the personalities and the music.”

With the band on the verge of celebrating their four-year anniversary, a new CD on the way and a growing fan base, the six members of Big City Sunrise have much to look forward to.

To preview music by Big City Sunrise, click to www.bigcitysunrise.com.

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Funky roots rock sextet Big City Sunrise will return to the High Country for a show at Canyons this Saturday, February 10.

Want To Go?

Date: Saturday, February 10

Time: 10:30 p.m.

Location: Canyons

Cost: FREE!