Interview: Big & Rich
Interview: Big & Rich
Big & Rich to Kick off the Summer Concert Season at Seneca Allegany
Country duo Big and Rich are heading our way with Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy and DJ Sinister for an epic outdoor concert on Saturday, May 25th at 8:00pm at the Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino in Salamanca, NY. With a power house line-up like that it’s sure to be a great night filled with music and fun. Big and Rich have played WNY many times and love coming back time after time to reconnect with their fans.
The duo had successful solo careers before coming together in 2003 to form Big and Rich. It didn’t take them long to make it known they were here and proved it with their debut album, 2004’s Horse of a Different Color, which has been certified triple-platinum and is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year. Winning the CMA New Country Duo Award in 2004 solidified them as a top country act and the rest, as they say, is history.
I got the chance to catch up with Rich recently and we talked about one of the traditions of a Big and Rich concert when they acknowledge our veterans and our military men and women currently serving, while singing their song “8th of November”, which shows the respect and gratitude the singer-songwriters have for these brave soldiers. We also talked about the story behind the song, as well as the tour and songwriting.
Rich is thrilled to be out on the road for this summer and is ready to start the party in WNY. Don’t let this concert event pass you by! Get your tickets today!
For ticket information visit: SenecaAlleganyCasino.com . For more information on Big & Rich visit: bigandrich.com
A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN RICH
HULICK: 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of your debut album Horse of a Different Color. Wow… does it feel like 20 years ago to you guys?
RICH: To be touring 20 years after our first album is an incredible feeling because it means the music stuck and that people loved it. And I would, say at this point, Big and Rich music is really a classic rock n’ roll country music, which is a great feeling.
HULICK: Marking the occasion, you are touring with Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy and DJ Sinister. All of you have toured together at one point or another throughout the years. How much fun do you have together?
RICH: To be on the road with Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy, DJ Sinister - all of us together on the same stage is reminiscent of the MuzikMafia days when we all got started. None of us had any success or any record deals to speak of, and we were just doing it for fun to see where it leads and what’s interesting is we’re still doing it for fun to see where it leads and it’s more fun now than ever.
HULICK: You’ve played the Buffalo/Western New York area before and seem to connect to your fans here saying it’s a “work hard, play hard” atmosphere, which is exactly what this area is. Your song “Comin’ To Your City” references a street in Buffalo that you have frequented before. Could you tell our readers the connection?
RICH: Buffalo has always been one of our favorite towns to to play and yes, we did put Chippewa where we go when we’re up in Buffalo and I can tell you that that came from a college student that was in Nashville during a songwriting session where we wrote this song. That student was from Buffalo and we asked the student where do you hang out in Buffalo? Where do you go to have a good time? And they said we go to Chippewa Street and so we thought “Chippewa’s where we go when we’re up in Buffalo”… it was perfect. Since that song has been written, we have actually gone to Chippewa and hung out in the bars and stuff down on that street. Matter fact, in the middle of a blizzard, the snow was about 4 feet deep so we love that town and we love the fans there.
HULICK: You are both songwriters and have written so many songs for yourselves, but you’ve written for other artists too. Is there a song you wrote for someone else you wished you would have kept for yourselves?
RICH: It’s always a huge compliment when another artist records songs that Kenny and I have written. For that artist to record that song really puts it all on the line for something you created, because when they put out a new single they’re betting the farm that that thing is gonna be a hit. So I don’t think there’s any songs that other people have recorded that we wish we would’ve recorded. I think we’re just grateful that they did record them. Big and Rich has had a quite a storied history of other artists recording our music and having big hits... such as Jason Aldean, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Gretchen Wilson and all down the line, so we wouldn’t change anything.
HULICK: I know you each wrote songs for yourselves before coming together as a duo. Was it difficult to write together as far as the process goes?
RICH: Writing songs with Big Kenny is definitely different than writing one on my own or with other people, and he would probably say the same about writing a song with me. We both come from different perspectives musically, even vocally we sing differently from each other and I think that creates maximum creativity. You know, the best idea wins when we both sit down and I think that’s been the secret to our success in our songwriting.
HULICK: Who comes up with the titles of your albums? I love the title Hillbilly Jedi.
RICH: As far as titles, it’s always got to be a joint decision with Big and Rich. If one of us don’t agree, it doesn’t happen. So we always find the common ground and settle on what we think is the strongest title for any record that we put out.
HULICK: The song “8th of November” that you wrote is based on the story of a soldier named Niles Harris of the 173rd Airborne Brigade who were ambushed by 1,200 Viet Cong on November 8, 1965 in Vietnam. Can you expand on the significance of the song and how it came to be?
RICH: The “8th of November” is a very special song because it’s a true song. It’s not made up. It’s not a fictional tale. It’s a true story about a real man who served in Vietnam November 8, 1965. Since that song was released, it has gone on to be a really iconic song for all veterans, not just Vietnam, and even for active duty. We have a lot of active duty and Vets come to our shows. We bring them up on stage every single show and recognize them for their service and then we sing “8th of November”. We’ve done that during over 1,000 concerts in a row now, which spans many, many, many years. This song also resulted in a fundraising concert in Atlanta Georgia that led to the building of the memorial for the 173rd Airborne Brigade. They did not have a memorial prior to that, so that song and the awareness that it brought about the 173rd led to a major concert that funded that memorial.
HULICK: What a great story. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. We are really looking forward to your show and starting off the 2024 summer concerts!
RICH: We’re ready! We’ll see you then!
Writer’s Note: As the world knows, there has been such turmoil on college campuses with protests on both sides of the Israel and Hamas war by students, and sadly, outside agitators that are taking advantage of the situation, which has turned peaceful protests into a more violent tendency… including scenes of our American flag being taken down and the raising of the Palestinian flag. This has hit hard for so many around our country. Country star John Rich has been speaking out on the issue since the good deeds of a group of fraternity brothers at the University of North Carolina stepped up in a big way after witnessing pro-Palestinian demonstrators replacing the American flag with a Palestinian flag. The college Chancellor and police arrived and took down the Palestinian flag and re-hung the American flag. Once they left the area, protesters started to take our flag down again and this group of fraternity brothers took a stand and refused to let our flag hit the ground. The following is Rich’s own words about the events and how he plans to commend these brave students.
“When I saw the guys at UNC holding that flag up, making sure it did not hit the ground, it told me a lot about them. I was so impressed that, first of all, someone had taught them, that you never let the American flag touch the ground, under any circumstances. Somebody raised these guys correctly. They understand what's going on. I think that when people, especially young people, have enough guts and determination to proclaim their love for the country and show their respect for the flag, when it's an inconvenient moment… when it's a tough moment to do it, they deserve to be recognized for that. So we’re working with UNC-Chapel Hill to stage an enormous concert on campus that would be free of charge to students. I’ve had several fellow musicians call to say they’d like to be part of the show. I'm hoping that when we recognize these boys in such a huge way it ignites that same passion all across the country.”