Big Country

Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The band's 'classic' lineup consisted of lead singer and guitarist Stuart Adamson (formerly of the Skids), guitarist Bruce Watson, bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki. Their debut album The Crossing (1983) reached number three in the UK and delivered their only U.S. Top 40 hit, "In a Big Country". Follow‑ups Steeltown (1984) and The Seer (1986) also landed in the UK top ten, with The Seer producing the Irish number one hit "Look Away" and featuring a collaboration with Kate Bush on its title track.After Adamson's death by suicide in December 2001, the classic lineup disbanded. Surviving members reunited in 2007 for anniversary tours, later joined by singer Mike Peters and changing bassists, culminating in the 2013 album The Journey, their first new studio release in 14 years.Big Country were initially a five-piece, composed of Stuart Adamson (formerly of Skids, vocals/guitar/keyboards) and Bruce Watson (guitar/mandolin/sitar/vocals), plus Peter Wishart (later of Runrig and now a Scottish National Party MP) on keyboards, his brother Alan on bass, and Clive Parker, drummer from Spizz Energi/Athletico Spizz '80. Adamson had initially wanted a band made up entirely of musicians from in or around his hometown of Dunfermline. In the early days, the band was called Angle Park, before settling on the name Big Country, which Adamson said implied 'a sense of vastness, open spaces'.The band played live with Alice Cooper's Special Forces tour for two concerts in February 1982 at Brighton and Birmingham; Parker states that he and the Wishart brothers were asked to leave after the band was poorly received by Cooper's fans. Tony Butler (bass guitar/vocals) and Mark Brzezicki (drums/percussion/vocals), working under the name 'Rhythm for Hire,' were brought in to play on "Harvest Home." They hit it off with Adamson and Watson, who invited them to join the band.Big Country's first single was "Harvest Home", recorded and released in 1982. It was a modest success, although it did not reach the UK Singles Chart. Their next single was 1983's "Fields Of Fire (400 Miles)", which reached the UK's Top Ten and was followed by the album The Crossing. The album was a hit in the United States (reaching the Top 20 in the Billboard 200), powered by "In a Big Country", their only US Top 40 single. The song uses heavily engineered guitar sounds, reminiscent of bagpipes. Adamson and fellow guitarist Watson achieved this through the use of the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 Guitar Effect. Also contributing to the band's sound was their use of an e-bow, a device which allows a guitar to sound more like strings or synthesizer. The Crossing sold over a million copies in the UK and obtained gold record status (sales of over 500,000) in the US. The band performed at the Grammy Awards and on Saturday Night Live.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.