“airtight playing and soulful harmonies… electrifying musicianship” – Denver Post
Bluegrass band Big Richard makes music for the 21st century’s twisted cultural unease. Their latest album, 2026’s Pet, is a fierce, provocative, rejoinder to what troubles them and the world right now. They recorded it live to tape in order to capture the fervor of their live shows.
“Big Richard is so much about our energetic delivery, and so I think it’s been really important for us as a group to figure out how to do that for a record,” says mandolin and guitar player Bonnie Sims.
“We made the album all on tape and did it all in these single-shot performances,” cellist Joy Adams adds. “The collection of songs, we wanted to take our most hard driving, heavy hitting songs, we wanted to craft a banger set list. Like, if we had a thirty-minute set, what would we put on there that says the most, and makes people feel the broadest bunch of feelings? And it was all these songs.”
Adams and Sims both studied music and toured and played extensively before (and outside of) joining Big Richard. Adams has three degrees in cello and toured with Darol Anger and Nathaniel Rateliff. Sims, who grew up playing music with her family, has a degree in commercial music, with a specialization in yodeling. She’s toured and recorded extensively with her husband, Taylor Sims (including a platinum-certified record). Fiddler Eve Panning studied violin performance and music education, taught orchestra, and played in bluegrass bands. Additionally, she toured widely with classical group Barrage. Bassist Hazel Royer started out playing music with her dad Eric Royer in the Boston, MA folk and rock scene. She also studied at the Berklee College of Music.
Recommended for fans of Yonder Mountain String Band, Trampled by Turtles, Sam Grisman and Pert Near Sandstone.
