The Big Sky Stringband performs a broad collection of original American roots music and unique covers. Founded by Jay Stanek (acoustic guitar/vocals) and Chris Meier (mandolin/vocals), the band builds a new generation of folk rock music around its core strengths: solid songwriting and textured grooves.
Initially formed in Champaign, Ill., in 1997, by current members Chris Meier and Jay Stanek, and former members Dave Johnston and Ken Wilson, the group played a limited number of shows around Champaign before Johnston relocated to Colorado to start Yonder Mountain String Band, and Meier and Stanek returned to their native Chicago. The latter duo continued to play as Big Sky Stringband, and in 2001 expanded the line-up to include drums, electric guitar, and bass.
The band concentrates its efforts on creating energetic and diverse shows that span the musical landscape from folk, rock, blues, and country to funk, jazz, and bluegrass. The quintet of Meier, Stanek, Brandon Cochran (electric guitar/vocals), Zach Malasto (drums), and Meier’s father-in-law, Dick Mallory (bass), create a unique form of roots music. With train wrecks, clotheslines and broken fences as the backdrop, the group weaves stories of mill workers, first loves, and mine fires into a tapestry of Americana. But these songs are more than a glimpse at American life, they are the quest for the American Dream embodied in song.
In 2005, Big Sky Stringband released Flyin’ Blind, a live album featuring 12 original compositions and the band’s distinctive take on 2 traditional songs. The collection highlights the energy of a Big Sky show and features the looseness that defines the Big Sky sound. Available for purchase at iTunes or CDBabyhe album’s release was celebrated at Chicago’s musician’s heaven, The Hideout, in August 2005.
The band’s song “Centralia,” a straight-ahead bluegrass chronicle of the real-life underground mine shaft fires that caused the evacuation and near-condemnation of Centralia, PA brings perspective to the heartbreak and helplessness of the city’s citizens. The song’s dead-on message and easy hook have been featured in documentaries on both PBS and NPR.
In February 2007, the band released Turning of the Wheel, a six-song EP, and the band’s first proper studio release. Recorded at SHIRK Music & Sound in just four, four-hour sessions, the EP features the band’s take on jam-rock (“Slow Train”), folk (“Eric Heywood”), folk-rock (“Dialog with John”), hillbilly surf music (“Sherman Hemsley”), country (“Get Down Boys”), and eclectic bluegrass (“Rich Koz”). For a limited time, Turning of the Wheel is available at live shows or through iTunes, myTracks and CDBaby.com.
The EP's song "Slow Train" was featured on Coke's entertainment site during the summer of 2007. Increasing the band's exposure to a national and international audience.
Capable of a variety of live settings and situations, the band has performed shows in Michigan, Wisconsin, central Illinois, and at venerable Chicagoland venues including Martyr’s, Cubby Bear, Kinetic Playground, and Wise Fools Pub, and performed multiple sets on the 2006 Chicago Auto Show’s Emerging Artist Stage. The band has headlined the past four Barrington Brew Festivals, and performed at other outdoor festivals throughout Chicagoland including the 2007 Sheffield Garden Walk. Dynamic and powerful, these live performances cause the audience to get caught up in down-home Midwestern music. The stage presence displayed from the outset entertains the listeners while the Stringband lays down songs that captivate the audience and make them feel like they could be characters in each song, in each story, in each truly American moment.
The band has shared a stage with Sam Bush, Backyard Tire Fire, Leadfoot String Band, Two Cow Garage, Greensky Bluegrass, Cosmic Railroad, Covert Operation, Woodbox Gang, Devil in a Woodpile, Ruby Harris, The Station, Michael Glabicki (of Rusted Root), Catfish Haven, Tangleweed, Indigenous, The Otis Problem, SLM, Cowboy Mouth, Trampled By Turtles, Katie Todd, Bill Smith, The Super American Happy Fun Good Time Jamband, and many other stellar bands.
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The Great Chicago Peace Fest will be back next year around the same time. I will keep this profile to notify you of other Chicago Music Events. Watch for my bulletins. Peace, SHAG
Hey guys – Just stopping by to invite you to our Martyrs’ show this Friday June 13th. We’ll be joined by hometown friends, 56 Hope Road and Eli Jones, and we’ll also be giving away tickets to The Lazy River Music and Arts Festival! It’s our only hometown appearance on the books for the summer, so we hope you can join us for this great night of Chicago music!
You can also catch us at a number of Midwest festivals this summer, from Minnesota to Iowa to Ohio and points in between. Visit our myspace page or website for all the details!
Stopping by to say hello. Hope you guys are all doing well and enjoying the first bits of summer. Give me a call if you guys are ever in the neighborhood. We moved the studio to Green St. (Near Chicago and Halsted)
Thanks for entering the I-GO Audio Emissions contest. Tell everyone to go to the website before June 14th to vote for you! www. igocars. org/igoaudioemissions
Hey Now...I see you will be joining us for the Summer Solstice Celebration....RIGHT ON!!! It will be good to see ya'll again...it seems like I can never get down there...
Hey guys – FGC’s rockin’ the ’burbs the next couple weekends, with a free outdoor show at Northwestern in Evanston this Sunday, and a performance at the Clearwater Theater in West Dundee next Friday, where we’ll be giving away tickets to Summer Camp Festival! Hope to see you out at the shows!
We're playing with 4 other bands at The Kinetic Playground on April 26th and the band with the most fans in attendance that night get's to play at 10,000 lakes! So now we need your help. If you only can see us once this year, make it this show. We're the last band to play,but get there early to make sure you get in!
And check out the review of our debut album, "Volume & Verse", in the April/May issue of Relix Magazine, on news stands now!
Hey guys – FGC is getting down at the House of Blues next Thursday with Victor Wooten! It’s our first Chicago appearance of 2008 and we can’t wait to throw down at one of our hometown city’s finest venues. Hope to see you there for this awesome event!
In other news, you can catch the band at a number of great festivals this summer, including Summer Camp, Wakarusa, and 10,000 Lakes Festival. Swing by our MySpace page for all the tour dates!
Big Sky Stringband's very own Jay Stanek will be playing a special acoustic show at 3rd Coast Cafe & Wine Bar in Chicago this Friday, March 14. This show will feature songs from Jay's new album, 1140, mixed with a handful of covers and songs from both his bands, Big Sky Stringband and The Otis Problem. For much of the show, Jay will be accompanied on piano by Mark Lawrence.
Show Details: Date: Friday, March 14, 2008 Place: 3rd Coast Cafe & Wine Bar Address: 1260 N. Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60610 Time: 8:00 p.m.
