CHIEF BIG WAY

Bio:

Love The Covers - ACDC, Alice In Chains, Anthrax, Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi, Boston, Bryan Adams, Cheap Trick, Collective Soul, Cream, Creed, Deep Purple, Dio, Doors, Eagles, Eric Clapton, Foreigner, Free, Grand Funk, Iron Butterfly, James Gang, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Walsh, Journey, Judas Preist, Led Zeppelin, Lit, Lynard Skynard, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rolling Stones, Rush, Shinedown, Steppinwolf, The Who,Tommy Tutone, Triumph, Van Halen, ZZ Top......More Coming So Look For Updates------Please Check Our BLOG And Get Us Your E-Mail Addresses to BIGWAY_Band@yahoo.com And We Can Send You Show Updates And Help You To Keep Rockin With Us!! ....

Member Since:

October 26, 2008

Members:

Joey Belladonna-Lead Vocals, Percussion*** Dave Mickelson-Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals*** Matt Sanderson-Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals

Influences:

We Are 3 Musicians With Every Kind Of Influence Imaginable- We Just Want To Rock and Let You Enjoy This As Much As We Do. Thank You All.

Sounds Like:

Everyone We Play!! No Better Way To Describe It.****************************************************************************************************************************** Article Written By Russ In The Syracuse Eagle Newspaper- Belladonna’s Big Way Joey Belladonna, the former lead singer for the pioneering metal band Anthrax, brought his clamorous power trio, Big Way, to Pooch’s Sports Bar and Grill in Solvay on Saturday Jan. 3. Belladonna signed autographs between sets. Big Way has been playing out of town quite a bit in backwaters like Pennellville, Scriba, Auburn and Red Creek. With Belladonna’s world-class pipes and rock-solid drumming, however, Big Way has a good chance to go bigtime. Besides Joey, the threesome includes guitarist Matt Sanderson and bassist Dave Mickelson. The band performs a cornucopia of classic rock, covering artists ranging from Black Sabbath to Collective Soul, from Cream to the Eagles, from the Stones to Skynyrd. ********************************************************************************************************************************Joey Belladonna was the lead singer of Anthrax from 1985 to 1992. His voice was featured on over 10 albums and sold 8 million records worldwide. During that time he shared the stage with bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Alice in Chains, Dio, Public Enemy, Living Color, Primus, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Helloween, and many others. Also during this time Joey starred in the underground cult classic “Pledge Night”, and sang the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden. While Joey was with Anthrax, the band was nominated for three Grammys, and he was voted 1 metal singer two years in a row in Metal Forces Magazine. ******************************************************************************************************************Most Recently Voted 20 Best Metal Frontman Of All Time By Metal Edge Magazine. January Issue 2009**************************************************************************************************************************** KICKING OFF SUMMER IN A BIG WAY By MIKE JAQUAYS Ex-Anthrax lead vocalist Joey Belladonna proved he’s still the man on Memorial Day weekend as he and his trio Big Way helped bring in the summer with an impressive four-hour set at Lake Effect in Baldwinsville. Still wearing his trademark colorful shorts, Belladonna handles both the drums and lead vocals in the threesome, also featuring Matt Sanderson on lead guitar and vocals and Dave Mickelson on bass and vocals. But anyone thinking this would be an Anthrax-style show got something contrary to their expectations -- the Syracuse-based Big Way performed flawless covers all evening, offering music from the likes of Journey, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, Free, Rush, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, with a pair of more recent tunes by Creed and Collective Soul for the younger audience members. Big Way has been together since last October, and Belladonna said he enjoys the chance to go out and play with Mickelson and Sanderson. “They’re a wonderful couple of guys, and it’s nice to find guys who really want to play and learn new songs,” Belladonna said of his bandmates. Fans of Belladonna’s work in Anthrax -- and more recently his solo project Belladonna -- recognize the contrast between his melodic and soulful pipes to the heavy metal band’s thrash music, a diversity that added a rich texture to the music created by the group during his tenure and sorely lacking from their repertoire since his departure. His vocal talents are still world class top-notch, and in Big Way faithfully recall the original versions of classics like “Lovin‘, Touchin‘, Squeezin,‘” “White Room,” “Hotel California,” and “Magic Power.” “Joey is a really talented mimic to emulate the originals for the sake of entertainment,” Mickelson said. “He picks the songs by what he likes to sing and what we can play as a band, and these are all the classic rock songs that we grew up with. ” Area music fans will recognize Mickelson as a veteran of Holly and the New Yorkers and from his 25-year stint with Frank Stepanek and their group Reggadelicca. Sanderson, on the other hand, admitted Big Way is his first-ever band. “It’s a dream playing with someone who literally everybody’s heard of,” said Sanderson. Belladonna is no stranger to the drums, and even played percussion on Anthrax's infamous “I’m The Man.” His history bashing the skins goes back even farther than that, however, and he said he actually started out playing drums back in 1975 even before he was singing. The intimate atmosphere of the Lake Effect gave the chance for a real camaraderie between the band and their audience, as Belladonna chatted with fans between numbers and took request from the crowd. Gracious and approachable, he signed autographs and posed for photographs with friends new and old. This newer fans included two-year-old William Shaver of Liverpool, who sat in his stroller making signature devil horn rock ’n’ roll hand gestures of appreciation throughout the show. Somebody’s been teaching that kid right. So what kind of music would a Big Way original sound like? They haven’t recorded any of their own material to date, but Belladonna said it is a distinct possibility in the future. “It seems like a fitting thing to do,” he said. “I’m not really sure what kind of music we would do, probably something in the rock genre but not really metal.” For upcoming shows and more information on Big Way, log on to www.myspace.com/ChiefBigWay or e-mail BIGWAY_Band@yahoo.com. ******************************************************************************************************************************** Former Anthrax frontman plays Canandaigua -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daily Messenger Posted Jul 23, 2009 @ 03:26 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canandaigua, N.Y. — Robert Houle sat with Joey Belladonna at the recent Judas Priest concert in Hopewell. “You wouldn’t believe it,” Houle said. “There was a hundred people who came up to him.” Belladonna, once lead singer and drummer for Anthrax, remains a big deal among heavy-metal fans, for whom Anthrax epitomized thrash-metal in the 1980s with such albums as “Spreading the Disease,” “State of Euphoria” and “Persistence of Time.” Belladonna has been out of the band since 1992 — aside from a brief reunion in the mid-2000s — but he’s hardly been inactive: he’s fronted a band called Belladonna and, more recently, a band called Chief Big Way with Dave Mickelson on bass and Matt Sanderson on lead guitar. The Central New York native, born Joseph Bellardini in Oswego, has a number of local dates on his itinerary, and Houle’s Canandaigua club — The Temple on Niagara Street — is one of them. It’s a return for Belladonna, who played The Temple along with The Rods the night of the Priest show at nearby Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center. The three-piece Chief Big Way — the name in part a tribute to Belladonna’s Native American heritage, according to Houle — will play the Temple at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 25. While Belladonna’s most known for metal, Chief Big Way is well versed in classic rock, covering bands like Cream and the Rolling Stones as well as heavier acts like Black Sabbath — and, of course, Anthrax. Anthrax was known for experimentation, working rap into their speed/thrash mix from time to time, and for a sense of fun and humor and pop-culture shout-outs — one of their songs, “I Am the Law,” is about comic character Judge Dredd, for instance — along with its more serious, darker material. During Belladonna’s time as frontman, the band was nominated for three Grammy Awards. Metal Edge Magazine voted him among the 20 best metal frontmen of all time in its January 2009 issue, and Metal Forces magazine voted him the top metal singer two years in a row during the Anthrax days. Since the Anthrax days, Belladonna has released three studio albums under the “Belladonna” name with varying sidemen, plus a demo-version collection. According to Houle, Belladonna has lately taken part in some supergroup gatherings in Las Vegas with members of Biohazard, Pantera and Meat Loaf’s band — and may be doing a sort of Journey-tribute side project in the future. And then there’s his classic-rock act with Chief Big Way. It’s a busy itinerary that brings him to The Temple, where he’s one of a number of name acts at the small venue: The night before, L.A. Guns will play there (see page 9); and Faster Pussycat is booked for Aug. 4 with Bullet Boys and Bang Tango.