Big Country Bluegrass Archives

Remember Who You Are from Big Country Bluegrass

Rebel Records has a new single for traditional bluegrass stalwarts Big Country Bluegrass this week, and we are pleased to offer an early listen to our readers this afternoon.

Since putting the band together almost 40 years ago, founders Tommy and Teresa Sells have kept a solid band that maintains the mountain sound that has long typified the Virginia/Carolina style. With Tommy on mandolin and Teresa on guitar, the current group also features Eddie Gill on guitar, Billy Hawkes on fiddle, Daniel Martin on banjo, and Tony King on bass.

Tommy says that they all love this untaxed whiskey number, Remember Who You Are, set to release on Friday, October 25.

“When it came time to pick the first single for this recording, Remember Who You Are kept coming to mind. Songwriter Greg Preece wrote The Whiskey or the Coal for our last Rebel project, and we believe he’s written another standout song for this album.

It’s a bluegrass moonshining song, and the lyrics really spoke to us. The song not only tells how the moonshine tradition is passed down from grandfather to son, and then on to a grandson, but also relates the importance of taking pride in your work.

We hope folks enjoy Remember Who You Are.

Gill sings the lead in his high, mountain style, with harmony vocals provided by Teresa and Billy.

If you like it hard core and lonesome, this one’s for you.

Remember Who You Are will be available October 25 from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers at AirPlay Direct.

Daniel Martin to Big Country Bluegrass

Virginia traditional bluegrass perennials Big Country Bluegrass have announced the addition of Daniel Martin to the band on banjo.

Daniel has been picking the banjo since he was a young teen, sitting with his Earl Scruggs and Don Reno records, figuring out the banjo playing by ear. He says that whenever he got stuck, his dad, also a fine banjo man, would help him out. But before long, the younger Martin could pull any of those links off the records on his own.

After college, Daniel spent four years touring with Tony Holt and the Wildwood Valley Boys, and has been part of numerous groups near his home near Charlotte in Belmont, NC.

In Big Country Bluegrass Daniel joins founders Tommy and Teresa Sells, who have led the band since 1987. Tommy is on mandolin and Teresa on guitar, along with Eddie Gill on guitar and vocals, Tim Laughlin on mandolin and fiddle, and Tony King on bass.

Over the past few years BCBG has recorded several popular bluegrass songs, including The Boys in Hats & Ties, I’m Putting on My Leaving Shoes, and Country Boy, Banjo and Flat Top Guitar.

They will be working soon on a new album for Rebel Records, expected sometime next year. Keep an ear out for that.

Tony King of Big Country Bluegrass needs our help

Big Country Bluegrass bass player Tony King and his family need your thoughts and prayers.

King has a rare form of cancer that effects blood/bone marrow, and he will need a bone marrow transplant that will require him to stay in the UVA University Hospital, Charlottesville, for about four months.

To assist in covering the costs of the treatment, a benefit took place on Saturday, April 16, 2022, at the Shriners Building in his hometown of Galax, Virginia.

Currently there isn’t any indication that there will be further benefit events. Former Big Country Bluegrass banjo player Lynwood Lunsford hopes that there will be more, “because he is going to need it.”

If you would like to send a get-well card to him or make a donation you can mail it to his address:

7280 Meadow Creek Road
Galax, Virginia 24333

…or cash can be sent through the Cash app.

He has played on all five of the band’s Rebel albums, beginning with The Boys in Hats and Ties (2010).

Lunsford adds, “… to make matters worse, his wife has also been diagnosed with cancer.”

Let’s hope to hear good news soon from Tony and Sue.

Mountains, Mamas & Memories – Big Country Bluegrass

Nowadays, a band as unassuming and unpretentious as Big Country Bluegrass really stands out. It’s not that they’re reinventing the wheel; to the contrary, they’re taking a traditional stance that is as pure and unaffected as the influences from which their music has spawned. After 30 years of pursuing their muse with honesty and integrity, they’re still content to stay true to their original intents, unaffected by any trend or trappings that dilutes the music and distances it from its roots.

Consequently, this Virginia-based band hones heartfelt emotion with a kind of vintage vitality… upbeat, vibrant, earnest and inviting. Tommy and Teresa Sells, the founders of the group, take a special joy in mining their brand of homespun nostalgia, and they do so with unabated enthusiasm. The titles to the tunes on their latest Rebel LP, Mountains, Mamas & Memories — their fifth album to date — express their sentiments succinctly. Mama’s Radio, Times Were Good When Times Were Hard, How Lucky I Was (To Be Their Son), and The Hills of Caroline share that yearning for an earlier era, when simplicity could be celebrated and there was joy and contentment to be found in tapping an age-old template.

Although the group finds continued success on the charts, it’s obvious they’re not lax or lethargic when it comes to maintaining their high standards. The high harmonies and astute instrumentation allow for a compelling connection, and one would be hard-pressed to find any ensemble that’s as tightly knit as their’s. That’s a credit to the group as a whole. For the record, Tommy and Teresa handle mandolin and guitar respectively, while Eddie Gill sings lead and doubles on guitar. John Treadway is the banjo picker, Tim Laughlin plays the fiddle and Tony Kings anchors it all on stand-up bass. All contribute to the vocal blend.

Ultimately, Big Country Bluegrass gives purists reason to cheer. Indeed, the title tells it all. It doesn’t matter whether one refers to the music as old fashioned or new fashioned, or somewhere in-between. Talent and tenacity never go out of style.

“I just keep on pickin’…singing songs by Lester and good old Bill Monroe,” they sing on the sweet serenade Carolina Traveler. That would appear to be their mantra, and thankfully it’s one that they abide by very well.

The Whiskey or the Coal from Big Country Bluegrass

Mountain style bluegrass has always featured songs about running moonshine through the hills, and digging under them in the mines. In some parts of the Appalachian, Smokies, and Ozark ranges, mining and running whiskey might look like the only work that was available, especially a couple generations back.

The Whiskey Or The Coal, a second single from Big Country Bluegrass’ Mountains, Mamas and Memories album on Rebel Records, tells a story of that very dilemma facing a mountain man examining his prospects. Lead singer, Eddie Gill, gives an extra lonesome treatment to this song from Kentucky songwriter Greg Preece, who grew up in a coal mining family himself.

Mandolinist and bandleader, Tommy Sells, says that this one was a natural for the band.

“We liked the song from the first time we heard it, and Teresa’s arrangement of the catchy chorus sold the song to the rest of the band. She sings the high baritone part while John (Treadway) sings the tenor, and Eddie (Gill) the lead.”

Big Country Bluegrass has a long history playing bluegrass in southwestern Virginia. Tommy and Teresa Sells started the band back in 1987, and they have toured all over the US bringing their brand of traditional mountain music to festivals and shows. Many band members have come and gone over the past 32 years, and they have a very strong group right now with Eddie and Teresa on guitars, Tommy on mandolin, John Treadway on banjo, Tim Laughlin on fiddle, and Tony King on bass.

The new single, and the full album, are available now wherever you purchase music online, or directly from the band on CD. Radio programmers can get the music from AirPlay Direct.

Country Boy, Banjo and Flat Top Guitar from Big Country Bluegrass

Rebel Records has released a debut single from their upcoming project from Big Country Bluegrass.

Country Boy, Banjo and Flat Top Guitar will be included on the band’s Mountains, Mamas, and Memories album, due to drop in late February. It is available now either as a single release, or as an instant download when you pre-order the full album online.

The song is a perfect fit for Big Country Bluegrass and their arch traditional style, which the southwestern Virginia outfit has championed for more than 30 years now. Lead singer Eddie Gill is surely among the most powerful and passionate vocalists in this style, and the band provides just the right accompaniment.

Mandolinist and band leader Tommy Sells says that they discovered Country Boy, Banjo, and Flat Top Guitar on an LP by The Highland Ramblers from the late ’60s, which tells of a backwoods boy and his old five string.

“I was drawn to the nostalgic feel of the lyrics and with John [Treadway]’s banjo picking, it takes me back to when we first formed the band 32 years ago. Our first banjo player, the late Larry Pennington, was such an inspiration and a big part in creating our band style. Eddie Gill sings the lead here, and my wife Teresa the tenor, while fiddler Tim Laughlin adds the baritone.”

Rebel has agreed to preview the track for our readers, so strap in for a blast of old time bluegrass.

The track can be found now wherever you stream or download music online.

Burn The Barn from Big Country Bluegrass

Rebel Records has released an advance single from Let Them Know I’m From Virginia, their upcoming album for Big Country Bluegrass. It’s a new song from Tracy O’Connell that fits right in with the hard-charging, traditional bluegrass sound this bunch has specialized in for 30 years. And did you know they’re from Virginia?

Burn The Barn is in the classic “songs about bluegrass” sub-category, one that Big Country Bluegrass has found success with in the past. Think of their 2010 hit, The Boys In Hats and Ties from Tom T Hall, as an example. That one was a song about Flatt & Scruggs, but this new one simply tells of a bluegrass band coming to your town and burnin’ down the barn.

Big Country Bluegrass is Tommy Sells on mandolin, Teresa Sells on guitar, Tony King on bass, Eddie Gill on guitar, Tim Laughlin on fiddle, and John Treadway on banjo.

Here’s a taste of the single…

Let Them Know I’m From Virginia is due for a March 17 release, and pre-orders are available now from popular digital sites. These include an instant download of Burn The Barn with your order.

Radio programmers can download the single now from Airplay Direct.

Photos from Miami Valley Brewfest

Thanks to Stacey Wright, who captured these images at last weekend’s Miami Valley Brewfest in Miamisburg, OH. This was their second year for the festival, organized by Max Nunery with The Repeating Arms. Stacey says it has rained both years at the Brewfest, but that enthusiastic crowds have attended despite the poor weather.

Final images from Bluegrass On The Grass

Here are the remainder of Frank Baker’s photos from the 2016 Bluegrass On The Grass festival held on the campus of Dickinson College in Pennsylvania each year. This batch captures images of The Dismembered Tennesseans and Big Country Bluegrass along with shots from the grounds of the event. Dismembered Tennesseans have been performing together since 1945!

John Treadway to Big Country Bluegrass

John Treadway of Taylorsville, NC has been announced as the newest member of Big Country Bluegrass.

He will be playing banjo and singing harmony with the southwest Virginia band, filling the spot vacated recently when Lynwood Lunsford left after nine years to start his own group.

John had previously served as banjo player with Wes Golding & Surefire, and until this switch, as a founding member of The Idle Time Band. He has been playing the banjos since he was 12 years old, performing professionally since the 1980s.

Big Country Bluegrass mandolinist and bandleader Tommy Sells says that their new banjo man is a perfect fit for their hard-charging, old time bluegrass sound.

“John plays a great traditional style and his interest and talent in learning our material has impressed all of us. We believe our fans will be equally impressed by John and his talents.”

Sells also mentioned that the whole band wishes Lynwood the best with his new venture, and that they will always appreciate his friendship and valuable service all those years.

The band plans to be heading into the studio later this month to start work on their 30th Anniversary recording for Rebel Records.

You can find show dates for Big Country Bluegrass listed online.