Tag: Big Country

BGS 5+5: RC & the Ambers

Posted on by Editor

Artist: RC & the Ambers
Hometown: Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Latest Album: Big Country
Personal nicknames: RC “Rooster” Edwards

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Probably have to say John Prine. Something about the way he could be heartbreaking, hilarious, and most of all clever in the same song. He teaches a lesson about not taking yourself too serious. Nothing wrong with a song being fun. Nothing wrong with a song being sad. Sometimes both. Gotta remind myself that sometimes.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

Two events come to mind. I was maybe 6 or 7 or so and my ma took me to see this group play in the parking lot of the Hardee’s burger place in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Everybody was singing, dancing, having a ball. I thought, man, I wanna make people do that. That group was the California Raisins.

At some point my brother got a VHS copy of the Richie Valens biopic La Bamba starring Lou Diamond Phillips. He watched it over and over again so I did too. “Here’s a bit of a rattlesnake.”

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

My favorite has to be when Turnpike used to have a pre-show ritual known as the Golden Hour. One hour before doors we would all gather up, drink a few salty dogs, and watch an episode of The Golden Girls. Started out it was just me and Laser. A week later you had to get there early to get a seat.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

The river for sure. We go kayaking almost every Sunday or Monday at Diamondhead here in Tahlequah. Our version of the Illinois River is beautiful here. It’s always been sort of reset button to chill out and start a new week.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

Too often probably. Classic deflection mechanism. I’ve also written a song about someone else and later realized it was about me.

Photo credit: Amber Watson

Gena Britt, “Big Country”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Given her expansive resume and deep list of awards nominations and accolades, you might expect banjoist and singer Gena Britt’s personality to be a bit more bold and brash. On stage next to her longtime friends in the Grammy Award-nominated outfit Sister Sadie she ranks as one of the quieter members — which is not so much a reflection of shyness as it is a testament to the entertaining gregariousness of her bandmates. That is, until Britt bears down on the five string and commences the peeling-off-of-faces. She has a patently unyielding right hand on the banjo, matched perfectly by the percussive, explosive, innovative fingerings of her left. Her personality comes through without apology and without giving her audience so much as a second to catch their breath, which of course must be continually (and understandably) knocked out of them by her picking.

Though she does step up to the mic with Sister Sadie to sing with some regularity — in fact, she was nominated for SPGBMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year Award in the early 2000s — she makes her pristine vocals the unabashed centerpiece of her brand new solo project, Chronicle. One of the album’s only two instrumentals is the rip-roaring traditional number, “Big Country” — this track definitely supplies bang for your tune buck. Immediately, listeners are reminded of that punchy right hand. Britt utilizes split seconds of space expertly, emphasizing downbeats and coordinated accents with her backing band without devolving into any of the overbearing tropes of “mash.”

Each of the track’s masterful musicians — Jason Barie (fiddle), Dustin Benson (guitar), Darren Nicholson (mandolin), Josh Matheny (Dobro), and Zak McLamb (bass) — take turns showing off their prowess, but not without …what do you call it? Taste! This is a tune that is not shy or mild — because neither is Britt, when you actually take a minute to look and listen.