Press Biography

Biography		released by Fox Records
		"I have been a lost and lonely sailor on your sea/Run aground by trusting signals you were sending me," sings BIG COUNTRY leader Stuart Adamson on the band's new album THE BUFFALO SKINNERS, its debut album for Fox Records and first U.S. release since 1988's Peace In Our Time, and he may well have been talking about the trials and tribulations which have kept the band's stateside visibility so low over the last few years. The song starts with a shimmering Beach Boy-like croon, then gallops into one of the most identifiable sounds in all of rock & roll like a herd of thundering steeds. The soaring, chiming ring-like-a-bell guitars, so reminiscent of the music of their adopted Scottish homeland…the lyrics of rage and hope, are all grounded in the turf of the small mining town where they first formed and still live. BIG COUNTRY is back and it's as if they never left, which indeed they haven't, continually scoring chart hits in the U.K. despite their absence from these shores. "To be quite honest, the last few years have been very traumatic for us," explains singer/songwriter/guitarist Adamson, who first formed the band in Dunfermline, a small village in East Scotland with guitarist Bruce Watson from a rival local outfit, later recruiting the celebrated rhythm section of bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki. "We've been through several record company ups and downs since then." With the return of Brzezicki earlier this year, the original BIG COUNTRY has survived those pitfalls, once again intact and ready to take its rightful place among the world's premier guitar bands. THE BUFFALO SKINNERS represents a return to form for BIG COUNTRY in several ways. Prior to recording the album, the group was inked to the Chrysalis U.K.-distributed Compulsion label, run by Chris Briggs, the original A&R man who signed them to Phonogram. For the first time, the band produced themselves and that creative freedom is evident in the band's renewed self-confidence. "I know what kind of records I want to make and too many outside influences just dilute that and spoil it," says Adamson. "We had a very similar attitude making this record as we did our first. For me, a great record is about capturing the live performance in the studio. That's what suits us best. I'm very much a live musician. You should be able to share your stuff with people directly, I think we've been able to let loose again on this record." Indeed, the characteristic twin-guitar attack, which translated into a wall of electrified Scottish bagpipes, have been revitalized and updated for the post-grunge '90s. Songs like the first single, "The One I Love," "Seven Waves," "What Are You Working For," "Winding Wind" and "Chester's Farm" reflects BIG COUNTRY's anthematic drive and propulsive instrumental interplay, thematically linking the micro and the macro, the personal and the political—as only this foursome can. "We got a chance to make the record we wanted without having to be in endless business meetings and phone calls," says Adamson, who founded the Scottish punk band the Skids prior to launching BIG COUNTRY, which burst onto the international pop scene in 1983 with the album, In A Big Country [sic], which went gold in the U.S. on the strength of two hit singles in the title track and "The Crossing." [webmaster note: Fox Records seems a bit confused here in regards to album and singles titles.] The group went on to snare two Grammy nominations for Best New Artists and Best Single and a nod from Rolling Stone as Best New Band of the Year. They appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed at Live Aid. At that time, BIG COUNTRY was being touted, along with U2, as the next big world-class rock & roll band. Three more U.S. albums—'84's Steeltown (Mercury), '85's The Seer (Mercury) and '88's Peace In Our Time (Reprise/WB)—were followed by a pair of U.K./European only releases, '90's Through A Big Country, a greatest hits collection, and '91's No Place Like Home. "This has always been a great band and the gigging we've done this year has been a real joy," says Adamson. "There's almost a spiritual bond between us. We're very close, not just as musicians, but as people. When Mark was away, it really did feel like something was missing." THE BUFFALO SKINNERS, named after a poem Adamson read, addresses the issue of exploiting the environment for personal gain, while several of the tracks on the album explore a variety of social issues, including the plight of the subjugated working class ("What Are You Working For"), the paranoia induced by the Japanese buying U.S. properties ("The Selling of America"), our inability to keep up with the world's changes ("We're Not in Kansas") and a trial call for global unity ("All Go Together"). At the same time, Adamson delves into his own psyche for such aching songs of longing and alienation as "The One I Love," "Seven Waves" and the country-rockin', mid-tempo steel guitar twang of "Ship," a combination of the Eagles' "Witchy Woman" and the Stones' "Wild Horses." "The album reflects the mood I feel around me," says Adamson of the disc's dark hue. "There's a great deal of anger. People in the world have no voice and aren't allowed to have one. And some of that may have crept its way into the music. There's a lot of unfulfilled ambitions, hopes and fears in the world." BIG COUNTRY's leader could well have been describing his band's own plight and frustration over the past few years, which they more than get off their chests on THE BUFFALO SKINNERS. "There's plenty of light and shade in there," says Adamson. "What we do is unique. And I'm not embarrassed about being myself. Maybe I would have been when I was younger, but I know who I am now. The only way you can make your special contribution is to trust yourself and your intuition. Anytime I ever trust anybody else, it always backfired on me."