Kent-based blues rock band Big River were formed back in 2016, taking their inspiration from that early 1970s golden era of blues rock and turning out a nice line in meaty rhythm, soulful vocals, catchy hooks and big fat riffs and lush guitar solos. Adam Barron took over as lead singer of Big River in 2021 but had previously worked with that giant of blues rock, Mick Ralphs, as lead singer of the Mick Ralphs Blues Band. I catch up with Adam to discuss his time working with Ralphs, his joining Big River and Big River’s latest single ‘Wings’.
You’ve never made any secret of your love for that classic era of blues rock from the late ‘60s and early 1970s. I was still a toddler when Free were formed and still at infant school when Bad Company started out – and I’m considerably older than you! So where does your love of those bands and that whole era of music come from then?
I’ve always loved music. My mum loved music, not all of it to my taste now. But she did particularly love Queen. So I remember listening to a lot of Queen when I was a child. And also this particularly brilliant cassette. A triple cassette album called Sixty Number Ones of the Sixties. And I loved that – and that had a bit of everything on. But when it came to classic rock and blues rock, that was when I went to secondary school. I was about 12 or 13 and a friend of mine lent me a copy of the Free album Fire and Water. And I still remember listening to it that first time and it was like a thunderbolt went off. I was like, “Oh my god. This is what I want to do with my life.” And from there I kind of listened to everything I could find and this was obviously not quite pre-internet but very early internet so we didn’t have everything at the touch of a button. But I remember watching an interview with Paul Rodgers where he said, “If you want to be as good as your heroes, don’t listen to them. Listen to who they listened to.” So that’s where I kind of went back. To Muddy Waters and all the classic soul singers, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. So really Free and Bad Company were like the gateway for me into all of that incredible music.
You had to do some real detective work, didn’t you, pre-internet? To track albums down and work out who recorded what!
Absolutely. That’s why I often say that my musical knowledge is like a map of the world that’s partially been eaten by mice. There’s some bits that I know loads about and then others that just completely escaped me. I’ve actually started a little project recently with a group of friends of mine where they give me classic albums from the ‘70s onwards and if I haven’t listened to it as an album, it goes on my list. So that I can start filling in some of those gaps!
Before taking on lead vocals for Big River you’d previously worked with Bad Company’s Mick Ralphs in the Mick Ralphs Blues Band. Can you tell us how that came about?
It was just one of those fortuitous things really. They were looking for a new singer. They had been around for a little while with another singer.
Because you were the second singer with them? They’d done one album with another vocalist first?
Yeah they did. And a friend of mine, who I had met when I was a teenager at the first jam night I ever went to, he sent me a message and said, “Oh, this is a bit of you, isn’t it?” And it was a Facebook post saying they were looking for singers. And I was like, “Christ! Yeah, that is a bit of me!” So I got in contact, sent some video clips and stuff and they invited me up for an audition. And I got the job. Yeah!
I still remember that first tour. It was about this time of year – a bit earlier than this time of year – and they had a run of gigs up to Christmas. We had a few days rehearsing in a little rehearsal studio up in High Wycombe. And I still remember just standing there and listening to that unforgettable and almost indescribable big sound that Mick produced. And it wasn’t even when he was playing a Bad Company song. He was playing an old blues one. I can’t remember off the top of my head what it was but I was facing the other way and he was behind me. And you know those great guitarists when you just know it’s them? And yeah it was outrageous. And I never lost that feeling of wonder really. Just sharing the stage with him and seeing the things he could do with a very simple set up of a guitar and an amp and pretty much nothing else.
And how long were you with Mick Ralphs Blues Band for?
So it was a few years. It got cut short.
Yes it all came to an end, sadly.
Yeah, we had just done a run of gigs and then he’d gone back on the road with Bad Company and we’d all gone up to watch the big last show at the O2 – which was just nuts. It was so good. And then, unfortunately, a couple of days later was when he had a stroke and that put paid to the band. But most importantly, he’s still with us. Obviously it put paid to the band which was a great shame for the music but also just because we had so much fun. Getting in a transit van and driving around to these gigs and just listening to Mick tell us the most amazing stories.
I wrote at the time that you joined Big River, after the previous vocalist departed, that you seemed like an ideal fit for the band. And around that time Simon Gardiner came in on bass, too. Was it a comfortable band to slot into?
Yeah, absolutely. I’ve known Damo (Fawsett – Big River founder and guitarist) for a few years and we’d done a couple of bits and bobs together and he always struck me as a lovely guy. I’ve always known he’s a great guitarist. And when he asked me, we were just coming to the tail-end of lockdown and I was itching to do something. As most of us musicians or music lovers were. We were itching to be either playing gigs or going to gigs. So I went and had a rehearsal and none of us had played for months, if not years because of everything that had gone on. And so we all said at the beginning it really doesn’t matter how it sounds because we’re all going to be as rusty as fuck. What really matters is how does it feel. And it felt great. It felt natural. It felt loads of fun. And it has done ever since really.
It probably felt like a new band for all four of you, not just you as a newcomer, I suppose?
Absolutely. It was like Big River Mark II as we say. Because it was just a fresh start, not because of me but because of the timing. Eighteen months of not gigging meant that we were all kind of chomping at the bit. And then Simon (Gardiner – Big River Bass-player) came along who’ve I’ve known for a long time. He used to gig with Rosco Levee and the Southern Slide and I’ve known Ros since I was 16. So he came in and, again, we had a few people who auditioned because Ant, our previous bass-player who’s a lovely guy who we all still get on well with, just couldn’t put the time or commitment in. Which is unfortunately one of the joys of being a grown-up trying to be in a band as well. And Simon came along and auditioned and, again, it was just that thing. It felt right. And it’s taken us in a slightly different direction which is really good as well.
And so you’ve been with them two years now?
Yeah, it’s coming up to two and a half years.
And you’ve gigged quite extensively as well as recording the EP Beautiful Trauma?
Yeah absolutely. I mean what I really love is in previous bands I’ve almost been – I use the phrase – a gun for hire. Because I would quite often be brought in to a project for the voice. Which is great and I’ve done some incredible things and I’ve had the most fun. But this was a different animal. It was coming in to be part of a band and write the music and get out there and play it. And I’ve found that such an enjoyable experience. I absolutely love sitting down with the boys in a room and thrashing out a new song and seeing what’s going to pop out. Because we’ve got four musicians who all write. And it might be an idea from Joe or it might be a fully-fledged song or it might be just a riff from Damo or it might be a thing on my ukulele or whatever it is. And it starts with this little seed and by the end of a couple of sessions of thrashing it about we’re like, “Oh! Well that’s what it is.”
So you feel like you are fully involved in this band creatively then and not simply the ‘voice for hire’ as it were?
Yeah absolutely. And it’s flexing a whole kind of different muscle that was a bit underdeveloped before.
Had you written much before you joined Big River then?
Yeah bits and pieces. But I’ve never really had the vehicle for it. And although I can find my way around a piano and I can play the ukulele a bit, I could never quite get the ideas in my head out on to an instrument because I didn’t quite have the technical ability. So, for me, when I had written before it always tended to be with someone. And that was always a bit few and far between. But with these boys it’s just really natural.
You released your latest single, ‘Wings’, last week. Are you pleased with the response it’s been getting so far?
Yeah, I am. We started playing it at gigs over the summer. It’s written by Simon our bass-player and when he brought it to us, I said, “Oh Simon, we’ve got one here!” I said, “This is the set-ender.” And he said, “Really? It’s quite slow.” And I said this is the big finish. And we played around with it and ended up coming up with the massive outro at the end where Damo really gets to let loose and open up. I knew it was going to go down well and it did go down well – as soon as we started playing it at gigs. So I was hopeful that it would have a similar response when the single came out and, yeah, we’ve had some really, really lovely responses. And quite a bit of radio play which is really nice. The main aim is we want people to hear it.
And what next for Big River?
We’ve got a couple of gigs left this year. We supported Brave Rival at the 100 Club a few weeks ago and it was joyous. Absolutely joyous. Those guys are bang on it. They deserve all the plaudits they are getting because they’re fantastic. And we’ve really enjoyed supporting them and we had a lovely, magical, impromptu live music moment where, after a little chat before soundcheck, we ended up getting the girls up to sing ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ with me, which was just amazing. It was so good. And they’ve invited us to come and support them again at the 229 (London) on 16th November which we’re really looking forward to. And then the big one, the last gig of the year which we’re over the moon about is Friday 1st December and that’s at Planet Rockstock which we are really excited about. And that’s it for gigs this year but we are already booking studio time. We’ve got another three or four songs that are pretty much ready to record.
So will it be another EP or are you working on an album?
We’re going to bring an EP out in the Spring and then the aim is to have a full album out in the Autumn of next year. One thing we have been a bit slow with and it’s because, unfortunately, we’re all family men with jobs and real lives, is getting new music out. We’ve kept it ticking over but next year we want to get a lot of new music out.
So plenty to look forward to for Big River fans. Is there anything else you want to tell us before we wrap up?
We’ve really loved getting out in front of new people this year and adding to our dedicated and loyal fanbase. And we love seeing those familiar faces. We love seeing those Big River T-shirts. And we just look forward to seeing everyone out there at another festival or another gig next year and hopefully bring in whole new army of Big River fans with them.
Bandcamp: https://bigriver1.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bigriverblues
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigriverblues
Related posts:
EP review – Big River ‘Beautiful Trauma’
Live review – Big River at The Carlisle, Hastings 2021
Single review – Big River – Don’t Hold Out
Album review – Big River – Redemption
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