Big Medicine

Location: R.A. Fountain

From the November 30, 2006 FAD:

The critically acclaimed Big Medicine, formed in 1999, is Kenny Jackson, Jim Collier, Joe Newberry, and Bobb Head. Their “string music of the rural South” takes the form of old-time melodies and mountain harmonies, ancient ballads and archaic fiddle tunes, heart songs, hollers, hymns, and early bluegrass.

Their recording and live performances have elicited rave reviews from No Depression magazine, the Old-Time Herald, Sing Out!, and the News and Observer.

Fiddler Kenny Jackson is a native of southern Indiana who has lived in Fayetteville since 1998. His earliest musical influences came from family gatherings at his grandparents’ Kentucky home. An expert story teller, he also plays banjo and guitar.

Jim Collier, who plays mandolin and guitar and sings, grew up in Raleigh, where he still lives. He also plays banjo and fiddle. He and Joe Newberry played together in the Tarheel Hotshots, one of the most popular regional old-time bands of the 1990s.

Newberry is a prize-winning banjo picker who also plays guitar and sings. A native of the Ozarks of Missouri, he has lived in Durham now for over 20 years. He teaches banjo and traditional singing at camps around the United States.

Bassist Bobb Head played with old-time bands in Tuscon, Arizona, and Houston, Texas before relocating to the Triangle area. He also performs with the Stillhouse Bottom Band; Dueling Shoes, a percussive dance ensemble; and the Deep Phat Friars, an “irreverant southern-fried contra band.” Head also plays banjo and guitar and shares vocal harmonies in the band.

Big Medicine has released two CDs, Fever in the South and Too Old to Be Controlled, which was named “Best Album” of 2004 by Just Plain Folks

Tags: acoustic Americana, bluegrass, Concert, eclectic, old-time, tradtional bluegrass