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THE BOX OFFICE WILL BE OPEN SHOW NIGHTS 6 TO 9 PM. NO CASH, CREDIT CARDS ONLY.
Big Head Todd & The Monsters with Ryan Montbleau
Friday, August 01 2014
7PM Doors / 8PM Show
The Box Office is open every Friday, 5:00 - 8:00 PM. GA, $30.00; Reserved Loge, $50.00;Reserved Balcony,$40.00
 
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Artist Bio

Since their formation in the mid-’80s, Big Head Todd & the Monsters have continued to

evolve and explore, moving beyond their Colorado club circuit roots to become one of the most

adventurous, respected and durable bands in America. Through constant touring and a zeal to

travel down new musical avenues in the studio, BHTM (as their dedicated fans call them) have

honed their collective stew of influences into a trademark hybrid sound that’s immediately

recognizable. Now, with Black Beehive, their maiden release on Shout! Factory (February 4,

2014), the quartet has made its most personal and poignant album to date, a collection of new

studio tracks that, says co-founder and figurehead Todd Park Mohr, “allows us to truly reach our

audience through the language of the blues.”

Recorded at Butcher Boy Studios in Chicago, Mohr’s hometown of the past seven years, and

produced and mixed by Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Steve Jordan (whose previous

production credits include John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Solomon Burke and Robert Cray), Black

Beehive arrives a quarter-century after the group’s debut album, Another Mayberry, first put

Big Head Todd & the Monsters on the map beyond their home base. Today, the original trio—

Mohr on guitar and vocals, Brian Nevin on drums and vocals and Rob Squires on bass and

vocals—along with keyboardist/pedal steel guitarist Jeremy Lawton, who joined in 2004, are

still opening themselves to new possibilities even as they further explore their roots. “It has some

contemporary elements that bridge a gap between alternative pop and traditional blues,” says

Mohr about Black Beehive, whose title refers to the late British soul singer Amy Winehouse, the

inspiration behind the album’s title track.

The band approached the recording in an old-school organic fashion, playing together in the

studio, which Mohr describes as “a big open space,” and sticking to the basics. “I played

resonator guitar on almost every song and most of the album is kind of simple: guitar, slide

guitar, drums and bass,” he says. “We only had two guests on the album. One was Eddie Shaw,

who was Howlin’ Wolf’s harmonica player for many years, and Ronnie Baker Brooks, who

played guitar. And Steve Jordan played on almost every track—various things, percussion,

rhythm guitar.”

Jordan, whose incredible career began when he joined Stevie Wonder’s band as a teenager, later

going on to perform in the Saturday Night Live band, Paul Shaffer’s World’s Most Dangerous

Band on Late Night with David Letterman, and backing John Belushi and Dan Akroyd when

they toured as The Blues Brothers, has an unbelievable production roster but is also well-known

as a drummer. A member of the John Mayer Trio, Jordan also toured and recorded with Keith

Richards and the X-pensive Winos, joined Eric Clapton for his 2006 European tour, and has also

worked with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, James Brown and more.

Mohr first met Jordan through the legendary guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who died in 2011. “We

were planning to have an 80th birthday party for Hubert,” says Todd, “and Steve was the

musical director. When Hubert passed away it ended up being a tribute at the Apollo Theater:

Eric Clapton and Billy Gibbons and Keith Richards—there were probably 35 incredible

musicians at this thing. I was immediately awestruck by Steve’s command of the material and his

understanding of it and his ability to get it done on short notice with all these people. I thought

this guy would be an unbelievable producer for me to work with. I sent him some demos and he

was up for it.”

As he began writing material for the album, Mohr drew from both his own life experiences and

events in the news. The title track was written following Winehouse’s death. “I love her voice

and her performances, and obviously her shenanigans were part of her persona,” says Mohr.

Several other songs were also ripped from the headlines, including “We Won’t Go Back,” which

Mohr penned about the 2010 Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East, and “Fear, Greed and

Ignorance,” whose topical lyrics declare that it’s those three dishonorable traits that are “driving

you America off the edge of the road.”

Not every track is quite so pointed, however. “Hubert’s Dream,” is a nod to the late Mr. Sumlin,

while album opener “Hey Delila” is Mohr’s tribute to another blues giant, Memphis Minnie.

“I happened to acquire a great example of her instrument, which was a 1941 Spanish National

resonator guitar. Plus, she has an incredible life story,” he says. “Everything About You” is

dedicated to NASA, who called upon BHTM to awaken the Discovery space shuttle crew with

their song “Blue Sky” in 2011, marking the first time live music was ever used for that purpose.

Among the album’s other tunes, “Josephina” and “Seven State Lines” are what Mohr describes

simply as “blues-based themes,” while “I Get Smooth” is “a comedy piece.” The cautionary tale

“Travelin’ Light” is the story of lovers who “threw away our hearts and fled” and the moving

“Forever Bonnie” is based on a true story of a “gentleman who got a love letter delivered to him

53 years later by the Postal Service.” Black Beehive also includes, as a bonus track, Big Head

Todd & the Monsters’ burning take on the Jimmy Reed blues classic “Baby What You Want Me

To Do,” a song that Jordan requested they cut.

For BHTM, Black Beehive serves as both a reaffirmation of the band’s roots and a step into the

next 25 years. Founded as a trio in Boulder, Colorado in 1986, Big Head Todd & the Monsters

quickly built a strong reputation on the local club circuit. As word of their soulful and intense

live show traveled around the nation they found themselves filling larger and larger venues.

BHTM have now played Denver’s historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre more than 20 times, and are

embedded in the fabric of Colorado’s music scene.

Beginning with Another Mayberry in 1989, critics noticed what audiences at BHTM live shows

already knew. The All Music Guide praised the “subtlety of Mohr’s lyrics” and his “individual

world view.” But it was the follow-up, 1990’s Midnight Radio, that truly established the band as

a creative force to be reckoned with. Its popularity led to a major label contract and the release of

the platinum-selling Sister Sweetly in 1993. With subsequent albums such as 1994’s Strategem

and 1997’s Beautiful World, the band earned a place among the top names on the jam band

circuit, solidified by 1998’s Live Monsters, the first official concert recording by Big Head Todd

& the Monsters. Riviera was released in 2002, followed by 2004’s Crimes of Passion, of which

The London Times stated "American rock doesn’t get anymore classy than this." Later that year,

Live at the Fillmore was released to critical praise. All Music Guide called the release, the band’s

first with Jeremy Lawton, “loud, proud, and full of righteous raw ambience.”

The band, which has always proudly controlled its own business dealings and marketing, gave

away 2007’s All the Love You Need through their email list, radio stations, and magazines. Their

ninth studio album, Rocksteady, followed in 2010. Said Examiner.com, “With Rocksteady, the

Colorado boys prove they can sprinkle in a plethora of differing music styles and still rock.”

2011’s 100 Years of Robert Johnson, the album preceding Black Beehive, found the group

paying tribute to the pioneering bluesman while performing as Big Head Blues Club (along

with other notable blues legends, including B. B. King, Charlie Musselwhite, Cedric Burnside,

David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Sumlin, Ruthie Foster, and Lightnin’ Malcolm). The band toured

behind the album with a few of the guest artists, marking some of the final performances by both

Edwards and Sumlin. Mohr paid tribute to Sumlin in 2012 when he served as a featured artist at

his tribute show at the Apollo Theatre.

With all of that history behind them, it would be easy for Big Head Todd & the Monsters to play

the nostalgia card and fall back on past glories, but that’s of no interest to them. BHTM still

performs, and devoutly loves, the material that first brought them to their fans – material they

now approach with a fresh, seasoned perspective. “As a writer and as a human being there’s a

big difference between being 21 and 47,” says Mohr. “Having said that, I think a lot of those

compositions are still lyrically sound, even though it’s hard for me to imagine that I would have

had the experience to write about the stuff I did. Obviously, I think the band has gotten better

over the years because when you develop yourself you continue to improve, and I think we have

improved musically. As a writer, I’m really pleased with where I’m at right now.”

“A lot of it had to do with my experience with the Robert Johnson project,” he adds. “That had

a large impact on how I looked at music. For a large portion of my career, I’ve been trying to

reproduce the success of Sister Sweetly, just as a touchstone of ‘this is a pop song, or rock-pop.’

Pop songs have pretty narrow rules when it comes down to it. Generally you need a chorus and

a bridge. The blues material from Robert Johnson’s day, the prewar blues, was so fascinating to

me because of the fact that it is pop music but there are no choruses. It’s a different way of having

repetition and themes and a different goal for a pop song. The music is shared by everybody

because it’s passed down through tradition. The whole spirit of what one is going for is radically

different than pop and that really became exciting for me because I could see a new way to reach

people.”

When Big Head Todd & the Monsters launch their extensive national tour behind Black Beehive

in January—which will continue through the summer and hit most major markets—they will

be honing the album’s ageless blues along the way, and simultaneously affirming their own

longevity. It’s clear that they possess a rare musical wholeness that has not only survived for 25

plus years, but still has them looking forward to creating music together night after night. “The

other guys have shown great support of my songwriting and what I’m able to do, and all of the

band members bring a lot to the plate, both musically and as a unit,” says Mohr. “No one ever

expects a band to last this long. We’re very, very lucky.”
 
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