(Belleville, ON) – There are few musical acts that have been able to unashamedly explore their musical roots with the sort of depth and diversity that Big Sugar has done for more than 20 years.
The fact that they have been able to not only incorporate multiple genres into their sound – sometimes in a very immersive way – and not only maintained a dedicated fan base but has seen it grow – is truly a remarkable achievement.
What is most remarkable about the blues and reggae infused band is its guiding creative force, founder and musical guru and godfather – Gordie Johnson.
Besides Big Sugar, Johnson has also become an in-demand engineer and producer based out of his home for the past 13 years, Austin, Texas. He has founded cowboy-metal band Grady (which has released three studio albums and one live album), the roots/Gospel inspired Sit Down! Servant, is the bass player for another popular Canadian blue-based act, Wide Mouth Mason and is also the occasional sideman for Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes.
None of these musical endeavours are dalliances for Johnson, nor are they contrived – he is just that talented as a musician, singer and songwriter.
Big Sugar was where it all began back in 1988 after the Windsor-born Johnson moved to Toronto and became a staple on the local scene. After a string of popular albums throughout the 1990s, the band was put into mothballs just after the turn of the millennium, but brought back by intense fan and promoter demand in 2010. The band has been touring and recording regularly ever since.
After releasing the unique, rhythmic, acoustic reggae album Yardstyle in 2014, Big Sugar returns to its electric roots with a new album, Calling All the Youth, set to be released on August 28. The lead-off single Just Can’t Leave You Alone has been a fixture in the top 20 rock radio charts since its release, demonstrating that there is as much of a demand for new Big Sugar material as there is to hear classic tracks like Diggin’ A Hole, Ride Like Hell, If I Had My Way, The Scene and Turn the Lights On.
Johnson talked about how the band’s incredibly loyal and still growing legion of fans has followed him along on every new and interesting musical exploration.
“We do see a lot of the same faces in different places, but we also see as many new fans as we do old fans. And for certain parts of the audience the age doesn’t change. There’s always a group who are just now old enough to get into bars to see shows and party,” Johnson said.
“But our music continues to evolve and chance so we continue to pick up new people along the way who only know how you are now. What’s most shocking to me these days is how many musician fans we have all over, even in places where we’re not as well known like over in Europe. We’ve been over there a lot lately and in countries like Belgium, Holland and Germany, there are bands that started just because they saw us in the 1990s and they still cling to our older records.
“I just did a show with Rich on a bill with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. I was just hanging out at the venue and having some drinks and Susan could recite chapter and verse Big Sugar material from 500 Pounds [the band’s second album, released in 1993]. She knew all about the band. And Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top has talked about covering our song Ride Like Hell. It’s kinda cool, man, to hear that. It’s a nice affirmation that you have been doing something right.”
Another sign of the band’s enduring popularity and collegial respect from the music industry is the fact that Big Sugar was chosen to open for legendary rockers AC/DC for their September 5 tour stop at Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick.
“There are a few other shows being talked about [AC/DC is playing eight Canadian dates] but that’s the only one we can say anything about. But Magnetic Hill, in front of 50,000 people? I’ll take that. And we get to see AC/DC so that works for me,” he said with a chuckle, adding that Big Sugar is rare in that they have a laudable pedigree as well as current relevance.
“We’ve just put a new song in the Top 20 and our old stuff is still getting played all the time – there are not a lot of bands that have that combination. So when AC/DC comes to play in front of 50,000 people they get sent a list of 10 bands that are all gunning to get that gig and it’s up to Angus Young at the end of the day. And he said, ‘I want Big Sugar.’ I am sure there are a lot of bands that have way more happening right now and are way more current but Angus doesn’t want those bands. He doesn’t want a band that people won’t know next year. He wanted Big Sugar.”
Calling All The Youth has been about two years in the making, but much of the reason for that seemingly lengthy span of time is that Johnson and his bandmates have been juggling many different projects.
“We had most of this electric record finished when we started recording the acoustic Yardstyle record. But it was more timely to have the acoustic record finished and go out on tour with it. And we’re also getting the electric record done at the same time as a Big Sugar reggae record, and that’s going to take me a while to get completed. I have already got some different guests slated to be on that all-reggae record, but that’s coming some time down the road,” Johnson explained, adding that he has also been working on the latest Gov’t Mule album and also touring extensively with Sit Down! Servant (which is a duo featuring him and Big Sugar drummer Stephane Beaudin).
The new album’s title track is essentially a call to action for the older generations to do a little better in improving the world that we will be leaving the youth of today.
“I am saying we’re not offering the next generation anything to grab onto. Don’t blame them for the crime in the streets or graffiti or being disrespectful. Don’t blame the youth for this if you’re not offering them something bigger than just the monetizing and commercializing of everything in the world. How about some culture? How about some acknowledgement of the roots of everything – our heritage and culture?” he said.
“Music, for example, is a continuum and culture is a continuum. We need to be trying to engage the next generation now what’s gone on before so they can take it and do a new thing with it. Music just continues to evolve because it’s a cultural statement. When it becomes a strictly monetary thing, it becomes less memorable.”
Johnson isn’t taking a swipe at artists who prefer to follow the popular trends of the day, it’s just that it’s not his cup of tea as a musician, songwriter and producer.
“Honestly, I don’t have time for any negative reviews of anybody’s work. If people like it, whatever. I doesn’t affect me at all because I don’t see myself in competition with stuff like your contest winners from TV talent shows. I don’t wish those people any ill will – they’re not untalented. My feeling is, hey man, get what you can get out of it, and it’s great if you can make people happy along the way,” he said.
“I don’t think of myself in the same breath as them anyways. I’m not trying to get with they got. I am making a cultural statement with music that incorporates all the things that came before us, and I am trying to just push it forward a little bit, in my own way.”
Johnson is also a collaborator par excellence either writing, engineering or producing material for the likes of The Trews, Meredith Shaw, The Respectables and Joel Plaskett among others. On Calling All the Youth, he penned songs with noted Montreal recording artist Shane Murphy as well as John-Angus and Colin MacDonald of the Trews and Wide Mouth Mason bandmate Shaun Verrault. Big Sugar bandmate DJ Friendlyness (also known for his work with The Human Rights) had a much bigger imprint on the material for this album.
“There are songs on this album that were written 10 years ago and some that are just two weeks old. As far as the co-writes, it’s really a continuation of a long, ongoing process. We just write together when we can and sometimes it makes it on my records and sometimes on theirs. Right now I have something to do with four or five of the songs in the Top 20 rock charts in Canada,” he said.
Big Sugar has a number of dates scheduled for Ontario. On July 10, they play Big Music Fest in Kitchener, and then open for Tom Cochrane on Saturday, July 25, at Empire Rockfest in Belleville. On July 31, the band returns to eastern Ontario for a free Yardstyle acoustic show at Springer Market Square in downtown Kingston.
As for Johnson’s other projects, he said Wide Mouth Mason is at the initial stages of writing songs for a new album, Grady is sitting on the back burner, but Johnson would like to do another album and some dates in that configuration, while Sit Down! Servant is being peppered with requests to collaborate with roots artists from around the globe.
It’s an enviable position to be able to have so many creative avenues open to oneself, and to have each of them so well respected and in such high demand.
“I just do what I do,” he said.
For more information on Big Sugar, visit http://bigsugar.com.
For tickets or information for Big Music Fest, visit http://bigmusicfest.com/
For tickets or information for Empire Rockfest in Belleville, visit http://www.empiresquarelive.com/rockfest.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
