Colorado bluegrass band Big Richard just released “Millionaire,” their new single and label debut ahead of ‘Pet’ arriving February 6 via Signature Sounds. The track tackles greed and corruption through a David Olney song originally released in 1991 that remains wildly topical nearly 35 years later. ‘Pet’ marks the four-women quartet’s sophomore album and debut for Signature Sounds, recorded live to tape to capture the fervor of their explosive live shows. “Big Richard is so much about our energetic delivery, and so I think it’s been really important for us as a group to figure out how to do that for a record,” says mandolin and guitar player Bonnie Sims. The band succeeded in translating their live kinetic harmonies and string virtuosity to record, delivering a fierce, provocative rejoinder to what troubles them and the world right now.
Since exploding onto the Colorado scene in 2021, the band has been slapping hard on the festival circuit, working up stamina on nationwide headlining tours, and leaving a wake of die-hard Big Richard Heads across the country swooning for their honest songwriting, chilling vocals and fiddle-driven barn-burners. GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning cellist Joy Adams explains the recording approach: “Our live performances are so raw and so gritty, and I think that our sound never really flourished in that digital landscape. [Recording live to tape] we were all in the same room together, very close together, with a lot of mic bleed, etc. And the energy was insane. It felt so good to record this way. Even on the first day, we were like ‘wow, this sounds like our band.’ And to do something that’s very real and gritty and has little mistakes in it just feels alive and human.” Unapologetically outrageous and provocative, the band’s name winks at the ‘big dick’ energy Big Richard reclaims from male bluegrass bands, making music for the 21st century’s twisted cultural unease.