Big Richard:

By Brian D’Ambrosio

While their dynamism as musicians unquestionably stirs, it is the band’s name that initially draws attention and rouses response.

“Big Richard is a crude joke,” said Joy Adams, cellist of Big Richard, an all-female bluegrass quartet. “You have four women who are making these crude jokes, but can also play their instruments. I think the shock value kind of gets people.”

Adams (cello), Eve Panning (fiddle), Emma Rose Finder (bass, guitar), and Bonnie Sims (mandolin) are clearly not taking themselves too seriously. However, they do respect the visibility and influence that they have as artists with some seriousness.

“All of us grew up looking up to awesome female artists like The Chicks and I love bands like I'm With Her or Crooked Still – really powerful female frontage bands," Adams said. "We understand that we have a role to play now in that lineage.”

The full of life foursome, in fact, had a different, and even more egregious, name when the band started in the Boulder, Colorado, area a couple years ago. It was at a bluegrass festival, and they were invited to it only after the promoters realized that they’d mistakenly created a lopsidedly all-male lineup. One of the promoters called Panning and asked her if she could quickly assemble a female band, and she in turn called Adams, and so began the ride.

“We were called Spirited Dicks of the Rocky Mountains,” said Adams. “Our very first show was supposed to be one and done. We were out there to poke fun at the whole situation. We had too much fun. I think two of the band members peed their pants, and we were laughing so hard. There are a ton of fans who were at that very first show and who have these original shirts, and we could tell the truest fans by their old Spirited Dicks shirts.”

Musically, the women meshed, jibed, and cross-pollinated naturally, each one bringing her own unique passion and sense of purpose to the whole.

“Usually for a band it takes years to iron out your time, feel your groove, your pocket, and who sings what part of melodies and harmonies, and who takes what solos, etc.," Adams said. "Somehow we got in the room and magically had the same sense of groove, the same pocket … I think that was the thing that really set the fire going, was the fact that we all seemed to come to music in the same way, with the same kind of energy.”

The musicians liked how the arrangements felt and materialized on that day: the presence of three lead singers forcing them to constantly change up who was singing harmony, who was singing melody, and the blending within flowed with green, verdant inspiration from song to song.

Their first-ever set was cut short due to unforeseen technical problems, ending before they could perform for the full appointed hour. But, apparently, they’d made quite an impression.

“It caused a bit of an uproar,” said Adams. “We got some hate mail from that festival. People reached out to us online. They were really upset about the (bawdy) stuff that we were doing (not just the name of the band but the sexually charged merchandise they were selling). So, naturally, we had to do it again.”

Their next show found them at the backyard of the Stage Stop Pub in Rollinsville, Colorado, one of the state’s oldest bars and a popular destination over the years for stringed jam bands. This performance was part of a large summer spectacular, with a big, keen crowd, spilling excitement, and a gorgeous, high-altitude, mountainous backdrop.

“That was show two and then we just kept going,” said Adams. “We couldn't stop.”

Since then Big Richard has drawn a fan base attracted to the group’s dexterous instrumentals (mandolinist Sims is a platinum recording honoree), carefree, confident stage presence, and, yes, even their occasional ribald antics.

“We’ve had some who’ve literally said to us, where is your decency as women!" Adams said. "There are some people who want to think that women are a little more dignified; but you should hear the conversations in our van. We can be just as lewd as the dudes around us. Bonnie talks frequently about how humor is a wonderful medicine for a lot of things.”

Bluegrass as a genre has always flirted with shtick and caricature and even some mortifying clownishness. From the slapstick frolics depicted on the comedy variety show “Hee Haw,” to Steve Martin’s playful on-stage ribbing of the cultural connotations of the banjo, oftentimes with fellow comedian Martin Short, some degree of silliness has commonly pervaded it.

“But for the last few years, I think bluegrass is taking itself way too seriously,” said Adams. “Everybody's so serious. People are trying to go back to the suit and tie. But I think to be a random band of ladies who are specifically not taking ourselves seriously — that has caught attention. I think that's one of the things that’s helped us.”

Still, the main attraction that has propelled Big Richard quicker than the ordinary variety of band to a steady stream of eagerly-attended engagements is the well-practiced abilities of its members. Adams grew up north of Spokane, Washington, on a farm, the same country where her parents still reside. Her mother is a violinist and she encouraged Adams and her siblings to play violin, whether they liked it or not. Eventually, Adams was introduced to the cello, and the relationship easily took shape, the instrument instantly feeling as if it were a natural, well-suited equal.

“I wasn't allowed to play cello for awhile,” said Adams. “But I would sneak out of the house at 5 in the morning and hike up into the field and play cello up there with the birds. The cello kind of became my one-way ticket out and I wound up getting into the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and a doctorate in classical music. I'm a huge certified nerd.”

Adams taught college for a few years in Boulder at Naropa University, before Big Richard lured her away from that occupation. Fiddler Panning comes from a similar background, holding a master’s degree in music education, and she was working as a middle school orchestra teacher when the band formed. The four members had all been connected peripherally, loosely, through the Colorado bluegrass community.

“I had played in a band with Emma a little bit and had played some gigs with Eve. The person I didn’t know very well was Bonnie. It was a hoot to get together and to realize that we all could become such good friends. They all feel like sisters to me now.”

Adams, who freely experiments with the cello and finds delight applying it to both well-walked covers and new tunes alike, is quick to laud the abilities of each of her counterparts.

“Emma is a powerhouse on the bass and her vocals as well," Adams said. "She's just got that deep sultry voice that melts everybody. For being as young as she is, she has this very mature pocket. And part of that is that she comes from a family (her father is Mike Finders of Finnders and Youngberg), she grew up in this really deep bluegrass tradition, she's got that stuff running through her veins.

Three Scorpios’ worth of drama and then there is Eve, who is a Capricorn, who keeps us balanced. She can wear a poker face in all the right moments and she's an amazing musician. Eve can play anywhere on the fiddle, sparkling, and in tune, and absolutely flawless musicianship. She's been singing a lot of harmonies and we're going to try to make her into a lead singer.”

Rounding out the group is Sims, a second-generation musician and Texas native, who has amassed a sturdy reputation in Colorado and beyond as an innovative force of nature. She made a deep, echoing splash with her debut EP in 2018 titled “Everybody Loves An Outlaw” (a co-effort with her husband Taylor Sims).

“Bonnie’s got that super powerful mandolin playing, and then she's a show-stopping vocalist," Adams said. "She's really skyrocketing and it's a blessing to have her in the band. Bonnie was the one who really lit a fire under everything in getting us booked, a great connective person for the group, and a mature, graceful force in the band.”

Adams said that she is enjoying it all — the surge of satisfaction that comes from touring, selling tickets, and seeing all of those bodies on the dance floor. Indeed, right now, she is putting all of her oomph into pumping the flames vivaciously and filling the room with harmony, hormones and heat.

“I'm married to a wonderful man,” said Adams. “I love the male energy. I think it's necessary and essential. But it’s so refreshing to have the energy of a group of women. When you walk into the venue, it’s a big female force.”

- By Brian D'Ambrosio © 2023