Big Big Train are an English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band formed in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder

Gregory Spawton Gregory Spawton (born 17 May 1965) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and founder of English progressive rock band Big Big Train. Early life Spawton was brought up in Sutton Co ...

(bass, guitars and keyboards), along with

Nick D'Virgilio Nicholas D'Virgilio (born November 12, 1968), often abbreviated and referred to as NDV, is an American musician, singer, best known as a member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil C ...

(drums, vocals, guitars and keyboards),

Rikard Sjöblom Rikard Sjöblom (born 23 February 1982) is a Swedish singer and musician, best known as a member of Beardfish and Big Big Train, and also for his solo project, Gungfly. Biography Sjöblom started playing accordion at age 6, under the encourag ...

(guitars and keyboards), Clare Lindley (violin, keyboards, guitars and vocals), Alberto Bravin (vocals, guitars, keyboards and drums) and Oskar Holldorff (keyboards and vocals). Until 2009, the band were active as a predominantly studio project led by Spawton and co-founder Andy Poole (bass, keyboards and guitars), who departed the band in 2018, with changing line-ups and guest musicians. They have released fifteen studio albums and six EPs. After starting out as an independent band, Big Big Train were signed to

Giant Electric Pea Giant Electric Pea (often abbreviated as GEP) is an independent music label based in London and Berlin. Their releases consist of progressive rock, neo-prog and progressive metal music albums. History Giant Electric Pea was formed in 1992 by ...

from 1993 to 1998 and distributed their releases through their own website. Since their sixth album, ''The Underfall Yard'', which received critical acclaim from the progressive rock community, a more stable line-up has been established, and the band performed their first live concerts in 17 years at Kings Place, London, in August 2015. The gigs were voted Event of the Year by the readers of ''Prog'' magazine. ''Stone & Steel'', a Blu-ray featuring the 2014 rehearsals at Real World Studios and four of the songs performed at Kings Place, was released on 21 March 2016. Big Big Train were the winners of the Breakthrough Award at the Progressive Music Awards held at Kew Gardens, London on 3 September 2013, and have been nominated in several other categories in recent years. The band's latest studio album,'' The Likes Of Us'', was released in March 2024. Their previous studio album, ''Welcome to the Planet'', was released in January 2022. '' Ingenious Devices'', a compilation album of re-recorded material with David Longdon's original vocals and one live track with their new singer Alberto Bravin, was released on 30 June 2023. Big Big Train embarked on their first UK tour in October 2019. Scheduled dates for the band's first ever North American and European tours in 2020 were cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Their first US tour finally took place in March 2024, and included two appearances at Cruise to the Edge. The band embarked on a limited tour of the UK and Europe in late September/early October 2024, predominantly featuring tracks from their latest album, '' The Likes Of Us''.

History

Early history

The roots of Big Big Train go back to 1981 in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham in England, when Gregory's older brother Nigel Spawton (drums) joined with Ed Serafinas (vocals), Pete McDonald (bass), Steve Lugg (guitar/vocals) and Tim McCarty (guitar/vocals) in the new wave outfit known as Big Big Train. Together they wrote and recorded many memorable tracks including ‘Snowbound Children’, ‘Girl in a Liver Swap’ and ‘Bandits at 12 o’clock’. Later in the 80s Andy Poole formed a songwriting partnership in Bournemouth, England, with his childhood friend, Ian Cooper. At around the same time, Gregory Spawton had also formed his first band, Equus. Equus played a few local gigs around the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

area before splitting up when Spawton went to university in 1984. Meanwhile, Poole and Cooper's band, Archshine, recorded a few demos and occasionally emerged from their home studio to play some gigs. In 1987, Spawton moved down to Bournemouth. Shortly afterwards, he met Poole and they discovered that they shared a mutual appreciation of Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and other progressive bands. In particular, they were both fans of a then relatively obscure band called IQ. Indeed, Poole had spent some time as a roadie for The Lens and IQ. In the late 1980s, they decided to record some demos together. After a few months, the very first Big Big Train songs emerged and in 1990, Archshine ceased to exist, and Big Big Train was founded, initially consisting of the duo of Spawton (guitar) and Poole (bass). The following year saw the recruitment of Cooper (keyboards), Steve Hughes (drums), and Martin Read (vocals). The band's earliest songs were released on a demo tape in October 1991, and the band's first demo album, ''From the River to the Sea'', was released in May 1992. During this time, the band continued to perform live dates, gradually playing to larger crowds in higher profile venues.

1993–2003

In January 1993 the band released their second demo album, ''The Infant Hercules''. The name is likely a reference to the quote by

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

—"This remarkable place, the youngest child of England's enterprise, is an infant, but if an infant, an infant Hercules"—the words used to describe the English town

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. The song "Kingmaker" was the first track the band played at their first concert. The demo was followed up six months later with their debut full-length album, ''

Goodbye to the Age of Steam Goodbye, Good bye, or Good-bye is a parting phrase and may refer to: Film * ''Goodbye'' (1918 film), a British drama directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Goodbye'' (1995 film) (''Tot Ziens!''), a Dutch film directed by Heddy Honigmann * ''Goodbye'' ...

''. The full-length album was recorded over the course of two weeks in July 1993. Not long after the recording sessions were completed, the band were signed to the progressive rock label

. The response to the album was very positive, culminating in a licensing deal in Japan where the CD was re-released in 1995, with a bonus track. In the meantime, Ian Cooper had left the band (for family reasons) and due to this the band ceased touring and started looking for his replacement. In the meantime, they started work on their next album, with Spawton filling the role of keyboard player. Eventually, Tony Müller was recruited as keyboard player in early 1995 during the recording of the new album. Some of the new songs were debuted live at

The Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England, that operated from 1976 to 2009. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in t ...

, London, the only live show the band performed during this period. ''

English Boy Wonders ''English Boy Wonders'' is the second studio album by the English progressive rock band, Big Big Train. It was released in 1997 by Giant Electric Pea. Track listing Re-release In February 2008, it was announced on Big Big Train's BlogSpot th ...

'' was finally released in autumn 1997, although to a much less positive reaction than ''Age of Steam''. At this stage, after a less than pleasurable recording experience, a poorly received second album, and with a record label which had stopped returning calls, it appeared that the band had run its course. Steve Hughes left the band in September 1998 and went on to join

The Enid The Enid are a British progressive rock band founded by keyboardist and composer Robert John Godfrey. Godfrey received his main musical education from The Royal College of Music. He is previously known for his work with Barclay James Harvest ...

. He was replaced, briefly, by Pete Hibbit. After a few more live performances, the band's momentum was all but spent and Spawton and Poole retreated back to their studio to work on the next album. Events had turned full circle; Poole and Spawton, with no particular goal in mind and without a band line-up, slowly began work on some demos, more out of habit than anything else. As the demos took shape, Gregory and Andy called in the other band members as and when they were required. In February 2002, after three years of irregular writing and recording, ''

Bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...

'' was released. ''Bard'' received some excellent reviews. The line-up of the band during the recording of ''Bard'' consisted of Spawton, Poole, Read, Müller, the returning Cooper, and drummer Phil Hogg. Around the time of the album's release, The Enid became inactive, and Steve Hughes returned to Big Big Train to replace the departing Hogg.

2004–2008

In 2003, Müller and Read departed the band, and Sean Filkins was recruited to replace Read. This line-up recorded the band's next album, ''

Gathering Speed ''Gathering Speed'' is the fourth studio album of the English progressive rock band, Big Big Train. It was released in 2004 by Treefrog Records. It is dedicated to the airmen and women who lost their lives in the Battle of Britain. The song ''Th ...

'', which was released in March 2004. This was the last album to feature Ian Cooper on keyboards; Poole and Spawton took the keyboards to play in future albums. A new album titled ''

The Difference Machine ''The Difference Machine'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train. It was released on 30 August 2007, by English Electric Recordings. TDM is a concept album exploring chaos theory, communication, failure, de ...

'' was released in September 2007. The album featured guest appearances from future full-time member

, and

Dave Meros Dave Meros (born 8 February 1956), is an American bass guitar player, best known as the bass player for progressive rock band Spock's Beard. Meros has also played or recorded with such artists as Gary Myrick, Bobby Kimball of Toto, Simon Phill ...

(both of

Spock's Beard Spock's Beard is an American progressive rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1992 by brothers Neal (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Alan Morse (guitars), John Ballard (bass), and Nick D'Virgilio (drums). Ballard was replaced by Dave M ...

), as well as

Pete Trewavas Peter Trewavas (born 15 January 1959) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the progressive rock band Marillion. He joined in 1982, replacing Diz Minnitt, while acting as a backing vocalist and occasional guitarist. Biography ...

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

. In 2008, BBT appeared on the

Classic Rock Magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 196 ...

CD for issue 112, with the song ''Summer's Lease'', which is also found on ''The Difference Machine''. On BBT's blog, it was announced that they would be re-releasing

. They partially re-recorded the album, as well as re-mixing it.

was re-released on 1 December 2008.

2009–2010

Both Hughes and Filkins left the band in February 2009, and were replaced by then-

drummer and regular collaborator

and vocalist and flute player David Longdon respectively. BBT released their sixth studio album, ''

The Underfall Yard ''The Underfall Yard'' is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train, and their first to feature vocalist and multi-instrumentalist David Longdon. It was released on 15 December 2009, by English Electric Recording ...

'', on 15 December 2009. Guitarist Dave Gregory (

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

), keyboardist

Jem Godfrey Jeremy "Jem" Godfrey (born 6 October 1971) is a British music producer, keyboardist and songwriter. In the early 1990s he was a producer at BBC Radio 1, before going back to Virgin Radio (where he had had his initial break) to head up the prod ...

(Frost*) and guitarist

Francis Dunnery Francis Dunnery (born 25 December 1962) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and record label owner. Dunnery was the lead singer and guitarist for British prog- pop band It Bites between 1982 and 1990. Since 1990 he has ...

(

It Bites It Bites are an English progressive rock and pop fusion band, formed in Egremont, Cumbria, Egremont, Cumbria, in 1982 and best known for their 1986 single "Calling All the Heroes", which gained them a Top 40, Top 10 UK Singles Chart hit. Initi ...

) make guest appearances on ''The Underfall Yard''. "Last Train" from ''The Underfall Yard'' was released on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

essential compilation album ''Modern Prog'' on 10 February 2010. ''The Underfall Yard'' received significant critical acclaim and the 23-minute title track was featured as Classic Rock's Track of the Day. ''Gathering Speed'' was re-issued in December 2009, in a re-mastered digipack version. ''The Difference Machine'' was re-issued in January 2010 with a bonus track from the original sessions. In October 2010, the band released the 41-minute EP entitled '' Far Skies Deep Time'' containing five tracks including a cover version of

Anthony Phillips Anthony Edwin Phillips (born 23 December 1951) is an English musician and composer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970. He left in July 1970 and learned to play more instruments, bef ...

' "Master of Time". The EP also includes the 17-minute track "The Wide Open Sea" – a story about the Belgian singer songwriter

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

which inspired the cover artwork by Jim Trainer. The EP again features guitarist Dave Gregory (formerly of

and now an established part of the band's line-up) as well as featuring performances from guest musicians keyboardist

Martin Orford Martin Orford (born 10 June 1959, Bitterne, Southampton) is an English keyboard player and singer. He is best known as the founder of progressive rock bands IQ and Jadis. He also worked with former King Crimson, U.K. and Asia bassist John Wetton ...

and bassist Danny Manners (frequent collaborator with

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

2011–2021

The band's first album, ''Goodbye to the Age of Steam'', was remixed from the original 2-inch, 24-track master tapes from January to July 2010 by Rob Aubrey and Andy Poole. No new parts were added, although some keyboard sounds were replaced. The original artwork was also replaced with new images by Jim Trainer inspired by the lyrical themes of the album, which was released in April 2011 in a digipack format. The album includes three additional tracks. "Far Distant Thing" was recorded in 1992 with Rob Aubrey for a local radio station. "Expecting Dragons" is a new arrangement and recording of themes from both ''Dragon Bone Hill'' and ''Expecting Snow''. "Losing Your Way" incorporates an instrumental section excluded from the original album version of the track. The band created a new arrangement for "Kingmaker", which they performed and recorded in June 2011. "Kingmaker" originally appeared on their 1992 demo album, ''The Infant Hercules''. The new recording features the current line-up and replaced "Master of Time" on the Russian release of '' Far Skies Deep Time'' in a mini vinyl album format. On 3 September 2012, the band released their seventh studio album, the first part of a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

, entitled '' English Electric Part One''. The second part, '' English Electric Part Two'', was released in March 2013, and featured Danny Manners (keyboards, double bass), who was now an official member of the band. Big Big Train were the winners of the Breakthrough act award at the 2013 Progressive Music Awards. On 23 September 2013, Big Big Train released '' English Electric: Full Power'' (''EEFLP''). This is a two-CD version of ''English Electric'' including all of the tracks from ''English Electric Part One'' and ''Part Two'' and four new tracks. Alongside ''EEFLP'', the band released the '' Make Some Noise'' EP including the new tracks as a separate release. At the start of 2014

Beardfish The beardfishes consist of a single extant genus, ''Polymixia'', of deep-sea marine ray-finned fish named for their pair of long hyoid barbels. They are classified in their own order Polymixiiformes . But as Nelson says, "few groups have been sh ...

frontman Rikard Sjöblom was confirmed as a touring keyboardist and guitarist. In August, the band convened at

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the old Box Mill building in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World R ...

for a week to try out a live line-up that also included violinist Rachel Hall and a five-piece brass band under the directorship of trombonist Dave Desmond, who had featured on recent Big Big Train albums. The positive outcome led to the band announcing that its first live performances in seventeen years would take place in August 2015 at

Kings Place Kings Place is a building in London's King's Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the form ...

in London, and that Sjöblom and Hall were now full band members for both live and studio work. Three dates were announced, selling out within days, and the gigs were voted Event of the Year by the readers of

Prog magazine ''Prog'' is a British magazine dedicated to progressive rock music, published by Future. The magazine, which is edited by Jerry Ewing, was launched in March 2009 as a spin-off from ''Classic Rock'' and covers both past and present artists. Other ...

. An EP containing new and live tracks, ''

Wassail Wassail (, ) is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Christmastide and Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to ...

'', was released on 1 June 2015, and ''Stone & Steel'', a Blu-ray featuring rehearsals at Real World Studios as well as four of the songs performed at the Kings Place concerts, was released on 21 March 2016. The digital-only album ''From Stone and Steel'', containing the Real World studio performances from August 2014, was released on 1 April 2016. ''

Folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

'' was released on 27 May 2016 whilst its 'companion' album ''

Grimspound Grimspound is a late Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age settlement, situated on Dartmoor in Devon, England. It consists of a set of 24 hut circles surrounded by a low stone wall. The name was first recorded by the Reverend Richard Polwhele in 1 ...

'' was released on 28 April 2017. The video for 'As The Crow Flies' from ''Grimspound'' made its debut on YouTube on 31 March 2017. The video for "Experimental Gentlemen" from ''Grimspound'' made its debut on YouTube on 21 April 2017. '' The Second Brightest Star'' was released on 23 June 2017 as a companion album to ''Folklore'' and ''Grimspound'', including 40 minutes of new tracks that "explore landscapes, rivers and meeting places and take the listener on voyages of discovery across the world and to the stars" in addition to 30 minutes of extended material from ''Folklore'' and ''Grimspound''. Big Big Train headlined The Night of the Prog festival in

Lorelei The Lorelei ( ; or , or ; also found as ''Loreleï'', ''Lore Lay'', ''Lore-Ley'', ''Lurley'', ''Lurelei'' and ''Lurlei'' throughout history) is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at ...

, Germany, on 13 July 2018. A UK warm-up gig was played on 11 July 2018 at The Basingstoke Anvil. Previously, they played at

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea, London, Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ( ...

, London, in September/October 2017. Band co-founder Andy Poole departed the band early in January 2018, with Robin Armstrong joining the live line-up of the band the following month on keyboards and guitars. Armstrong left the line-up at the end of 2019. Dave Gregory would announce his departure in March 2020 due to his desire to not tour internationally with Big Big Train. Randy McStine was subsequently named as his live replacement for scheduled shows in 2020, which were all subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in 2020, it was announced that Carly Bryant and Dave Foster would join the BBT live band. On 27 November 2020, BBT released a live album entitled ''Empire'', recorded at a concert at the Hackney Empire, London, 2 November 2019. Their thirteenth album, '' Common Ground'', was released on 30 July 2021. On 21 October 2021, the band announced that their fourteenth studio album, ''Welcome to the Planet'', would be released on 28 January 2022. Preceding the announcement of the album, the band released the singles "The Connection Plan", "Lanterna", and "Made From Sunshine" as part of their Stay Tuned streaming series on 24 August 2021, 21 September 2021, and 19 October 2021 respectively. Lead vocalist

David Longdon David Longdon (17 June 1965 – 20 November 2021) was a British singer and multi-instrumentalist, who was best known as the lead vocalist and co-songwriter of the progressive rock band Big Big Train. Besides singing, Longdon played flute, keyboa ...

died on 20 November 2021, aged 56.

2022–present

On 27 April 2022, Big Big Train announced former

Premiata Forneria Marconi Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) (translation: ''Award-winning Marconi Bakery'') is an Italian progressive rock band founded in 1970 which continues to the present day. They were the first Italian group to have success internationally. The group ...

singer and keyboard player, Alberto Bravin, as their new lead vocalist. On 15 January 2023, it was announced that Carly Bryant was departing Big Big Train, to be replaced by Dim Gray's Oskar Holldorff. In December 2023, the band announced their first studio album of new material with Alberto Bravin, '' The Likes Of Us'', which was released in March 2024. In the same month they also announced their first US tour dates, also for March 2024. In late September/early October 2024 the band embarked on a limited tour of the UK and Europe.

Members

Current members

– bass guitar, backing vocals, guitars, keyboards (1990–present) *

– drums, vocals, percussion, guitars. keyboards (2009–present) *

– guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present) * Clare Lindley – violin, guitar, vocals, keyboards (2021–present) * Alberto Bravin – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums (2022–present) * Oskar Holldorff – keyboards, vocals (2023–present; touring 2022–2023)

Discography

*''

'' (1994) *''

'' (1997) *''

'' (2002) *''

'' (2004) *''

'' (2007) *''

'' (2009) *'' English Electric Part One'' (2012) *'' English Electric Part Two'' (2013) *''

'' (2016) *''

'' (2017) *'' The Second Brightest Star'' (2017) *'' Grand Tour'' (2019) *'' Common Ground'' (2021) *'' Welcome to the Planet'' (2022) *'' Ingenious Devices'' (2023) *'' The Likes of Us'' (2024)

References

External links

Big Big Train's official website
* {{Authority control English progressive rock groups English post-rock groups Musical groups from Bournemouth 1990 establishments in England Musical groups established in 1990