Big Country

Big Country

Big Country are a Scottish alternative rock and new wave group formed in Dunfermline in 1981. The original line-up consists of Stuart Adamson on vocals and guitar, Bruce Watson on guitar and vocals, Tony Butler on bass, and Mark Brzezicki on drums. The band’s wider membership later includes Mike Peters, Derek Forbes, Scott Whitley, Gil Allan and Peter Wishart.

Style and sound

The band’s music combines alternative rock with celtic rock, new wave, new romantic, pop rock and post-punk. Their sound draws on Scottish folk and martial music, and the guitar arrangements are designed to suggest the sound of bagpipes, fiddles and other traditional instruments.

Early releases and breakthrough

Big Country’s first single is Harvest Home, released in 1982. It has modest success but does not enter the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up single, Fields Of Fire (400 Miles), reaches the UK Top Ten in 1983 and is followed by the album The Crossing. That album becomes a hit in the United States, reaching the Top 20 on the Billboard 200.

In a Big Country

The band’s biggest US single is In a Big Country, which is their only Top 40 hit in the United States. It helps establish their international profile alongside the success of The Crossing.

Later history

Stuart Adamson is a former member of the Scottish punk band The Skids. After his death in 2001, Big Country reforms in 2007 with the surviving members. Between 2010 and 2013, the group returns with Mike Peters of The Alarm on lead vocals. The band continues with Bruce Watson and Mark Brzezicki as the only original members in the line-up.