October 8, 2003

Really Big Show
Louisville power trio
BIG ROCK SHOW
live up to their name
by Jay Ditzer

There is truth to advertising after all, at least occasionally.  To wit:The Big Rock Show.  The members of this three-piece are big men who indeed rock and put on one hell of a show.

  "The Big Rock Show is a classic, hard rock band that works all the time, crusading to carry rock into the 21st century, playing guitar-driven, melodic rock 'n' roll," singer and guitarist extraordinaire Dave Ernspiker said.  "We're trying to maintain the chops and attitude of rock 'n' roll without getting too negative."

  The Big Rock Show, and especially Ernspiker, is a study in positivity.  Not in the hippy-dippy sense  of the word, mind you, but in the "glass half full" connotation.  Each member of the group ~ Ernspiker, bassist/singer Jaymz St. James and drummer Adam Turgeon~  is extremely proficient on his chosen instrument, and together they perform passionate recreations of all the music you love but think you're too cool to admit to loving; Pink  Floyd, Thin Lizzy, Van Halen, KISS, AC/DC, ZZ Top, Ted Nugent, and Led Zeppelin, to name eight.  Obviously, nostalgia plays a part in the Big Rock Show's appeal, but musical ability is a much larger part. And these guys aren't hurting for gigs

  "New music... I'm not trying to put anybody down, but it's extremely basic.  The idea that less is more has been perverted into 'less is everything.'  Well, I think less is less and more is more.  Who said that a song has to be three chords to be a great song? Ernspiker asked. "Playing as extreme as e can, extreme guitar, extreme drums, extreme bass, in a rock 'n'roll context, people are starving for that, and that's why we work five to six nights a week.  There's a huge market for that. Everybody we play for eats it up. It's an innate, primal thing that's embedded in everybody who goes out to bars and sees live music."  

   And seeing the Big Rock Show is a trip itself.  They make a huge visual impact because, well, you tend to notice when the band is collecting tips in the guitarists prosthetic leg, "I call that tippy toes,| he chuckled.

  Ernspiker, who lost his right leg after being struck by a drunk driver in 1994, Plays from his wheelchair.  Already a seasoned pro-musician at the time of the accident, he could have let the injury consume his life, but after some initial depression, he bounced back with remarkable perspective and good humor.  He still plays occasionally with Rachel Stump their acoustic act The Stumps )Louisville's Premier 3-Legged Duo), and then there's his tip jar.

   I had to have another eight inches taken off my leg three and a half years ago, and I haven't been able to use that prosthetic anymore, or pretty much any prostheses. But, you know, thank God I can still play music." Ernspiker said. " I've had so many handicapped people come up to me, even people who aren't come up to me and say I'm an inspiration to them. When I was 10 years old, I wanted to make my living playing guitar. And I've been doing that for a long time, through teaching and things like that, but now to finally be doing it solely through performing is the greatest feeling in the world."

    


Photo by Jered Golladay

 
   For now, The Big Rock Show is concentrating on playing as often as humanly possible. A CD of original material is in the works, but the band doesn't mind playing cover songs.    

"I Think all the original bands and the original movement in Louisville is great, and everybody want to be the next hot thing and have a big record deal and make a million dollars; but we're going about it the old-fashioned way," Ernspiker said.  "Nowadays, everybody wants to write their three-chord songs, put together a demo, fid a hip producer that's going to make 'em sound better than they really are, and get a record deal, sign the contract with the Seagram wine cooler company ... Our thing is, we're trying to develop an audience for the band. And it's working.  People come out to see us on a regular basis all the time.  We're trying to write music to an audience.  I think a lot of original bands find themselves in that trap. 'What's hip right now? Let's write like that.' How creative is that?   I don't get that. We want people to love us, and then they'll eat up what we give them.   We've only got a couple of tunes, but that's because we never  have the time to get together and write and rehearse, because we're playing every night."

   The Big Rock Show performs every Thursday from 7:00pm to 11:00pm at Two Lane's Bike Night (9702 Bardstown Road) and Every Tuesday at R PLACE Pub (9603 Whipps Mill Rd) from 10:30p.m. - 2:30a.m.  This Friday and Saturday you can find them at The Golden Nugget (2922 Hikes Lane) from  10:30p.m. - 2:30a.m. For a complete schedule of gigs, visit www.bigrockshow.com

 

 

contact the writer at leo@leoweekly.com