Pictures
Mike sings while Bill plays Dobro.
The band on stage, taken from the back of the house.
The quartet sings a capella.
With Gopher Broke, jamming on stage at evening's end.
Bill takes a banjo break.
Neil and Pete sing a duet.
Freeman fiddling up a storm.
Pete takes a guitar solo.
The trio sings their hearts out, while Mike holds down the rhythm.
Mike joins Neil and Pete on a trio. This was Mike's first gig with us.
Freeman solos
Bill takes the lead on "Shuckin' The Corn".
A fan approached us at the April, 2006 show at the Lincoln Inn with a wonderful story. They live in a small town, and had been troubled with feral animals getting into a dumpster near their house, making a lot of noise while foraging for food. Nothing they had been able to do had kept the animals out of the dumpster. Finally, they put some humane traps in the dumpster, but didn't have much success. They came out to see us in January at the Lincoln Inn, baiting the trap before they left, and asking a neighbor to keep an ear out for activity around the dumpster.
When they got home, they had a phone message from their neighbor saying they had better check their traps because something was making a lot of noise.
Opening the dumpster, they found a feral cat inside the trap
making his displeasure known. It being cold, they brought him into the house where he
proceeded to make himself at home. He turned out to be such a pleasant animal that
they decided to keep him. When it came to naming him, they agreed that there was really
only one choice. So say hello to...
Big Spike, the cat
Here's a photo from deep within the Big Spike archives, dating back to around 1971. This is a shot from a stage show by the Spark Gap Wonder Boys, a group Neil played with for many years which had recorded the first album for Rounder Records.
Pictured are (l-r), George Nelson (guitar), Dave Doubilet (banjo), and Neil Rossi (fiddle) on stage at Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, Mass. You have to look really hard to find any grey hair here. Check out the bell-bottom trousers. Thanks to Dennis Satterlee for making this classic photo available.
Spark Gap Wonder Boys, 1971
(Photo by Bob Hammond)