Biography
Since emerging in the late 1990s, Boston's Big D and the Kids Table have concentrated on high-velocity ska-punk. Their unyielding independent spirit and animated live performances established them as regulars on the road, cultivating a committed underground audience in the wake of their opening studio album, Good Luck, which appeared in 1999.
Although membership rotated steadily across subsequent years, founder and frontman David McWane stayed central to the outfit that first assembled in 1995 while its initial players attended Berklee College of Music. Operating out of Allston, the collective issued its earliest recordings on its own Fork in Hand Records imprint, co-managed by McWane and bassist Steve Foote: the 1997 split with pop-punkers Drexel titled Shot by Lammi, captured on a $700 budget, along with the Live EP. Once the group aligned with Asian Man Records, the ten-piece lineup of McWane, Foote, trombonist Gabe Feenberg, trumpeter Dan Stoppelman, guitarist Sean P. Rogan, trombonist Marc Flynn, tenor saxophonist Chris Bush, guitarist Jon Lammi, drummer Max MacVeety, and tenor saxophonist Chris Sallen had already delivered Good Luck in 1999. Recognized for its especially raucous concerts, Big D received the Outstanding Ska Band honor at the 1999 Boston Music Awards prior to Mike Park and Asian Man reissuing that debut. Returning in 2002 with the Gipsy Hill EP, the band maintained its famously demanding itinerary, averaging roughly 200 dates annually, while a split EP alongside Japanese noise rock act Melt Banana surfaced in 2003.
Sustained by that same independent drive, the ensemble's modest yet steadfast following expanded through nonstop grassroots touring and outreach despite minimal label backing or resources. Big D joined a portion of the summer's Warped Tour and appeared at Vegas' Ska Summit. In 2004 the group traversed North America on the Ska Is Dead and You're Next tour alongside Catch 22, Mustard Plug, and the Planet Smashers, issuing its Springman debut How It Goes that same year. Persistent road work continued with shared bills featuring the Suicide Machines, Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, RX Bandits, and others. By then the roster had contracted to seven members: McWane, Foote, Stoppelman, Rogan, Bush, drummer Jon Reilly, and trombonist Paul E. Cuttler. The limited-edition Salem Girls EP arrived in time for Halloween 2005, after which Big D reentered the studio late in 2006 to prepare its next full-length and first SideOneDummy release, produced by Mighty Mighty Bosstones bassist Joe Gittleman. With saxophonist Ryan O'Connor replacing Bush, the more relaxed Strictly Rude emerged in March 2007, preceded that February by the Bad News Records split Beijing to Boston with China's Brain Failure. Teaming with Gittleman once more, the band completed its fifth studio album, Fluent in Stroll, in 2009 and then embarked on a headlining tour. Following a hiatus from the road, Big D issued For the Damned, The Dumb & the Delirious in 2011; touring in support paused when McWane received a cancer diagnosis and resumed in 2012 once the vocalist entered remission.
Two further projects appeared in 2013: the ska-punk album Stomp and the reggae/dub-oriented Stroll. The following year brought the live EP Good Luck, a six-song recording made at Boston radio station WBCN's studios. Between releases, fresh personnel arrived in guitarist Alex Stern, bassist Ben Basile, trombonist Logan La Barbera, saxophonist Jonathan Degen, drummer Alex Brander, and keyboardist Casey Gruttadauria. Their ninth album, Strictly Covered, arrived in 2019 and consisted entirely of covers, including renditions of Rancid's "Old Friend," Operation Ivy's "Freeze Up," and songs by Morphine and Sam Black Church.
Although membership rotated steadily across subsequent years, founder and frontman David McWane stayed central to the outfit that first assembled in 1995 while its initial players attended Berklee College of Music. Operating out of Allston, the collective issued its earliest recordings on its own Fork in Hand Records imprint, co-managed by McWane and bassist Steve Foote: the 1997 split with pop-punkers Drexel titled Shot by Lammi, captured on a $700 budget, along with the Live EP. Once the group aligned with Asian Man Records, the ten-piece lineup of McWane, Foote, trombonist Gabe Feenberg, trumpeter Dan Stoppelman, guitarist Sean P. Rogan, trombonist Marc Flynn, tenor saxophonist Chris Bush, guitarist Jon Lammi, drummer Max MacVeety, and tenor saxophonist Chris Sallen had already delivered Good Luck in 1999. Recognized for its especially raucous concerts, Big D received the Outstanding Ska Band honor at the 1999 Boston Music Awards prior to Mike Park and Asian Man reissuing that debut. Returning in 2002 with the Gipsy Hill EP, the band maintained its famously demanding itinerary, averaging roughly 200 dates annually, while a split EP alongside Japanese noise rock act Melt Banana surfaced in 2003.
Sustained by that same independent drive, the ensemble's modest yet steadfast following expanded through nonstop grassroots touring and outreach despite minimal label backing or resources. Big D joined a portion of the summer's Warped Tour and appeared at Vegas' Ska Summit. In 2004 the group traversed North America on the Ska Is Dead and You're Next tour alongside Catch 22, Mustard Plug, and the Planet Smashers, issuing its Springman debut How It Goes that same year. Persistent road work continued with shared bills featuring the Suicide Machines, Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, RX Bandits, and others. By then the roster had contracted to seven members: McWane, Foote, Stoppelman, Rogan, Bush, drummer Jon Reilly, and trombonist Paul E. Cuttler. The limited-edition Salem Girls EP arrived in time for Halloween 2005, after which Big D reentered the studio late in 2006 to prepare its next full-length and first SideOneDummy release, produced by Mighty Mighty Bosstones bassist Joe Gittleman. With saxophonist Ryan O'Connor replacing Bush, the more relaxed Strictly Rude emerged in March 2007, preceded that February by the Bad News Records split Beijing to Boston with China's Brain Failure. Teaming with Gittleman once more, the band completed its fifth studio album, Fluent in Stroll, in 2009 and then embarked on a headlining tour. Following a hiatus from the road, Big D issued For the Damned, The Dumb & the Delirious in 2011; touring in support paused when McWane received a cancer diagnosis and resumed in 2012 once the vocalist entered remission.
Two further projects appeared in 2013: the ska-punk album Stomp and the reggae/dub-oriented Stroll. The following year brought the live EP Good Luck, a six-song recording made at Boston radio station WBCN's studios. Between releases, fresh personnel arrived in guitarist Alex Stern, bassist Ben Basile, trombonist Logan La Barbera, saxophonist Jonathan Degen, drummer Alex Brander, and keyboardist Casey Gruttadauria. Their ninth album, Strictly Covered, arrived in 2019 and consisted entirely of covers, including renditions of Rancid's "Old Friend," Operation Ivy's "Freeze Up," and songs by Morphine and Sam Black Church.
Albums
