Big Sugar

Big Sugar emerged as an eclectic, platinum-selling ensemble whose sonic palette blends blues-rock, reggae, funk, and Latin influences. The group has operated chiefly as the vehicle for founder, vocalist, guitarist, and producer Gordie Johnson ever since forming in Toronto in the late 1980s, during which span the band has issued multiple gold and platinum albums while topping charts with singles such as “Turn the Lights On,” “Diggin’ a Hole,” and “The Scene.” Although embraced early on by the jam-band circuit of the early 1990s, the outfit’s refusal to fit neatly into any single category created occasional promotional hurdles. Its roots-rock/reggae/Latin-funk approach nevertheless cultivated a devoted, enduring audience at venues throughout North America and beyond, resulting in a Road Gold Award. While the 1995 third album 500 Pounds found favor with American listeners, the band had already spent five years captivating Canadian crowds through an intense yet musically nuanced live presentation that never repeated the same set list. By their initial disbandment in 2003 they had become a consistent sell-out draw and had placed half a dozen releases on various imprints, among them the acclaimed, raucous 2001 album Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready? Upon reconvening in 2010 they issued Revolution Per Minute the next year, an effort that reflected Johnson’s continually shifting production sensibilities.

Johnson, originally from Winnipeg and raised in Windsor, Ontario, sharpened his guitar technique in hometown clubs and across the border in Detroit amid that city’s thriving blues community. Once settled in Toronto he enlisted bassist Terry Wilkins and drummer Al Cross for local performances. Long drawn to guitar rock, dub reggae, and blues alike, Johnson aimed to fuse those elements at the core of the band’s identity. The musicians rehearsed extensively and spent their early years backing jazz vocalists while also performing blues and rock dates that helped them develop a following and test stylistic limits. Their self-titled debut finally appeared on Hypnotic Records in 1992, by which point they were regularly selling out rooms across Canada as well as in Detroit and Chicago; the album achieved notable independent success thanks to the expanding U.S. college-radio network. Five Hundred Pounds, certified gold in 1993, was recorded without Wilkins, who was replaced in the lineup by Jamaican émigré Garry Lowe, a former sideman for Leroy Sibbles who had taken up bass at the encouragement of fellow Canadian transplant and Skatalites keyboardist Jackie Mittoo; numerous guest players, including multi-instrumentalist Kelly Hoppe, contributed to the sessions. Drummer Walter “Crash” Morgan took over from Cross for the ensuing U.S. tour, only to suffer a fatal heart attack onstage in Iowa; ex-Odds drummer Paul Brennan stepped in for the 1996 platinum release Hemi-Vision, which cemented the group’s acceptance among jam-band listeners and led to shared bills with Blues Traveler, Gov’t Mule, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, and Toots and the Maytals. A French-language rendition of the lead single “Open Up Baby,” titled “Ouvres-Toi Bébé,” received heavy Quebec airplay and prompted the band to record French versions of every single for the 1998 platinum album Heated; those tracks were later compiled on the 1999 EP Chauffe à Bloc. Gavin Brown replaced Brennan behind the kit, and the record outperformed its predecessor commercially while adding rhythm guitarist Mojah to the roster. The band performed at Woodstock 1999 that July. After further touring and a hiatus they resurfaced with Brothers & Sisters, Are You Ready? in 2001, simultaneously issuing a track-for-track French counterpart titled Êtes-Vous Ready? The English edition featured their popular arrangement of the national anthem “O Canada,” a frequent concert closer. The personnel continued to shift gig by gig, at times incorporating an entire horn section. In 2000 they released the dub album Extra Long Life under the moniker Alkaline and toured that year as an eight-piece ensemble with horns. Johnson increasingly balanced Big Sugar commitments with other projects and his growing production and engineering work; he moved to Austin, Texas, in 2003, prompting the band’s breakup, and Gibson honored him the same year with a limited-edition “SGJ” SG model.

Soon after relocating he launched the “cowboy metal” outfit Grady alongside drummer Chris Layton and bassist Ben Richardson, cutting three albums at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio—Y.U. So Shady in 2003, A Cup of Cold Poison in 2007, and Calling All My Demons in 2010. Johnson also filled in on bass for Wide Mouth Mason during a ZZ Top tour in 2010 and later became a permanent member. He and Big Sugar formally reunited that April at the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C., welcoming keyboardist/percussionist/rapper DJ Friendlyness. Revolution Per Minute followed in 2011, its vinyl pressing augmented by Alkaline dub remixes and extra tracks; single “Roads Ahead” became a Canadian radio success. The live audio/video package Eliminate Ya! Live! appeared in 2012. Johnson faced health setbacks that year, including carpal-tunnel surgery, yet launched the blues/dub/gospel duo Sit Down, Servant!! with drummer Stephane Beaudin, named after the Staple Singers classic; he performed vocals and played a triple-neck guitar/lap steel alongside Moog bass pedals simultaneously. The pair opened Canadian dates for George Thorogood and issued their debut I Was Just Trying to Help that year. Big Sugar returned in 2014 with Yard Style, presenting unplugged reggae interpretations of nine catalog tracks plus four new songs; frequent collaborator Willi Williams, the reggae figure renowned for writing the Clash-covered “Armagideon Time,” guested on “Messenger Man.” An acoustic theater tour spanning three months followed, often featuring ten to twelve musicians drawn from the recording sessions. Sit Down, Servant!! released its self-titled second album the same year.

The lineup shifted once more for 2015’s Calling All the Youth. Gordie’s wife Alex Johnson, a vocalist/percussionist who had handled administrative duties since the 1990s and made occasional stage and studio appearances, became a more visible participant; DJ Friendlyness departed amicably to focus on his growing production, guest, and sideman schedule as well as his own side project Human Rights. Kelly Hoppe retired in 2017, after which Austin-based conguero Rey Arteaga joined as the band moved away from horns toward a hybrid of blues, rock, reggae, and Latin grooves. Lowe passed away in 2018 following a lengthy battle with cancer. That November, Universal released an ICON-series compilation, and the following month the band staged a Toronto tribute concert marking what would have been Lowe’s birthday, joined by members of Barenaked Ladies, Bedouin Soundclash, Broken Social Scene, Danko Jones, Dream Warriors, Leroy Sibbles, Mojah, Wide Mouth Mason, and additional guests.