Late in 1991 the ska-revival outfit Easy Big Fella came together once vocalist/guitarist Rick Dybvad and bassist Steve Mandl ran an advertisement in Seattle’s music weekly The Rocket. Trombonist Colin Shroy, keyboardist Aaron Simms, drummer Rodrigo Cerqueira and trumpeter Liam Barksdale answered the call, and saxophonist Jason Nelson joined shortly afterward. The expanded lineup quickly rose to prominence on the local club scene, sharing bills with the Skatalites, the Specials, Desmond Dekker and the Toasters while issuing its debut LP, Easy Listening, in 1994. Although repeated personnel shifts ultimately left only Dybvad, Barksdale and Nelson from the original roster, the group pressed ahead. Organist Mike Birenbaum, trombonist Eric Ellsworth, bassist Dave Sommer and drummer Bret Coffin came aboard, enabling the release of the follow-up album Buttercup in 1995. Eat at Joey’s appeared two years later, and in 1999 the band resurfaced with Tasty Bits and Spicy Flicks.
