July 1, 2010

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Happy Canada Day from everyone at Big Sugar headquarters. Get ready to hear the guys perform our great Canadian national anthem with pride!

Recently, in an interview about performing the national anthem, Gordie Johnson had this to say: ( care of The Metro News )

“I’ve never been a fan of someone who tries to make a national anthem into a soul song or make it funky,” said Johnson ...

June 11, 2010

BIG SUGAR in Brampton - The Brampton News

Gordie Johnson Reunites Big Sugar

Its official, Big Sugar fans will be hearing their hits "Diggin A Hole," "If I Had My Way" and "Turn The Lights On" live again. Gordie Johnson, Kelly Hoppe, Garry Lowe, and DJ Friendlyness are making sweet sounds; the first since the final Hit and Run tour of 2003. After rocking the mountain at the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C. last month they just had to keep those rock/reggae vibes going and are headed to Belleville, Ontario for Big Music Fest June 19th. Other upcoming shows include Brampton, Grande Prairie, Buffalo, and Fredericton.

Johnson and the band thought since the Whistler show was part of a bigger event it would be under the radar for Big Sugar and a great way to bring the brethren together again to check out the vibes. However, with a second show confirmed and more offers coming in for the summer, fans have been spreading the word fast!

At the end of 2003, after 13 years and 6 hit albums that included numerous top ten radio hits as well as live classics Canadian reggae rock sensations Big Sugar called it quits. Singer/Guitarist Johnson moved on to form the cowboy metal band GRADY. While Big Sugar blended rock and reggae, the GRADY trio with "Big" Ben Richardson on bass and drummer Nina "the Queena" Singh sound like Motorhead joined Z.Z. Top.

Johnson and Hoppe (harmonica, keyboards, sax, vocals) have played NYE shows the past two years performing Big Sugar material with The Trews as their backing band. This band set up will be repeated and added to at Fredriction Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival in September with an all star full stage set!

June 6, 2010

Big Sugar Blog

Gordie J is having some fun! He is ready to join his good friends in Wide Mouth Mason as they start their tour with ZZ Top tomorrow, June 5 in Vancouver, BC. But it's with a twist! GJ is back on his first instrument: the bass. It's a once-in-a-lifetime, 2 week tour from BC to Ontario if you can make it out- check out the ZZ Top website for details.

With no rest for the wicked, Gordie heads out the day after tour for Big Sugar's second concert of 2010! Anyone who can make it early to the Belleville Big Music Fest will be sure to have a great time as Big Sugar joins ZZ Top, Collective Soul, Finger Eleven and many other bands. We would like to thank Sean Dalton from The Trews for once again giving the beats. It was so much fun in Whistler we had to bring him back! All of you going to the July & August shows will get to see Grady's very own Nina Singh rocking the drum set. And speaking of summer, we have two more shows to announce!

July 31 Big Sugar will be in Port Colborne, ON for the Canal Days Marine Heritage Festival and August 14 Chatham, ON for Rock Stock @ Tecumseh Park . (How 'bout we consider that one Mr. Chill's backyard party!)

Thank you for all the support. It's great to be back with 'family' onstage and friends out front. Can't wait to see you in front of the stage!

May 31, 2010

The Big Sugar Cyber Team

Mailing List Revival! We have re-vamped the Mailing List ( link on the right side of the pages ) so that we can start sending you news, tour information and special insider info on what’s happening with Big Sugar. All you need to do is sign-up! E-Newsletters will be sent out a maximum of twice a month – unless there is something we REALLY need to tell you. Joining is easy. Just click on “Mailing List” and a new page will pop up to enter your email.

We can’t wait to start sending you the news!

May 21, 2010

Big Sugar Blog

After a great mountainside set in Whistler, thanks to all of your support the Big Sugar vibes will continue spreading! Keep on bugging those radio stations and loading your stereos with all things Big Sugar!

Summertime shows include: June 19, 2010 - Belleville, ON, Big Music Fest, July 1, 2010- Brampton, ON, City of Brampton Canada Day Celebration, July 17, 2010- Grande Prairie, AB, Summer Slam, August 20, 2010- Tonawanda, NY, Molson, Canal Concert Series, September 4, 2010- Beaumont, AB, "Two Fools on Stools" (duo acoustic show with GJ & Kelly), September 17, 2010 - Fredericton Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival (Big Sugar super set with The Trews

Let's light it up!

May 17, 2010

Gordie Johnson Reunites Big Sugar

Tour Dates Announced

It's official, Big Sugar fans will be hearing their hits “Diggin A Hole,” “If I Had My Way” and “Turn The Lights On” live again. Gordie Johnson, Kelly Hoppe, Garry Lowe, and DJ Friendlyness are making sweet sounds; the first since the final Hit and Run tour of 2003. After rocking the mountain at the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C. last month they just had to keep those rock/reggae vibes going and are headed to Belleville, Ontario for Big Music Fest June 19th. Other upcoming shows include Brampton, Grande Prairie, Buffalo, and Fredericton.

Johnson and the band thought since the Whistler show was part of a bigger event it would be under the radar for Big Sugar and a great way to bring the brethren together again to check out the vibes. However, with a second show confirmed and more offers coming in for the summer, fans have been spreading the word fast!

At the end of 2003, after 13 years and 6 hit albums that included numerous top ten radio hits as well as live classics Canadian reggae rock sensations Big Sugar called it quits. Singer/Guitarist Johnson moved on to form the cowboy metal band GRADY. While Big Sugar blended rock and reggae, the GRADY trio with “Big” Ben Richardson on bass and drummer Nina “the Queena” Singh sound like Motorhead joined Z.Z. Top.

Johnson and Hoppe (harmonica, keyboards, sax, vocals) have played NYE shows the past two years performing Big Sugar material with The Trews as their backing band. This band set up will be repeated and added to at Fredriction Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival in September with an all star full stage set!

BIG SUGAR DATES:
June 19, 2010 - Bellville, ON, Big Music Fest
July 1, 2010- Brampton, ON, City of Brampton Canada Day Celebration
July 17, 2010- Grande Prairie, AB, Summer Slam
August 20, 2010- Tonawanda, NY, Molson, Canal Concert Series
September 4, 2010- Beaumont, AB, "Two Fools on Stools" (duo acoustic show with GJ & Kelly)
September 17, 2010- Fredericton Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival (Big Sugar super set with The Trews)

April 1, 2010

Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready?

Big Sugar is back!

As March draws to a close there has been some magical musical goodness back in the air deep in the warren of a Toronto rehearsal studio. Gordie Johnson, Kelly Hoppe, Garry Lowe, Eric Paul and DJ Friendlyness are making sweet sounds; the first since the final Hit and Run tour of 2003. The mountain will be rocking April 23rd at the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, BC. For a double dose of GJ catch the Grady show that same night!

For those of you not able to be on the West Coast, June 19th sees Big Sugar in Belleville, Ontario for the Big Music Fest. So request those Big Sugar songs, tell your friends and let’s see if we can’t keep the party going all summer long!

March 29, 2010

Watch Gordie & Kelly performing the national anthems for the Toronto Maple Leafs/ Boston Bruins game this Saturday April 3, 2010. Broadcast live on CBC.

RIP Eric. All our love to Jerry, Renata and all those touched by this comic genius.

February 11, 2010

If you're able to be in the lovely state of Texas please join Gordie for a solo guest performance Monday March 1st at the legendary Antones in Austin. Gordie is happy to be one of the many talented musicians playing a benefit concert for a great guy Chris Ware. Our thoughts are with Chris in this time of recovery.

It's getting close to that time of year again for one of Gordie's favorite events: the East Coast Music Awards. He will be starting his Maritimes travels with an intimate acoustic show at The Carleton in Halifax followed by the trek to Sydney for the ECMA conference and awards. A big shout out to Joel Plaskett, Tim Chaisson and Chris Kirby, artists Gordie mixed and produced for, all of whom have numerous nominations! While in Cape Breton Gordie will have a Saturday afternoon guitar clinic at Musicstop in Sydney. For those of you who've been to one you know each is different and the audience participation determines where it goes. Check it out. The busy week culminates in Gordie performing the closing number at the gala Sunday night. It's a big surprise! A departure from the norm along with a couple other surprise artists. If you're not able to be there in person you can watch the entire gala on the internet this year.

Spring will bring Gordie back to the Air Canada Centre April 3rd to perform the national anthems for the Toronto Maple Leafs/ Boston Bruins hockey game. Then get ready for a full on national Grady tour coming to a town near you!

January 26, 2010

Bringing in the New Year the right way! A big thank you to all you great fans who came to the New Year’s Eve show in Saskatoon. For those who braved the frigid temperatures we hope you got you “heated” and had a great evening. It sure was fun, in fact so much fun we might have to do some more!

Keep tuned . . . .

December 2009

The stage is set again for that magical combination December 31, 2009 in Saskatoon, SK to hear Gordie Johnson and Kelly “Mr. Chill” Hoppe performing as Big Sugar with The Trews.

Get your tickets at TICKETMASTER!

Coming out of the richly multi-cultural environment of Toronto rock/reggae/blues band Big Sugar was the project of singer/guitarist Gordie Johnson who teamed with bassist Terry Wilkins and drummer Al Cross to record the group's 1992 self-titled debut LP. 1993's Five Hundred Pounds had a number of guest musicians including multi-instrumentalist Kelly Hoppe, who along with new bassist Garry Lowe, became permanent members by the 1995 EP Dear Mr. Fantasy. Drummer Walter "Crash" Morgan replaced Cross during Big Sugar's subsequent tour of the U.S.; sadly, while playing a date in Iowa, Morgan died onstage, and was replaced by ex-Odds drummer Paul Brennan in time for the 1996 release of Hemi-Vision. 1998 saw the release of platinum selling Heated. The band remained busy in the 2000s, with albums like Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready? which was the first album to be released simultaneously in both English and French. With the release of Alkaline Big Sugar in Dub rhythm guitarist Mojah was added as a fifth and permanent band member. Eric “Speedstick” Paul filled the drum stool until the 2003 triumphant farewell tour supporting the greatest hits package Hit & Run that included remixed studio tracks (“Hit”) and a limited edition live cd (“Run”). After disbanding New Year’s Eve 2003 continued demand resulted in a return to Edmonton, AB December 31, 2008 for a special session of Big Sugar with longtime tour mates The Trews.

December 2008
YES, it's trew! One night only. December 31, 2008 Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton, Alberta presented by 100.3 The Bear:

Big Sugar. A very special presentation. Gordie J. and Mr. Chill backed by The Trews. An entire night of Big Sugar favorites.

This past February at the ECMAs Gordie sat in with The Trews and blazed through half a dozen Big Sugar songs bringing the house down. When The Bear radio station in Edmonton approached Gordie about a New Year's show The Trews seemed like the perfect fit. Insiders who were present at the Toronto rehearsals for the upcoming show say they were "blown away". This will definately be a "super sized Big Sugar" as Gordie and The Trews have shared an intimate musical relationship. Since he produced their first record in 2002 they have remained great creative collaborators and friends.

The show, being in Edmonton, is a sort of homecoming. The final Big Sugar show took place at the same venue New Year's Eve 2003. This will also be a great onstage reunion for Gordie and Mr. Chill who have only performed Big Sugar material acoustically (and not often enough!) in the last 5 years.

If you are a fan, do not miss this. Support The Bear's Childrens Fund and visit thebearrocks.com for ticket information.

June 1, 2005
Greetings from the Big Sugar camp with many thanks for your continued
interest and support. We are at a very exciting time for all of the Big
Sugar family.

Gordie "Grady" Johnson with his new band GRADY had a Canadian record release
May 17, 2005 through Warner Music. GRADY consists of Big Ben Richardson on
bass and Chris "Whipper" Layton on drums. They will be travelling across
Canada on tour for the rest of 2005, kicking it off in Toronto at the Mod
Club June 15th. There will be continued dates in the U.S. as well.

Garry Lowe, Mojah and Eric "Speedstick" Paul have joined with Friendlyman
and Bernie Pitters to resurrect the reggae band "Truths & Rights". It is the
real deal. If you enjoyed the rhythms and vibes in Big Sugar, check out this
collection of the finest reggae musicians outside of Jamaica. They have
completed their new album and have a release date of June 4th.

Kelly "Mr. Chill" Hoppe has continued with fine harp playing and has added
some guitar along the way with his bandmates in Train 45. This bluegrass
band started as a project that he participated in while Big Sugar was off
the road. It is now a fulltime committment with Mr. Chill being joined by
his Windsor bandmates in recording a new cd. The tracks are done and it is
to be mixed by Gordie J. in July at Willie Nelson's studio in Texas so watch
for it in the near future.

As is evidenced by the continued and indeed, increased, output of music from
this outstanding collection of musicians, Big Sugar was and continues to be
a product of individuals who came together in an unlikely group simply based
on love for music. They all look forward to seeing all of you in the months
ahead as they tour with their new bands. You can find all of the tour dates
through the band links listed on the fan page of this website.

See you down the road.....

June 1, 2004
GORDIE'S GUITAR RECOVERED
Thanks to some help from our friends at CFTO TV and a gracious fan, Gordie's ES-335 has been recovered. Check out CFTO news tonight at 6:00 PM or 11:00 PM (EST) for details. It's really quite an amazing story!

April 5, 2004
STOLEN GUITAR
On Tuesday March 30th, Gordie's 1969 Gibson ES-335 was taken from The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto during a Mr. Chill show. This is the same guitar played by Gordie in the "Ride Like Hell" video. If anyone has any information on the guitar or it's whereabouts please drop us an email.

February 9, 2004
LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY
On Wednesday February 11, 2004 Gordie will accompany Default's Dallas Smith and Jeremy Hora on Last Call with Carson Daly. GJ will be playing pedal steel on a special acoustic version of Default's Jeff Buckley cover "Cruel". Click here for more info!

January 13, 2004
SILVER CUP
Big Sugar's recording of TSN's NHL Hockey theme song Silver Cup, will air on Thursday January 15, 2003 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) on TSN. For more details click here.

December 23, 2003
NEW YEARS EVE
Big Sugar's last show, on New Year's Eve in Edmonton, will be broadcast live on The Bear FM and streamed online at their website. To hear this farewell show on New Year's Eve click here.

December 23, 2003
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
The band would like to thank you all for your words of support and encouragement over this, our last year. Here's wishing you all a happy holidays and all the best in the new year. We hope to see you all, no matter what configurations we may take, out there on the road soon.

November 27, 2003
Catch Big Sugar performing live on the Mike Bullard show December 10th.

November 17, 2003
More Hit & Run Dates Announced

More 'Hit & Run' dates have been added to the Live page.

October 22, 2003
Download Exclusive Tracks!

The recently launched music download service, Puretracks.com has 2 exclusive Big Sugar tracks available for download. The tracks are 'All Night 'Till Daylight' and the second is 'Leave My Guitar Alone'. These tracks can be downloaded at Puretracks.com for $.99. For more info, please click here.

October 8, 2003
The Chat Is Back!

We apologise for the long delay, but the message board is back and better than before. If you are a registered member you should be ready to go. If you're new...then register now and join the fun.
The link to the board is right here in the "fans" section.

September 24, 2003
Dear Big Sugar fan,

It has come to our attention that there is a mastering defect on Disc One (aka the "HIT" disc) of Big Sugar's new release HIT and RUN-The Best Of Big Sugar (Catalogue number 0249860929). This problem also affects the disc in the non-limited edition (i.e. the version without the live recording on Disc Two aka the "RUN" disc) in some cases (Catalogue number 0249860643).

To identify if you have a defective disc, play Track 14 (I Want You Now). At the 10 second mark in the song, there should be only guitar, bass and drums. If there is an odd noise that sounds somewhat like a string section at the 10 second mark, the disc is defective.

In order to ensure that you receive a disc that is not defective and so that we can rectify the situation in an expedient manner, we are asking anyone who has purchased this package to return Disc One (aka the "HIT" disc) ONLY (NOT THE CASE, PACKAGING OR DISC TWO) with your name and mailing address directly to Universal at the address below and we will mail you a replacement disc. After you have mailed the disc, please allow 3 weeks for the replacement disc to arrive. Though we are striving to replace existing stock as quickly as possible, we ask that you do not return the package to the retailer you bought it from as we cannot guarantee that the replacement you receive will not be defective as well.

As an alternative solution, a non-defective, high-quality MP3 version of "I Want You Now" can be obtained by downloading, unzipping/unstuffing and running the following application. In order to receive the download you must own a copy of HIT and RUN and have it in your CDROM drive. The application will verify that the CD is in your drive and then offer you a zipped or stuffed file as a download. This file will contain replacement MP3.

Mac OS X | PC
[updated 09/29/2003]

Please note that this application has been built and tested on Mac OS X and Windows 98/2000/XP. We can not guarantee that it will work on all computers and configurations. It is provided without any warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, as an alternative to sending your defective disc back to Universal Music. Universal Music will not be liable for any actual or consequential damages from the use of or inability to use this application.

Any problems downloading or using this application should be directed to: canada.webmaster@umusic.ca

Please return the defective "HIT" disc to the following address. Don't forget to include your name and mailing address when you send the disc back to us)

Customer Service Department
UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA
2450 Victoria Park Ave.
Toronto, ON
M2J 4A2
Attn: April GuardSeptember 2, 2003
HIT & RUN TOUR
Big Sugar will celebrate the Best Of album with the Hit and Run Tour starting in September. This is a must see tour for Big Sugar fans and for those who have only heard about their legendary live show.

This will be the last chance for fans to see Big Sugar as a 5-piece band. After 11 years, 6 albums (3 gold, 2 Platinum), Canadian album sales in excess of 400,000, over 1,500 shows performed and numerous top 10 singles Gordie Johnson is about to turn the corner and embark down a new road in 2004.

August 5, 2003
I WANT YOU NOW
The first single from Hit & Run is at radio across Canada now. Call up your favourite rock station today to hear ‘I Want You Now’!

July 17, 2003
HIT & RUN
On September 2, Big Sugar fans can get a decade of the band's best on their greatest hits CD HIT & RUN as well three new tracks including the new single, 'I Want You Now'. And for more fan-friendly news, the Greatest Hits package will include a 55 minute live album as a bonus disc. This 2 CD version will be strictly limited edition. Keep watching this page for the latest news.

THE GIBSON SGJ
Gordie Johnson and the makers of his favourite guitars have teamed up to produce the Gordie Johnson Signature Model, otherwise known as the SGJ. For more info, specs, and purchasing information click here .