The four members of the Lander, Wyoming based band, Big Bob in the Sky, sat down with Wyoming Sounds to talk about their upcoming debut album, and the stories behind the musicians that led them to this moment.
By Daisy Innes
Based in Lander, Wyoming, Big Bob in the Sky has been working together for the last couple of years, steadily carving out their debut album, which is set for release on September 25. Their self-titled record is a confident mix of indie rock/folk rock sounds, tinged with Americana style lyricism, courtesy of songwriter Rob Weimann. “It’s been a wild journey, you know, back in January when we were recording, I don’t think anyone had any conceptions of what it was going to be like,” Weimann told Wyoming Sounds ahead of the upcoming album release.
Weimann, who is the sole songwriter for Big Bob in the Sky and well-respected solo artist, explained that his start in music came at an early age: “when I was a kid, I found myself attached to the music that we’d listen to in the car, I’d go off into imagination as we were listening.” Learning to play classical guitar throughout his teens, Weimann started writing his own songs at 19, the craft really taking hold on his life in his 30s and leading him to win the Wyoming Singer-Songwriter Competition in 2018. “I guess, to be transparent, songwriting has always been king of an emotional process for me.” His lyrics are often deeply moving and bravely introspective.
With the rest of the band members humbly agreeing that Weimann and his writing are at the center of the project, their instrumental playing was intended to easily fit around the words, catapulting the tracks into an unexpected dimension. “Rob’s songs are so fully formed,” Joe Lefevre, bass and fiddle player says, “but I just started hearing things, backup vocals and accompanying bass and violin – accompaniment that supports without getting in the way.”
Sean Francis joined the band as drummer, a wealth of knowledge coming from time spent in Northwest College and then the University of Wyoming before touring with many groups, including the Wyoming favorite Patti Fiasco. When Bill Hastings joined on electric guitar after seeing them play at a community event, the group’s sound stepped up one more gear: “the ideas just started flooding in my head of what I could be playing over the top… it just took off from there,” Hastings said.
All four members of the group have rich musical backgrounds, when they came together – playing live for a couple of years before stepping into the studio – their talents and experience mixed perfectly alongside the guiding help of producer Chris Beeble. With inspirations coming from Tom Petty, Pearl Jam and The Beatles, time spent playing in funk-soul bands, or being trained in classical instrumentation, the self-titled album has been crafted with a remarkable level of musical expertise.
“We’re not really pigeonholed into one specific sound. There are different genres that we move through, sometimes even within one song,” the band says. “That is one of the cool things about the level of all our individual experiences, no matter what genre, we all have enough of a history of arrangement to say, ‘I can hear that – let’s go that way.’”
Based in Lander, the group sees their record as a production of their northern Wyoming hometown. “We have a really vast sound in this state, and the record represents the more eclectic nature of Wyoming’s music scene that gets often overlooked,” Lefevre explained. “There’s a whole wealth of genres here, Lander is interesting, it’s kind of a microcosm of that.”
“This is a Wyoming record – through and through,” Weimann confidently reflected – all four of them finding pride in their home-state – and understanding that the categorization keeps them free to head in any direction. Their self-titled record explores the emotions that come with change, resolution, reflection and listening to the stories around them: tracks delving into personal reckoning or tales of the sea and oftentimes being relayed as intimately as a personal conversation. A variety of sound across the record reflects the group’s journey up until this point – both together and alone.
“Some of these songs are very, very old. Rob’s been playing them for a decade plus. And then, Greatest One was written within the last year,” Joe says of the album’s second single, a laid-back reflective track with a John Mayer-esque groove. When pieced together, a progressive album of exploration emerges. “The songs are still evolving as we play them even more, all of a sudden there becomes this story that unfolds throughout it.”
“I hope this record gives people some good time for their morning commutes,” Weimann concluded, remembering the days he was inspired by the soundtrack of childhood road trips. “Listen to the music and make it your own.”
Big Bob in the Sky’s self-titled debut album will be released on September 25 on all major streaming platforms, celebrated with a hometown album release show at The Coalter Loft in Lander, Wyoming.
Big Bob in the Sky official website:
Listen to Greatest One here: