BigWater: It’s a Family Affair

September 17, 2009 Issue

BigWater, a/k/a the Boggy Bayou Band, consists of Jim and Jill Lancaster and their son Clayton along with two members of the Playground rhythm section, Warren Meigs on drums and Ed Kollis on harmonica. The band has a swampy, funky style and plays music you aren’t likely to hear anywhere else—songs by Dan Penn, Eddie Hinton, John Hurley, Ry Cooder.

Jim, who owns the Playground Recording Studio in Valparaiso and plays a mean bass guitar, says the band is never “over-rehearsed” and you never know what they’re going to play on any given night. Special guests usually stop by, artists who have recently recorded at the studio (e.g. Beachcomber favorite Amy Hart) or local favorites. The band has also uncovered some gems from the Playground archives—soul and funk songs by Reuben Howell, Jimmy Gresham and the original Playground rhythm section.

There are original songs, too, like Clayton’s “Boggy Bayou Blues,” described as “an anthem for the serenity of the bayou that surrounds our twin cities.” Clayton also throws in some Americana/alt-country songs. Dan Penn’s biker theme song “Tiney Hineys and Hogs” is a regular part of BigWater’s sets, and there are classics made famous by Bob Dylan, Aretha, Lucinda Williams and Niceville songwriter Larry Shell.

Kollis was a member of Chips Moman's American rhythm section in Memphis and is a member of the Musicians Hall of Fame. He appeared on over 100 chart records in a five-year span—hits by the Box Tops, Dionne Warwick, Neil Diamond and the immortal From Elvis in Memphis album. He has toured with Joe Tex, J.J. Cale, Leonard Cohen and countless others. He is also credited with production on Dusty Springfield’s classic album Dusty in Memphis.

Jim and Jill are the current owners of Playground Recording Studio in Valparaiso. In the last two years, Playground has issued or leased about 10 CDs worth of treasures from the studio’s archives. Local and regional acts like the WaCo Ramblers, Wilbur Walton Jr. and LaRue McKinney have recorded there recently. Between 1969 and 1974, such performers as Big John Hamilton, Mary Gresham, Doris Allen and Jimmy “Orion” Ellis laid down tracks at Playground.

Jim and Jill began their career in 1970 at Memphis’ Hi Records, where Al Green recorded classics like Let’s Stay Together and Call Me. Jill sang the theme song for the Maysles’ documentary film The Running Fence, and Jim co-produced the soundtrack with longtime associate Jim Dickinson. Jim's production credits include the Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me, Toots Hibbert's Toots in Memphis, and Alex Chilton's Like Flies on Sherbet.

The Lancasters have also performed with Waylon Jennings, David Allan Coe, MudBoy and the Neutrons, Leon Russell, Dan Penn, Toy Caldwell, J.J. Cale, Mickey Newbury, Ry Cooder, The North Mississippi Allstars, and many others.

“Every song we do is tied to our past in some way or other,” says Jim. When we stop by Bayou Blues in Niceville, there are at least three Al Green classics from the Hi Records period—“Let’s Stay Together,” “Take Me to the River” and “Love and Happiness.” There’s nothing else quite as familiar in the repertoire, but even obscurities like Earl King’s “Trick Bag” and the one Clayton sings about wishing he were a hippie have an eerie familiarity.

Singer-guitarist Clayton has been performing with his folks for 10 years. “It works fine,” he says. “I get to have more of an ego than I would if my parents weren’t in the band. But sometimes, it’s the opposite—the normal family spats plus the band stuff that happens. But it’s rare. I’ve done things with guys my age, but I grew up in a musician household. My mom and dad have always introduced me to this cool music. They were teachers, but not in the sense that they would tell me where to put my fingers on the guitar.”

And how did this quintet of world-class musicians end up in our part of the world? I was so lost in the fine, fine music I forgot to ask. I’m just glad they’re here, and you will be, too, once you’ve heard them. BigWater is playing at Woody’s Hog Heaven in Niceville Sept. 18 and 25 and hopefully many more venues in the coming months.

Next Beachcomber: Up Close and Personal with Destin Seafood Festival Headliner Joan Jett.

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