We’ve teamed up with BackStory Events to present an intimate conversation with Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, Pat Torpey and Matt Starr of Mr. Big! Broadcast live from The Cutting Room in NYC on Saturday, June 10 at 12:00pm EST, the event will be live streamed at YouTube.com/GuitarWorld.
We’ll discuss their upcoming album, DEFYING GRAVITY, and cover career highlights and raucous anecdotes from years of musical pursuits. Plus, the band will share a few acoustic highlights following the interview.
Mr. Big will be interviewed by author, journalist, and former Guitar World editor, Brad Tolinski.
If you're in the New York Metro area, you can also purchase tickets to be a part of the studio audience and meet these fabulous musicians. Click here for tickets.
About Mr. Big’s DEFYING GRAVITY:
The call went out. Time for a new MR. BIG album. They convened in a Los Angeles studio and in a matter of six days, the boundless result of all that musical talent is DEFYING GRAVITY, with the release of their ninth original studio album set for release July 7 and start of a new worldwide tour.
DEFYING GRAVITY deftly showcases that patented MR. BIG blend of crunch and melody, from the freight-train ride of opening cut "Open Your Eyes" to the harmony-laden wonderment of "Damn I'm in Love Again" to the grateful/wistful nostalgia of "1992" (recalling the days when the band was flying high atop the singles charts with their international #1 smash "To Be With You") to the barnburning slide-blues closer, "Be Kind." Overall, DEFYING GRAVITY is prime evidence that the only thing MR. BIG remains tethered to is their ongoing pursuit of achieving creative excellence.
Original members Eric Martin (lead vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitars), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Pat Torpey (drums) reunited with producer Kevin Elson (who was behind the boards for the band’s 1989 self-titled debut, 1991’s LEAN INTO IT and 1993’s BUMP AHEAD) for an intensive six-day recording session in Los Angeles. While Torpey was unable to perform some of the songs on DEFYING GRAVITY due to a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, Matt Starr has been filling in for him on a majority of the album. Starr also been touring with the band for the past couple of years, with Torpey able to play a couple of songs at each stop.
“It was great to get back in the studio with our original producer, Kevin Elson,” says guitarist Paul Gilbert. “Kevin recorded all of our original classic albums from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and we immediately felt that magic chemistry with him on DEFYING GRAVITY. We basically played live in the studio. Over the years, we’ve all had a chance to experiment with every recording technique possible, but it’s still always the best just to play together as a band. Most of my guitar solos were tracked live with the band. I’ve worked hard on my improvisation in the last few years, and it really paid off on this record…both melodically, and on the face-melting stuff.”
Find out more about the album at mrbigsite.com.
