Big Brother and the Holding Company return to Carson City

Music legends and local favorites return to town Saturday when Big Brother and the Holding Company comes to play at the Levitt AMP Concert Series. The legendary band features two of the original members, who’ve been playing together for 60 years.

“We do all the things that we’re known for, from the album ‘Cheap Thrills’ and more,” said drummer Dave Getz. “And we do some new stuff that people aren’t as familiar with, but it sort of fits into the style that we do.”

The band is known for helping to create the psychedelic music scene in San Francisco in the 1960s and launching Janis Joplin’s career before she went solo.

The band has strong local ties to the area because of how often they played at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City when they were just starting out. Getz said they still play there every few years and the band is excited to play in Carson City because they know so many people in the area.

“We have friends there, and it’s nice for us to be up there,” he said.

ORIGINAL MEMBERS

Big Brother and the Holding company comes with two of the original members — Getz and bassist Peter Albin. Getz said the band is the real deal and not a tribute band.

“We’re the original,” he said. “Peter and I have been doing this music for almost 60 years. We play like a real band.”

The band plays their music how they want to play it, so it is not being played note for note as a tribute band would. Getz said tribute bands try to replicate the songs from the album, but Big Brother might play their songs slightly differently because the music changes over time.

“Music evolves with the way you play,” he said. “People are not going to hear a tribute band, they’re going to hear the real thing, which is a real band playing real music.”

He said many people remember their music and it may to nostalgic to them, but there’s also people who have never heard their songs and might be experiencing the music for the first time. This experience can be different for everyone, Getz said. The band gets many generations of fans enjoying their music.

“A lot of kids nowadays don’t relate to some of the modern music and are listening to classic rock, so it’s great,” he said.

THE BAND

The band features Getz and Albin, and they’ve added others to create their Big Brother sound. Darby Gould is their lead singer, and she sings all of Janis’ parts. Gould sang with Jefferson Starship after Grace Slick retired. She’s been singing with Big Brother for about 14 to 15 years.

“You have to have a great singer,” Getz said.

There are two guitarists, Tom Finch and David Aguilar.

“Both of them are really great players,” Getz said. “Both blues and rock players. Really masters of the guitar.”

They’ve added newest member Nancy Wright, who plays tenor sax. Getz said she is one of the great Bay Area blues musicians and has played with a lot of famous blues people.

“We put her on to have another sound and another voice,” he said. “She’s also a really good singer, so we have really good singers for harmonies.”

TRADITIONS

It’s been less than a year since Big Brother was last in Carson City, when they played a show inside the Brewery Art Center’s Performance Hall last September. That coincided with a psychedelic rock poster exhibit at the BAC, where early Big Brother show posters were displayed among others. The band has a rich history with posters, and they honor that tradition by creating posters for all their current shows.

“We make a lot of posters, and we sign them, and people really like them,” Getz said.

The band will have posters for Carson City and past events available at the merch table.

Another tradition Getz said makes Carson City special is playing for free. He said when the band was starting out in the 1960s, they often played for free at Golden Gate Park. It is something that isn’t as easy to make happen nowadays.

“We have a whole tradition of playing for free,” Getz said. “When you get the chance, it is really nice because a lot more people can enjoy it.”

He said they’ll be looking forward to seeing the community come out for a big, all-ages crowd.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Big Brother and the Holding Company with opening act Haley And The Comet at the Brewery Art Center’s Levitt AMP Concert Series

WHERE: 449 W. King St. at the Brewery Arts Center

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3

MORE INFO: breweryarts.org