Big Big Train

Big Big Train
L-R: Andy Poole, Danny Manners, David Longdon, Rikard Sjöblom, Nick D'Virgilio, Dave Gregory, Rachel Hall and Greg Spawton Photographer: Kain Dear, Glassart Photography
Background information
Origin	Bournemouth, Dorset, England
Genres	Progressive rock, post-rock, new prog
Years active	1990 – present
Labels	English Electric, Giant Electric Pea
Associated acts	Spock's Beard, Marillion, XTC, Frost*, Francis Dunnery, Beardfish
Website	bigbigtrain.com
Members	Andy Poole Greg Spawton Nick D'Virgilio David Longdon Dave Gregory Danny Manners Rachel Hall Rikard Sjöblom
Past members	Martin Read Steve Hughes Ian Cooper Tony Müller Pete Hibbit Phil Hogg Sean Filkins

Big Big Train is an English progressive rock band, founded in 1990. Originally formed in Bournemouth, England, the current line-up consists of band members: Nick D'Virgilio, Dave Gregory, Rachel Hall, David Longdon, Danny Manners, Andy Poole, Rikard Sjöblom and Gregory Spawton. Having released eight studio albums and three EPs, they were an independent band for most of their career (although they were signed to the Giant Electric Pea record label from 1993 to 1998), distributing releases through their own website. Up to 2009, Big Big Train worked mostly as a studio project band headed by Spawton and Poole with changing line-ups and guest musicians. Since their sixth album The Underfall Yard, which received critical acclaim from the progressive rock community, a more stable lineup has been established, and the band performed their first live concerts in seventeen years at Kings Place, London, in August 2015. The gigs were voted Event Of The Year by the readers of Prog magazine. Stone & Steel, a Blu-ray featuring the 2014 rehearsals at Real World Studios and four of the songs performed at Kings Place, was released on 21 March 2016. Big Big Train were the winners of the Breakthrough Award at the Progressive Music Awards held at Kew Gardens, London on 3 September 2013, and have been nominated in several other categories in recent years. The band's latest studio album, Folklore, was released in May 2016.

The roots of Big Big Train go back to 1981 in Birmingham, England, when Greg's brother Nigel Spawton joined with Ed Serafinas, Pete McDonald, Steve Lugg and Tim McCarty in the punk outfit known as Big Big Train. Later in the 80's Andy Poole formed a songwriting partnership in Bournemouth, England, with his childhood friend, Ian Cooper. At around the same time, Greg Spawton had also formed his first band, Equus. Equus played a few local gigs around the Birmingham area before splitting up when Spawton went to university in 1984. Meanwhile, Poole and Cooper's band, Archshine, recorded a few demos and occasionally emerged from their home studio to play some gigs.

In 1987, Spawton moved down to Bournemouth. Shortly afterwards, he met Poole and they discovered that they shared a mutual appreciation of Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and other progressive bands. In particular, they were both fans of a then relatively obscure band called IQ. Indeed, Poole had spent some time as a roadie for The Lens and IQ.