The Great Divide – The Big Country Podcast

This is a special PSA from The Great Divide, alerting our listeners to the petition designed to convince Universal Music to release the fabled Robin Millar mix of The Seer, which has recently been discovered to still be in Universal's hands. To convince them to release it, we ALL must act.

Tom and Svein being their Top Ten countdown of their favorite Big Country videos of all time.

In part 2 of our exclusive interview with Mark Brzezicki, Mark discusses a wide variety of topics, from the DTD era to his use of an ash tray on the recording of "Steeltown" to fighting with Bruce to get the drums back in the mix on "The Journey." Great stuff from the world's greatest drummer.

Big Country's notorious non-participant in social media, Mark Brzezicki, joins Tom and Svein for the first part of an in-depth, career-spanning interview. Mark is open and forthright in his comments on and remembrances of Big Country's illustrious and sometimes checkered past. In this episode, he discusses the split with Mike Peters, who Simon Hough is fitting in as the new vocalist, his views on Simon Phillips' performance on "The Buffalo Skinners," the first time Big Country every played together, a little known recounting of how Stuart officially split the band up in 1989, and more.

Tom and Svein return from hibernation with another exclusive interview with Bruce Watson. Actually, this is more like a rapid fire fan interview, as Bruce is asked many questions sent in from our listeners covering a wide range of Big Country topics. Who is Simon Hough? Is he an official member of the band? What's up with the Steeltown reissue and tour? What was it like playing with Pat Ahern? Why were the REL songs rejected? Is there a chance we will see the Robin Millar mix of The Seer? Will there be a new album and when? These and many other questions are answered! Enjoy, and good to be back!

Tom and Svein interview Bruce, Derek and Jamie about the parting of ways with Mike Peters and what's to come for Big Country in 2014. This is also the second annual "Yuletide" episode, and much holiday frivolity ensues.

Tom and Svein conclude their three-part discussion of Big Country's "Why the Long Face" album.

Tom and Svein continue their three-part discussion of the Why the Long Face album, released in 1995.

Tom and Svein begin their three-part discussion of the Why the Long Face album, released in 1995.

Tom and Svein discuss the recent Live at the BBC Box Set.

Tom and Svein continue their discussion of the artwork of Big Country's major studio releases, picking up with The Seer and continuing through The Journey. A fan SpeakPipe submission is played and details for a new contest are revealed.

This episode is a real coup for the show, in that, thanks to the help of our listeners, we've managed to track down the man responsibe for the iconic artwork on the first three Big Country albums. His name is Julian Balme, and he was kind enough to give us an insightful interview on what it was like creating the sleeves for Big Country classics The Crossing, Steeltown and The Seer. After the interview, Tom and Svein begin what will be a two-part discussion of their favorite - and least favorite - Big Country album covers. The discussion covers the nine studio albums, from The Crossing through The Journey.

Episode 23 of The Great Divide features an exclusive 30-minute interview with the legendary Mike Peters. Mike talks about Big Country's just-completed North American tour, plans to rerelease Steeltown in 2014, his thoughts on becoming the lead singer for Big Country, fans who don't accept the new lineup and more.

In this episode, Tom and Svein continue their discussion of the band's tour of America, their first since 1993. More of your SpeakPipe reviews are played, a couple songs from the Leesburg performance and snippets from a recent Mike Peters interview on conducted by Martin Hanlin of the Silencers.

In this episode, Tom and Svein discuss the band's tour of America, their first since 1993. They also discuss Tom's experience opening for the band in Leesburg, Va., and joining them onstage. More of your SpeakPipe reviews are played, and the show concludes with an exclusive 20-minute interview with Bruce and Jamie Watson conducted by Tom during the band's stay in Leesburg.