Big & Rich Amping Their Live Show With New Album ‘Did It for the Party’

Big & Rich are amping up their live experience with their new album, Did It for the Party. Already known for their wild onstage antics and rockin' shows, the 13-track album, released Sept. 15, gives the duo (composed of John Rich and "Big" Kenny Alphin) plenty of new ammo to rock party crowds nationwide.

“We’ve now got people who’ve been to over 100 Big & Rich shows," Rich tells Taste of Country. "2017 is right at the biggest touring year we’ve ever had in our career. That’s not something I would’ve thought back in the day."

Along with the changing musical climate comes a batch of songs that include new stage rockers with equally rocking names such as "Congratulations (You're a Rockstar)," "We Came to Rawk" and "Funk in the Country."

The latter is the only song on Did It for the Party not penned by the duo, and was actually an assist from Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley.

"We wrote everything except one song, 'Funk in the Country,'" confirms Rich. "The way that song came around, Charles Kelley from Lady A emails this song. He goes, 'Hey man, check this crazy song out. It was pitched to Lady A. I don’t think we can pull it off, but this is probably a smash for Big & Rich.' I went, 'OK, it’s not every day you’re getting pitched songs by Charles Kelley ...' So I listened to that (song) about two weeks and said, 'I think he might be on to something.' That is a really interesting song so we went in and tracked it up.”

The album's lead single, "California," which recently cracked the Top 30 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, explores a summer sound lighter than the aforementioned songs. From an album perspective, the single acts as a conduit to bridge the uptempo rockers to ballads such as "Lie, Cheat or Steal," which Alphin notes is a toast "from way back" that he used to do at live shows. He finally turned the segment into a song for Did It for the Party, revealing that every track on the album doesn't need to be a hard-hitting smash to enhance the live experience.

Big & Rich released Did It for the Party on Friday (Sept. 15).

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