It’s not easy to describe Big Bad Gina, a threepiece Fayetteville group with nearly two years of performances and a slew of awards to its credit. Here’s how the band does it, courtesy of its website: “Fun and funky goddess folk fusion with a soulful, jazzy flair.”
Whatever the band is, the formula is working. The trio recently earned an award at the National Women’s Music Festival, which took place over the Fourth of July weekend in Madison, Wis.
Big Bad Gina has resumed performing in this area and, after a victory celebration at Teatro Scarpino on July 9, the group will present a show at 7 p.m. Sunday at George’s Majestic Lounge. Admission is $7.
Big Bad Gina began in 2009 after the members met at the local Goddess Festival, a multi-day event advocating women’s issues and equality.
Jori Costello, a songwriter, was tasked with making a compilation of music from participants. One of the submissions was from Big Bad Gina, then a duo comprised of Melodie Griffis and Renée Janski. When it came time for the bands to perform at that festival, Costello says they asked each other to sit in. It led to the creation of the band.
The group’s members took turns writing songs for their debut album, “Amazon Warrior Princess,” which helped them earn the 2010 Northwest Arkansas Music Award for Best New Band.
Big Bad Gina’s invitation to the National Women’s Music Festival came as the result of a contest sponsored by a Kansas City-area radio station. After the group submitted “Whirlwind” to the station, listeners voted itas the top song.
The band performed several times during course of the fourday festival, which celebrated its 36th year in 2011. A combination of a judge’s decision and a popular vote declared Big Band Gina as the contest winner.
“You just never know,” Costello says of the win. “There are a lot of talented performers out there.”
As a prize for winning the contest portion of the event, Big Bad Gina will be invited to perform on the festival’s main stage in 2012. Costello is also hopeful that contacts made in Wisconsin will allow the band to launch a tour of that part of the country in the near future.
The group has already ventured outside of Northwest Arkansas, but only for shortrun trips to regional marketssuch as Dallas, Little Rock and Kansas City, Mo.
Big Bad Gina performs monthly at Teatro Scarpino in addition to other gigs in Northwest Arkansas. The group is currently at work on material for a follow-up to its debut recording. That album, which is being recorded at Crisp Recording Studios, should be released later this year, Costello says.
Whats Up, Pages 11 on 07/22/2011