Tony Butler leaves Big Country

[gafbass02]

Not a fan but I know some are, he posted a statement on his Facebook last night. I've not got a link in afraid though.

[Lfalex v1.1]

Nooooo!

[Kiwi]

Why now?!!!!

[BigRedX]

How can Big Country even contemplate existing without Stuart Adamson?

[ezbass]

From what I gather he was always rather reluctant about the reunion.

[tonyf]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348310869' post='1812140']
How can Big Country even contemplate existing without Stuart Adamson?
[/quote]

+1

[nottswarwick]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348310869' post='1812140']
How can Big Country even contemplate existing without Stuart Adamson?
[/quote]

Totally. Great great band.....so sad

[Chris2112]

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1348311901' post='1812160']
From what I gather he was always rather reluctant about the reunion.
[/quote]

Well, he had always said he was only willing to do a reunion if it felt right. But I guess this is the end. It was never the same without Adam, and I didn't think the new singer was great but the band overall were really good when I saw them live in Newcastle earlier this year. I guess he has his reasons for leaving though, and if it doesn't feel right or he's not enjoying it then fair play to him.

Still can't find anything about this on the net though.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Chris2112

[Chris2112]

[url="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Country/117922511589604?ref=ts"]http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Country/117922511589604?ref=ts[/url]

Found it.

I think he is really done this time, given how wary he was of doing a reunion at all. I did feel at the time of the reunion tour that he was enjoying himself and reeling re-energised after a few years of not really being able to reconcile with the whole idea of Big Country following Stuart's death. He has gave it a go, it doesn't appear to have worked. Hopefully he will continue to make music as he is superb bassist and one of my favourite players.

[YouMa]

I watched them a couple of months ago on tv and it is really not the same without stuart. I hate to say it but bruce watson was terrible made loads of mistakes,it looked like he was drunk,i hate to say it but he looked a red faced mess,very sad.

[jezzaboy]

I think that there is more to him leaving than him not being happy about the reunion. It may have something to do with the manager leaving as well.......

[url="http://www.stuart-adamson.co.uk/tony-butler-quits-big-country/09/2012/"]http://www.stuart-adamson.co.uk/tony-butler-quits-big-country/09/2012/[/url]

[Chris2112]

Bruce has made a reply on the website. I would copy and paste it here for posterity but it seems it's disabled on that site, and Bruce reckons the post will be deleted as the manager he is complaining about runs the sites and hasn't given them the passwords to it.

I still think that a lot of Tony's reasons for leaving seem to be his unhappiness with what the band are doing now. He seemed quite enthusiastic to be back touring as 'Big Country' again, having long said he would only get back together if it felt right, citing some corporate shows they had done that just felt like going through the motions. But maybe he get the sense during the tour that it wasn't 100%. Maybe he felt that they weren't in the right place to start writing new material, or maybe the new material just wasn't sounding great. I suspect the manager issues could have played a part in this, but Tony's love for Big Country was always apparent and I feel he would soldiered on if he really felt he was doing the right thing.

As I have said though, he has more than earned the right to take some time to himself. The first two Big Country albums I would say are some of the best prog rock albums ever. He's given us more than enough.

[Kiwi]

I hope Bruce has a good lawyer, with comments like that.