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Album: Horse Of A Different Color
Biography: "Big and Rich"
History
Solo career and songwriting
Although the duo has performed together since 1998, Big Kenny and John Rich had both recorded solo albums in 1999 (Kenny's Live a Little and Rich's Underneath the Same Moon), though neither album was released until 2005. Both albums featured a song the two had written together, called "I Pray For You", which Rich released as a single in 2000. Rich also charted with a single that, to this day, has not been included on any album.
Songs that the pair co-wrote also started being recorded by other country artists. One of the first notable songs was "Amarillo Sky", which McBride & the Ride made the title track of a 2000 album. While this version was never released as a single, Jason Aldean later recorded the song for his 2005 debut album, and took his version to #4 in early 2007. Alphin and Rich also wrote "She's a Butterfly", which was cut by Martina McBride (with background vocals from the duo) in 2003 on her Martina album.
MuzikMafia
Alphin, Rich, Jon Nicholson and Cory Gierman founded the MuzikMafia in 2001, which is an informal collection of singer-songwriters, musicians, and artists who would perform together weekly in Nashville, Tennessee. Among the many members included Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy, and James Otto.
Alphin and Rich began performing songs together that they had co-written, although at the time still maintaining their solo status. However, their unique dual-melody vocalization caught the attention of other members of the mafia and some fans, who would come to the weekly concerts to see "Big and Rich" perform. They began to officially consider themselves a duo, and the "Big & Rich" moniker stuck. In 2003, they believed that they were going to pitch songs. However, the music executive wanted to audition them after his daughter saw them perform with the MuzikMafia at the Pub of Love. They struck a record deal with Warner Bros.
Horse of a Different Color
In February 2004, the duo released its first single, "Wild West Show". The song, with markedly Native American imagery and tone achieved moderate chart success, peaking at #21. They also released digital singles for "Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" and "Live This Life" in April 2004.
Their first album, Horse of a Different Color, was released in May 2004, and reached number one in both the Billboard national chart as well as the Billboard country music chart. The most successful song from the album was the second single, "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)", which reached #11 on the country charts. This song received wider exposure when ESPN featured the song in commercials for its coverage of the 2005 World Series of Poker. Big & Rich also showcased this song in a country-rap music blowout to conclude a CMT awards show.
They released two further singles from the album: a song dedicated to survivors of domestic abuse (especially Alphin's sister), "Holy Water", which reached #15, and "Big Time", which peaked at #20.
In 2004, Big & Rich shared a nationwide sell-out stadium tour with Martina McBride and Tim McGraw. Later that year, the duo embarked on the American Revolution Tour which they coheadlined with Gretchen Wilson and other members of the MuzikMafia. A live version of the band covering Madonna's "Like a Virgin" also was released on Yahoo's LaunchCast service.
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