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| 1966: October 23 Brian Nevin born in Buffalo, New York |
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| 1981: After relocating with his family to the Denver suburb of Littleton in 1978, Brian joins Rob’s rock band "Intruder" to assist in the butchering of songs by bands such as Rush, Led Zeppelin, Billy Squire and whatever else was the flavor of the day. The band performed primarily in Rob’s bedroom but before breaking up Intruder did manage some public performances highlighted by playing Rob’s sister’s wedding reception. |
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| 1983: In the fall, Todd transfers to Columbine High School where Brian is attending and Rob graduated from in the previous spring. Brian and Todd become friends while playing together in the Columbine High School Jazz Ensemble (Todd: saxophone, Brian: drums). |
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| 1984: Todd and Brian summon Rob in Boulder, where he is attending the University of Colorado, to start a new band. Rob brings along Tom Bolke (guitarist for Intruder) and "T.J. and the Twist" is born: Todd: sax/vocal, Tom: guitar, Rob: bass, and Brian: drums. With their mix of Blues/Soul and 50’s rock covers T.J. and the Twist wins the 1984 Columbine High school "Battle of the Bands" and plays some parties for friends. |
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| 1985: T.J. and the Twist get hired to play the boys first regular bar gig at Castaways Lounge in Northglenn Colorado. Unfortunately the older/cowboy clientele that frequents Castaways don’t know what to make of the teenage rockers and the band is asked not to play the last of the three-week run they are hired for. The guys are forced to take the club owner to court in order to get paid the $250 owed to them (first encounter with the "Music Biz"). T.J. and the Twist disband and Todd heads to Ft. Collins Colorado to attend Colorado State University; Brian joins Rob at CU Boulder. |
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| 1986: Todd transfers to CU Boulder, moves in with Rob and Brian and brings up the idea of starting another band. Inspired by Jazz/Blues artist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Todd suggests calling the band Big Head Todd and the...? "Monsters" was added to finish off the name as a play on the ostentatious band names (like Intruder) that were common at the time. |
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| 1987: Gaining popularity playing parties for friends and fraternities, BHTM gets the attention of music clubs around Ft. Collins, Boulder, and Denver. JJ Mc Cabes in Boulder hires the band to play every Wednesday night. This, as well as regular gigs at Tulagi’s, Cricket on the Hill, The Ramskeller and later Herman’s Hideaway, The Boulder Theatre and Fort Ram provide an outlet for the band to develop, and assist in their rise to becoming Denver area’s top band. |
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| 1988: Todd, Rob and Brian borrow $5,000 from their parents, go into Fastback recording studios with their good friend John Burris and record their first CD "Another Mayberry". Eleven original songs written by Todd. The band's live show which covers a lot of material from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Sly Stone, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert King, Bob Dylan and many other classic blues, soul, country and rock artists; begins to personalize as Todd begins writing more songs and the band begins to find their sound. Denver's Westword magazine votes BHTM the best local rock band stating "At last a power trio worth it's weight in hype". The band buys a 1977 Dodge van dubbed "the Colonel", due to it's interesting mustard color, and hits the road. The first tour consists of gigs at At the Tracks in Chicago (where the band is joined on stage by Chris Farley for an impromptu version of Beast Of Burden), The Uptown Bar in Minneapolis and a few drunken frat parties in New Orleans. |
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1989: "Another Mayberry" is released on the bands own label "Big Records" and by years end becomes the top selling album at Boulder’s Albums on the Hill record store. Billboard magazine strongly recommends the independently released "Another Mayberry", the band again is awarded with Westword’s "Best of Denver" award, the Daily Camera calls BHTM Boulder’s best band and the Rocky Mountain News stresses, "We can’t urge you enough to see this band". Trips to the Midwest, Texas and the Bay Area, as well as all home gigs are recorded to two-track DAT tape. Thirteen new songs from these recordings become the band’s second CD, "Midnight Radio". |
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1990: Big Records signs a national distribution deal with Caroline and Encore and re-leases Midnight Radio. The Daily Californian picks Mid-night Radio as the best album of 1990, the Washington post picks Midnight Radio as one of the top ten albums of the year. The boys head to Austin for the South by Southwest music festival. The Austin American Statesman refers to the band’s performance as "Intensely Infectious" and BHTM gets it’s first show on a big stage opening for the Moody Blues at Fiddlers Green Amphitheater in Denver, Colorado. |
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| 1991: The band retires the Colonel after service of 100,000 miles and replaces it with a newer model Ford van dubbed The President (named after a favorite Chicago dining haunt El Presidenté). Constant touring helps the band establish themselves in markets across the U.S. The Chicago Tribune states; BHTM "just might be one of the best young bands anywhere.". Rolling Stone magazine features the unsigned band in the "New Faces" section of their March 7th addition. BHTM makes their first appearance at the famous Red Rocks amphitheater as part of the Blues on the Rocks festival featuring BB King, Etta James, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins and John Hammond. Albert Collins invites Todd to join him during his set and a friendship is made. |
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| 1992: With almost 30,000 copies of "Another Mayberry" and "Midnight Radio" sold strictly through live shows and consignment and a national buzz starting to brew due to great and consistent live performance, the band attracts attention from the big boys. BHTM sign a management deal with Morris Bleisener and Associates. Giant Records president Irving Azoff flies to Aspen to see the band and signs them on the spot. Legendary booking agent Frank Barcelona flies to Chicago to see the band and signs them to his Premier Talent Agency. The band enters Prince’s Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis with producer David Z to record "Sister Sweetly". Don Henley invites BHTM to perform along with Neil Young, Roger Waters, John Fogerty, and Henley himself at a benefit concert for his Walden Woods project. The band signs a merchandise deal with Winterland and is asked back for a second year of Blues on the Rocks with Pops Staples and the Staples Singers and Taj Mahal. |
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1993: Sister Sweetly is released in February and charts four top ten hit singles. "Broken Hearted Savior", "Bittersweet", "It’s Alright" and "Circle". Sister Sweetly is the eighth most played record at rock radio for the year, spends a record 85 weeks on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and goes on to sell over 1.2 million records.• "Thanks to Sister Sweetly Big Head Todd will no longer be Boulders best kept secret!" -Hard Report • "January is raining new releases and this one sounds like the very best of the lot!" -----Gavin Report "CD of the Year" -Bone Magazine • San Francisco’s KFOG listeners vote Sister Sweetly the #2 record of the year, Broken Hearted Savior as the #1 song, followed by Bittersweet at #19 and It’s Alright at #72. BHTM heads out on the HORDE tour with Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic, The Samples, ARU and Allgood. A little known Sheryl Crow opens some dates for the band and they close out the year by opening for Robert Plant on the West Coast leg of his "Fate of Nations tour". The band performs on the David Letterman show (the first of seven network television appearances), and films videos for Broken Hearted Savior, It’s Alright, and Circle. |
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1994: BHTM rents the closed down historic Boulder Theatre in which they record and self produce their next record "Strategem". Strategem is released on September 27. The first single off of Stratagem, "In the Morning", is featured on the soundtrack to the movie "Blown Away" and reaches top 10 at AAA radio. A video for the song is produced by Josh Taft and includes appearances by Jimmy Cliff and Sheryl Crow. Boulder Colorado’s KBCO listeners vote Stratagem the #3 album of the year, In The Morning as the #5 song, followed by "Wearing Only Flowers" at #15. For the second year in a row BHTM is the most played band on KBCO radio. BHTM headlines two sold out nights at Red Rocks with openers Los Lobos and newcomers The Dave Matthews Band, then heads out on another HORDE Tour with Blues Traveler and the Allman Brothers. The band gets a coveted opening spot for the Eagles’ at their San Diego show at Jack Murphy Stadium, tours the U.S. in the fall with newly signed Hootie and the Blowfish opening, and heads to England,Scotland,Amsterdam,and Germany at the end of the year. BHTM’s song "Circle"appears in the movie "Angie". The band has their first appearance on Rockline which is broadcast to over 160 stations in the U.S. and Canada, and BIG Records signs a distribution deal with WEA To distribute the band’s first two independent releases (Another Mayberry and Midnight Radio). |
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| 1995: The spring and summer consists of a co-headlining tour with The Dave Matthews Band and two sold out Red Rocks shows with support acts Freedy Johnston and Ween. The band’s music is regularly heard at Colorado Rockies baseball games thanks to shortstop and BHTM fan Walt Weiss who adopts Strategem’s "Kensington Line" as the song played before each of his at bats. "Encomium", a Led Zeppelin tribute record that includes BHTM’s version of "Tangerine", is certified Gold (500,000 copies sold). Rolling Stone magazine reports that a bear has broken into Todd’s teepee and ransacked the demos for the next record. |
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| 1996: BHTM heads to the Plant Recording Studios in Sausalito CA to record their next CD "Beautiful World". The CD is produced by Jerry Harrison and engineered by Karl Derfler and includes guest performances by Bernie Worrell and John Lee Hooker. The band adds two members to it’s lineup for this recording and the subsequent tour: Corey Mauser (an old friend from the band the Ugly Americans) on organ and piano, and Hazel Miller on backing vocals. Giant Records changes its image, its staff, and its name to Revolution. A video is shot for the first single, "Resignation Superman" , and the band changes booking agencies from Premier Talent to Monterey Peninsula Artists. The band tours with Nil Lara in support. |
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1997: "Beautiful World" is released on February 11th. Resignation Superman is added at VH1 and MTV. The single goes to top 5 at AAA, top 10 at rock, and top 40 at alternative radio and stays on the charts for over four months. "Beautiful World" opens at #54 on the Billboard charts and sells 23,600 copies the first week. The band regains its merchandising rights and starts it’s own merchandise company and mail order business at bigheadtodd.com. BHTM plays another sold out Red Rocks show and heads out for another HORDE tour with Neil Young and Primus. A short tour opening for Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers is followed by a headlining tour with Grammy nominated Abra Moore opening. BHTM’s version of the John Lee Hooker song Boom-Boom Featuring John Lee himself appears in the movie The Waterboy. Scandal ensues when the restaurant chain TGI Fridays records an identical sounding version of the song Boom-Boom to the BHTM version and uses it in a national advertising campaign after being told they could not use the BHTM version. |
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1998: The band takes a much-needed break from touring, releases a live record "Live Monsters" and Todd starts the writing process for the next record. Our annual Red Rocks gig on June 5th is moved to Mc Nichols arena due to snow. |
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| 1999: BHTM begin pre-production for the next record in Boulder with producer John Kurzweg (Creed) and engineer Karl Derfler. The band opens for Alanis Morissette and Dave Matthews at Mile High Stadium, and also appears at several festivals during the summer. |
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| 2000: Rumors are flying that some big changes might be taking place at Revolution Records. Revolution changes their name back to Giant and the band is eventually informed that their next release with Giant Records will be in conjunction with either Warner Bros. or Reprise Records. This uncertainty slows the recording process and the band waits for things to sort themselves out. The band plays a few festivals and shows but does no major tours. BHTM continue to record on their own at Todd’s home studio. |
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| 2001: Giant Records goes out of business and the band is granted their release from Warner Bros./Reprise. The band flies Karl Derfler out to Colorado to help put finishing touches on their next record "Riviera". The annual Red Rocks show sells out with Keb Mo as support and the band plays a few festival dates. BHTM changes management to Mark Bliesener Enterprises. |
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2002: March 26th BHTM’s sixth studio record "Riviera", engineered and produced by Todd and recorded in his log cabin in the Colorado Rockies, is released on the band’s own BIG Records, distributed by Warner Bros. The Riviera tour takes the band across the US in the spring, and they follow that with festival dates throughout the summer. The annual Red Rocks show include the North Mississippi Allstars as the opener. BHTM performs Halloween gig at Caesars in Lake Tahoe, NV. Todd begins writing for next record. |
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| 2003: BHTM does "An Evening With.." tour across America January through March. In the spring, BHTM enter Immersive Studios in Boulder, Colorado, to record next record. Summer includes a co-headlining tour with Hootie and the Blowfish, with Hootie opening the annual red Rocks gig. Halloween once again finds BHTM at Caesars in Lake Tahoe. BHTM begins negotiations for a new record deal, with an eye on releasing "Crimes of Passion" on February 10th of 2004. The Hazel Miller Band joins BHTM to ring in the new year at their annual gig at the Denver Fillmore on New Years Eve. |
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2004: Crimes of Passion is released February 10th. Rocky Mountain News calls it "Best yet from Monsters" and a "personal best". BHTM undertakes 34 city headlining "Evening With" US tour followed by trip to Europe. The European dates were a huge success and included dates with George Thorogood and The Oosterpoort Rhythm and Blues Festival in Holland. The London Times stated "American Rock doesn't get anymore classy than this." The summer consisted of a 30 plus city tour with the likes of Steve Miller, John Fogerty, Blues Traveler, George Thorogood, and others. Local Denver/Boulder band Rose Hill Drive was the opener at Red Rocks on August 7th. The relationship with Sanctuary is great! They released the DVD "Live at the Fillmore" which was recorded in San Francisco on the band's winter tour. Sanctuary also released a 5.1 audio mix of "Crimes of Passion."After freezing their butts off in Aspen in November in a huge blizzard that caused Interstate 70 to be closed, almost canceling the show, the band closed out a very productive year with a New Year's Eve Surprise. For the first time in 15 years, the band played a NYE concert outside of Colorado, flying to Chicago to ring in the new year at the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom. Spirits were high as they prepared another "band first" to kick off 2005, in a climate far removed from Illinois in Winter. |
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| 2005: The band and crew loaded up just the essential gear and headed down to the British Virgin Islands to embark on the First ever BHTM Cruise, with 150 fans along for the bumpy ride. One week in the sun and surf and sand was followed by an "Inaugural" visit to Washington DC. The Winter, 2005 Tour was surprisingly successful on several levels. First and foremost, the band sounded better than it ever had live. Second, we learned that we made a lot of new fans, and third, the shows were mostly well attended. The band had a very successful summer run on tour dates, that while not technically considered a "tour", did reach many cities across the USA. BHTM took to the skies on 14 of 16 consecutive seeks this summer, flying to festivals and touristy spots all over the map. We hope you were able to catch us, as we brought great weather, music, Ribs, and funnel cakes wherever we showed up! We were able to reach out to some new audiences when we performed before some other acts, and of course many Big Heads brought their loyal following to most of our show stops. As summer drew to a close, plans were in full swing for a Winter, 2006 Tour, complete with Tour Bus, and without having to worry about too much winter "turbulence". Thanks to all for seeing us in the summer sun. it was a bit tiring, but we definitely made it a successful and efficient time for band and crew. |
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| 2006: The beginning of 2006 saw the band embark on yet another nationwide tour, starting in their hometown of Boulder, CO with 2 sold out shows, one at the Boulder Theater, and one at the Fox Theater. They hit the majority of the towns they normally visit, and even got to play some golf on a few days off. The clubs are always in the bay of the bus, just in case. Out tour brought us through New Orleans, which gave us our first look at the devastation that overcame so much of the city. It was difficult to see. The tour ended at the end of February, and after heading home, we packed up for a week in the sun. No snow, no cold, no more tour bus. We flew south to St. Maarten in the middle of March to spend a week aboard the Star Clipper Tall Ship. Makes a long, cold tour totally worth it. We were joined by hundreds of hard core fans who were just like us, ready to rock in the sun. We saw some old friends, made some new friends, and added to our growing legacy of fan-based trips! So, we got ourselves a nice little tan, then returned home to take on some summer tour dates, including our big party at Red Rocks in June. In July, we hooked up the the Toad the Wet Sprocket band to do a few weeks of co-bill dates. It was very enjoyable. We snuck in some more golf as well. Soon after losing power on stage under the arch in St. Louis, the two bands parted ways after a successful trip for all. We did a few more Rib Festival shows, hit some wineries for some shows, and even found time to fly to Chicago to sing a few songs on the White Sox baseball field before a ball game. Very fun. Todd even managed to get booked to do an acoustic show in Boulder as Autumn approached, which was a treat for people who had always wondered how this would work. He was joined by Jeremy on lap steel guitar, and some of those songs made their way to the Big Head Podcast. The last show of the year was set for Denver's own Paramount Theater. The Balloons are ready to drop, and the confetti cannons were loaded, to ring in 2007, signaling the band and crew to prepare to make the rounds yet again to the faithful, the loyal, the allegiant, the enduring BHTM FAN. | |
| 2007: In 2007, we loaded up the trailer with our gear and headed out again for our annual winter tour. We started in Colorado with a couple of dates, then drove like maniacs in January and February, then well in to March. We watched the Super Bowl on a day off in a wonderful hotel in Greensboro, NC, a place our friends were able to put us up at. Had a huge TV in a special suite set up just for us. Anything to relax for a well-earned day off. We did 2 sold out nights at the Fillmore in San Fran, and finished up the tour back in Boulder for a finale at the Fox. We did a benefit for a fallen skier in Steamboat Springs at the end of March, a gesture that would be repaid to us in 2008 with a memorable ski trip in the back country of Steamboat, CO on a Snow Cat. In May of 2007, the band traveled to California to begin recording the album that would come to be called All The Love You Need. During the project, we all took a break to join several hundred of our friends in Hawaii for our annual Fan Trip. This had been a cruise in past years, so this trip was a "land cruise" to The Big Island. The band returned to the studio after getting their tan on, and continued to work on the record just ahead of the band's annual Red Rocks show, which occurred on June 2nd. Another memorable evening was had by all. The band raced back to California to complete the recording, and All the Love You Need was born. In July, the band made another trip to Alaska, then spent the rest of the summer pounding the summer festival circuit. As fall approached, so did the Season of the Primaries. Hillary Rodham Clinton was so taken by a BHTM song that she began using Blue Sky as a rallying cry for her campaign, and the band volunteered to join her on the trail for an event in Denver. After popping around the country for a few more shows, the band ended up in Des Moines, IA on New Years' Eve, playing on stage in advance of a Clinton Rally, one where President Bill Clinton was in attendance. The band and crew ended up spending the rest of the night at the Clinton's hotel, ringing in the New Year in style. We celebrated a strong year, and made plans to hit the road again in 2008 to support the new record. |
