Raoul and the Big Time

Raoul and the Big Time - January 2004 News

From www.ottawastart.com

After winning numerous awards on a national level at the Maple Blues and Real Blues Awards, Raoul and the Big Time bring their energetic mix of "Toronto/ Chicago/Hollywood" Blues to Ottawa with their much anticipated second recording "Cold Outside". Recorded live off the floor in Toronto (between July 2002 & April 2003), it features appearances by modern blues legends and Big Time mentors Junior Watson, Mark Hummel and Big Joe Maher.
Comprising 12 songs (10 originals & 2 not-so-familiar covers) this
refreshingly diverse record also features performances by Graham Guest and Kevin Quain on piano, John Showman on violin and the legendary Terry Wilkins (who co-produced with Raoul) on bass. The band has recently completed the first video for "Cold Outside" and made a province-wide live appearance on Open House Ontario (CBC Radio One), performing in the Glen Gould Theatre.

Raoul and the Big Time was formed in July 1998 by Ottawa- raised actor/musician Raoul Bhaneja, currently known to audiences for his role as Pete in the Global TV cult hit Train 48. His numerous film and television credits include Atom Egoyan's Ararat, Extraordinary Visitor, The Eleventh Hour, The Newsroom and That Touch of Pink which premieres at the Sundance
Film Festival in January 2004. Most recently the Canterbury High School graduate appeared in The Domino Heart at the Tarragon Theatre and performed last summer at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, UK, a recipient of the Christopher Plummer Artistic Fellowship Award.

The Big Time features Darren Gallen on guitar, Cheong Liu on upright bass and Tom Bona on drums. They have performed as part of many major festivals and have opened for Bobby ‘Blue' Bland, The Downchild Blues Band, Junior Watson, Big Dave Mclean and many more. They have also performed on CTV,
TVO, City TV and Rogers, made several radio appearances and have been featured in print articles in The Toronto Star, The London Free Press, The Ottawa Citizen, The Globe and Mail and Now Magazine.