Greg Spawton
One night in Germany, during Big Big Train’s last tour, Greg Spawton found himself in the middle of his own audience. Bandmate Nick D’Virgilio had suggested they spice things up by taking their usual pre-show ritual to the fans – quite literally. For Spawton, a softly spoken man with a house full of history books and a career spent largely in studios, it was the latest in a series of unexpected turns: Gigs across the world; a record deal with progressive super-label InsideOutMusic; the recruitment of a singer from Italian prog royalty PFM, who became a creative partner and friend; the death of the man he’d expected to be sharing all this with.
Come showtime, the band strode into the crowd. They had their usual huddle. They went onto the stage and the room erupted, the rebirthing power of surprise – of this multinational, multigenerational seven-piece (aged between 30 and 58), plus a brass section – laid bare.
“Suddenly the auditorium was lit up with smiling faces,” Spawton remembers.
