SPOTLIGHT: Big Richard on Where They Get The Audacity [ESSAY]

Editor's Note: Big Richard, whose new LP Pet came out February 6 via Signature Sounds, is No Depression's Spotlight Artist for February 2026. Read their feature profile here and watch an exclusive, acoustic version of their new song "Alaska" here.

I’d like to say that being four women on stage in a roots music genre was the reason our band was immediately divisive. But in reality, it might have had more to do with the crude name, aggressive stage banter, the guest fiddler dressed in drag, and our merch — puff paint T-shirts featuring a penis with hairy balls playing the banjo, which I handcrafted with all the love in my heart. We felt like a punk band, and just didn’t take ourselves that seriously. The hate mail came in hot with that first show, and, just like our crass jokes, it hasn’t stopped. The comments are nasty, but as they land, we howl with laughter and turn them into motivational posters for our Instagram account. Someone called us a “wad of bellowing lesbians,” and you know what? That was a great T-shirt design. Stickers, too. We grew up in a capitalist hellscape, and if you want to hate us, we’re going to profit off of that hate. Thank you very much. 

To be frank, as citizens of the United States of America, we know deep in our bones that we are all stuck in a game we can’t win. Unless you have a billion dollars in your pocket, the fight is fixed. We’re tired of playing by those rules and pretending to be happy with it. We’re done squeezing ourselves into the tiny boxes, tiny clothes, and tiny roles set out for us. We are full of rage and every night we find microphones in our hands and hundreds of eyes staring at us, so we speak. And people listen. We take that very seriously. We are four white women with too much privilege and a lot of audacity, and we’re using all of our power to punch up.