Have a Rockin’ Fat Tuesday with Big Sandy at Proud Larry’s

Let the Good Times Roll on Mardi Gras with Crawfish and more at Oxford’s Favorite Venue

This year, Mardi Gras falls on Tuesday, February 25, and there is no shortage of festivities to choose from. If you’re into rockabilly and honky-tonk, you’re in luck because Big Sandy &His Fly Rite Boys will be the life of the party at Proud Larry’s. There will, of course, be crawfish and plenty of revelry to be had. Doors open at 6 pm, and the show kicks off at 7 pm with Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles.

Over the last three decades, Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys have kept up a constant cycle of traveling back and forth across the lower 48, then hopping across the pond to Europe and beyond. They bring with them a brand of American music that has earned them an induction into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, several national television appearances, guest spots on The Grand Ole Opry, and a slew of adoring fans.

“I truly love being out on the road, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to sing my songs all over the world,” said Sandy. “But when I’m away from the U.S. for too long, it’s like I need a recharge… like I need a solid dose of everything Americana. Give me a Chuck Berry song while rolling down the interstate, or a truck stop conversation with a waitress who once danced with Lefty Frizzell, and I’m good for another three thousand miles.”

“Thirty-one years, hundreds of thousands of miles, and over 3,000 live performances; what a dream it’s been!” said Robert “Big Sandy” Williams. “When I first got together for a garage rehearsal with a group of musician friends in the spring of 1988 in Anaheim, California, I never imagined that I would someday be celebrating the silver anniversary of the rocking little band that formed that afternoon.”

Indeed, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys are beloved by many, with fourteen albums of undiluted joyful music pulled from rockabilly, rock & roll, honky-tonk, rhythm & blues, soul, and doo-wop. What A Dream It’s Been, on Cow Island Music, is a collection of the band’s favorite original numbers—all acoustic, reinterpreted with fresh new arrangements, rhythms, and instrumentation.

Since forming 31 years ago, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys have toured continuously and become torchbearers of American roots music. As a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and entertainer, Big Sandy has few contemporaries. With the release of What a Dream It’s Been, Big Sandy is at once acknowledging and celebrating the successes of the past 31 years, while setting the stage for further exploration and interpretation of the musical forms he is most passionate about.