“Big Country” is an original composition by the banjoist Bela Fleck, recorded by his band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones for their album “Left of Cool.” Fleck has said the melody came to him whole, and that he sang it into his answering machine so he would not lose it before he could write it down.
The tune is unusually songlike and tuneful for the Flecktones, a band known for adventurous instrumental music. Its simple, memorable melody evokes a wide-open Americana feel, and it has since been arranged for percussion ensembles and other groups well beyond its original setting.
A notable recording is by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the genre-crossing ensemble through which Fleck pursued music reaching far past his bluegrass roots.
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