Big Sugar are a musical group from Toronto. Their style can be described as a mix of blues, rock, and reggae. Sort of like the Rolling Stones meet Bob Marley, with a bit of James Brown thrown in for flavour. (Actually, they were asked to open for the Stones on the Bridges to Babylon tour.)
Lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter Gordie Johnson once said on a MuchMusic interview that "the only constant member of Big Sugar is Gordie Johnson". Despite this, Big Sugar's lineup has remained fairly constant, with Garry Lowe on bass, Al Cross on drums and Kelly "Mr. Chill" Hoppe on saxophone and harmonica. (Al Cross left Big Sugar during the recording of Heated and was replaced by Gavin Brown. Al returned to the band to do the next album.) Big Sugar are known to take on guest musicians for certain songs, and swap instruments amongst themselves.
Frontman Gordie Johnson has produced many Big Sugar albums by himself and is making a name in the business, being requested to produce bands such as Wide Mouth Mason and Smash Mouth. It's easy to hear why he's so good: the album Heated has the crispest drums and vocals since Steely Dan, and Brothers & Sisters, Are You Ready? manages to sound full and loud, without losing a whit of clarity.
Gordie Johnson is also a fierce Canadian nationalist. For instance, Brothers & Sisters... includes a guitar-heavy version of O Canada. When talk show host Mike Bullard joked that putting O Canada on your album was a move that would kill a career, Gordie became angered. Big Sugar has also made strides in making their work bilingual with a French EP and a french version of Brothers & Sisters... titled Brothers & Sisters, Etes Vous Ready? (a phrase whose grammer almost makes sense in Quebec, though not in France).
Discography
Official website: http://www.bigsugar.ca/