Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
In August and September 2023, Big Big Train took to the road for their first major European tour. With a new lead singer and a different line-up to the last major series of shows, 2019’s ‘Grand Tour’, the stakes were high.
In this revealing podcast interview, violinist and vocalist Clare Lindley talks to writer Andy Stuart about the experience of touring with Big Big Train. Clare candidly explains some of the challenges, both musical and emotional, of performing the band’s classic repertoire during a tour that was preceded by questions and expectations in equal measure.
The conversation took place during the writing of Andy Stuart’s new, 240 page illustrated tour book, ‘A View From The Embankment, A View From The Line’ which takes a unique, behind-the-scenes look at Big Big Train’s ‘The Journey Continues’ 2023 tour.
The book is available for pre-order now from Burning Shed via:
burningshed.com/store/kingmaker
and from The Band Wagon USA via:
thebandwagonusa.com/collections/kingmaker-publishing
Clare says: “It’s also when we finally started to have all those discussions about playing and performance, the music we love, the things that influence us as musicians and songwriters, how life brought us here. You can be a bit more open and relaxed; it’s like you learn to accept and trust that people appreciate you for who you truly are and what you can bring. Last year [2022], we were a band in name – Big Big Train – but in reality, we were more a bunch of people that circumstances had flung together. This year [2023], to me, it felt like we were a real team with real purpose: a group of people who like each other and also like what we do. That’s taken for granted now and it gives you more confidence to take risks, and push yourself further than you might have done if you were still unsure of whether or not there’d be a soft landing on the other side. The psychological dynamics of what makes a band are so interesting.”
In August and September 2023, Big Big Train took to the road for their first major European tour. With a new lead singer and a different line-up to the last major series of shows, 2019’s ‘Grand Tour’, the stakes were high.
In this revealing podcast interview, violinist and vocalist Clare Lindley talks to writer Andy Stuart about the experience of touring with Big Big Train. Clare candidly explains some of the challenges, both musical and emotional, of performing the band’s classic repertoire during a tour that was preceded by questions and expectations in equal measure.
The conversation took place during the writing of Andy Stuart’s new, 240 page illustrated tour book, ‘A View From The Embankment, A View From The Line’ which takes a unique, behind-the-scenes look at Big Big Train’s ‘The Journey Continues’ 2023 tour.
The book is available for pre-order now from Burning Shed via:
burningshed.com/store/kingmaker
and from The Band Wagon USA via:
thebandwagonusa.com/collections/kingmaker-publishing
Clare says: “It’s also when we finally started to have all those discussions about playing and performance, the music we love, the things that influence us as musicians and songwriters, how life brought us here. You can be a bit more open and relaxed; it’s like you learn to accept and trust that people appreciate you for who you truly are and what you can bring. Last year [2022], we were a band in name – Big Big Train – but in reality, we were more a bunch of people that circumstances had flung together. This year [2023], to me, it felt like we were a real team with real purpose: a group of people who like each other and also like what we do. That’s taken for granted now and it gives you more confidence to take risks, and push yourself further than you might have done if you were still unsure of whether or not there’d be a soft landing on the other side. The psychological dynamics of what makes a band are so interesting.”
