The Band

Big Daddy Irv                 

As a young big daddy, Irv was a member of the legendary Irv Family Singers. The Irv family played its last gig as the house band for the great ship, the Edmond Fitzgerald. When the Fitzgerald went down in the icy waters of Lake Superior in 1975, all hands perished. B.D. Irv was the only survivor, having clung to his buoyant bass fiddle for three lonely days and nights.

Scarred by the memory of this tragedy, Irv hopped from box car to box car across the country, playing solo bass licks for any assembled crowd who would listen. As time went by, word of this eccentric musician spread. Over these 30 years, Irv was invited to play his solo bass at the White House for the Vietnamese State Dinner in 2001. After his 2003 performance at Royal Albert Hall for the Queen of England, her majesty was quoted as saying, "Irv represents bottom end at its finest."

During his 2004 tour as bassist with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Irv and Faith Hill fell deeply in love. Hill cut off the relationship however, as she was conflicted between McGraw and Irv. She went back to McGraw. Irv was devastated.
Shy sponsored Irv’s placement in the Witness Protection Program with the understanding that Big Daddy would stand to his right on stage for as long as Shy needed...The rest is history