Spotlight on: Big Fish Ensemble

Even in their mid-’90s heyday, the members of the eclectic Big Fish Ensemble were planning an archival rarities album. “Whenever songs didn’t make the cut for an album, we’d say we would put them on Raze the Duds, which would be our outtakes album,” says guitarist and songwriter Paul Schwartz.

This album comes after a long hiatus. “After we had kids, which we all did about the same time, we stopped actively booking because it became pretty hard to even practice,” Schwartz says. “When practice space becomes a nursery, what do you do?”

As the years passed, the band members and their families splintered to various locations. “Sheila Doyle works for Harvard Medical School, and Michael Lorant is doing film/video/sound production and editing in Boston. Dave Clair, who left the band in ‘95 to move to NYC, now lives in L.A. and does film production. Leigh [Finlayson] and I are lawyers here in Atlanta; he does criminal defense and I work for the EPA.”

To celebrate the just-released Duds collection, the diverse group of multi-instrumentalists will gather once again to toast and revisit their often funny and occasionally melancholy catalog of music. “Some of our silly songs had a serious theme somewhere in there,” Schwartz says. “There was a time when we thought we had to overcome the ‘novelty’ tag that was getting put on us. So we stopped playing [songs like] ‘Vanna White’s Underwear,’ but it wasn’t like we were going to stop incorporating humor into our shows.”

Big Fish Ensemble’s CD release show is at Smith’s Olde Bar, Fri., April 8, 8 p.m. $10. A special reunion set from 3 Lb. Thrill is also on the bill, with opening act the Crafties.