The Big Medicine Revival project started as the Covid19 pandemic wound down. A bunch of local musicians met up for regular jam sessions. Over time the group found a psychedelic bluegrass sound, then whittled down into two main songwriters, Jagger Potter (smotheredinhugs) and Nick Blake (Excited States of America, Praying for the peoples of all nations, Good Little Monkey). In 2025 drummer Rogerio Jardim (Infected Mushroom) joined when he became interested in the diverse songwriting and musical challenge of playing slow, and serious recordings began.
The live session takes for "City Dreams" and "Like a wolf" happened during the summer of 2025 during a recording weekend with Rich Schwagerl, Rogerio and Nick at Rich's cabin up on Frazer Mountain. Then the rest of the foundation tracks were recorded later that fall after a few practices between Jagger, Rogerio and Nick. The group found two afternoons in the fall of 2025 to set up their recording gear in Nick's living room in Redondo Beach to track the full band. Overdubs and additional instruments were added over the following months as Nick worked on editing the songs.
In additional to Rich's piano tracks, the album features a guest appearance by Alan Tafoya adding slide guitar and screaming guitar solos and effects to "How to get by" and "City Dreams", recorded in his home studio in New Mexico. Scottie Colorado (numerous South Bay bands) also adds a sparse, haunting acoustic guitar solo to "Phone call from Anna Lee".
The title "Blessed are the peacemakers" comes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount from the book of Matthew. Bluegrass has its roots in gospel music, and Big Medicine Revival has several gospel tunes in its repertoire. One tune, "Ain't Got No Home" made the final cut for the album. The album title is an homage to these roots, and also it felt important in light of unfolding global conflicts. The album art features Buddhist sage Milarepa meditating at Mount Kailash, a holy mountain in Nepal, a public domain image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Track credits:
How to get by
written by Jagger Potter
guitar and lead vocals: Jagger Potter
bass, mandolin, vocal harmonies: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
Lovin’ Henry
traditional, adapted by Nick Blake
guitar and lead vocals: Nick Blake
bass, vocal harmonies: Jagger Potter
drums: Rogerio Jardim
Billie O
written by Jagger Potter
guitar, keyboards, and lead vocals: Jagger Potter
bass, keyboards, vocal harmonies: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
Put that honey away
written by Nick Blake
guitar, bass and vocal harmonies: Jagger Potter
mandolin, lead vocals: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
Broken hearts are brand new starts
written by Jagger Potter
guitar and lead vocals: Jagger Potter
bass, mandolin, keyboards, vocal harmonies: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
Wedding Song
written by Jagger Potter
guitar and lead vocals: Jagger Potter
bass, vocal harmonies: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
City Dreams
composed by Rogerio Jardim, lyrics by Nina Jardim
arranged by Big Medicine Revival
guitar, bass, keyboards and lead vocals: Nick Blake
bass, vocal harmonies: Jagger Potter
drums, effects, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
piano: Richard Schwagerl
screaming eagle/rugaru sounds, guitar solo: Alan Tafoya
Mary, oh Mary
written by Jagger Potter
guitar and lead vocals: Jagger Potter
bass, mandolin, keyboards, vocal harmonies: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
Phone call from Anna Lee
written by Nick Blake
guitar, mandolin and lead vocals: Nick Blake
bass, vocal harmonies: Jagger Potter
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
guitar solo: Scottie Colorado
Ain’t Got No Home
traditional, adapted by Nick Blake
guitar and lead vocals: Jagger Potter
bass, mandolin, vocal harmonies: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
If you're a viper
traditional, arranged by Jagger Potter
guitar and lead vocals: Jagger Potter
bass, effects, vocal harmonies: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
Like a wolf
written by Nick Blake
guitar, bass, keyboards, effects and lead vocals: Nick Blake
drums, vocal harmonies: Rogerio Jardim
piano: Richard Schwagerl
all songs mixed by Nick Blake
additional EQ work by Rogerio Jardim
the artists own and control all rights to their work.
