WHEN Stuart Adamson was found dead in a Hawaii hotel room days before before Christmas 2001, following a marathon battle with alcoholism and depression, it appeared to draw a poignant line under Big Country’s colourful history.

“I never thought we’d play together again as Big Country after Stuart died, it didn’t really seem possible,” said singer and guitarist Bruce Watson, ahead of Big Country’s show at Colne Muni tomorrow.

“Nobody could replace Stuart in Big Country and nobody ever will.

“It is still very hard to speak about him because to me he wasn’t this rock star, he was just a great pal.

“I just thought that would be it, the end of Big Country.”

But when U2 and Green Day teamed up to deliver a raucous cover version of The Skids’, The Saints are Coming for a Hurricane Katrina benefit, Adamson’s band before Big Country, all eyes were back focused on the Big Country name again.

“I played at The Skids reunion gig in 2007 with my son Jamie and it certainly sparked a lot of interest in Big Country and created fresh momentum for the band,” added Watson.

“We’d always done a Big Country convention every couple of years, then one of the guys pointed out it was the band’s 25th anniversary.

“Anyway, we decided to do a few weekend shows, and we just found all this incredible goodwill and warmth that still existed for Big Country.

“That, more than anything, convinced us to get back together again and I’ve loved every minute of it since.”

While Big Country will be performing songs from Steeltown, released in October 1984, there will still be time for those barnstorming anthems Fields of Fire, Chance and Harvest Home – songs that continue to be as popular as ever for the lads from Dunfermline.

“We recorded Steeltown in Abba’s Polar Studio in Stockholm and Sweden felt as far from Britain as you could get at the time,” said Watson.

“Stockholm seemed like the most expensive place on earth, a different planet to back home in Scotland where many people were unemployed and suffering under Margaret Thatcher’s government.

“My dad was a coal miner and it was a very rough time for a lot of folk.

“We just knuckled down and worked hard for six weeks recording the album.”

While Big Country never reached the heights of Steeltown again, the record topped the album charts, Watson added: “I’ve heard some people call us a tribute band, but if we just did all the hits then we’d be disrespecting our audience.

“We’ve written a lot of fresh songs over the last five years, and I’m extremely proud of them.”