Multi-instrumentalist James Green formed Big Eyes in Sheffield in 1999 as a solo experiment, making experimental instrumental music.
Under this name, and with a rotating line up of other musicians, notably guitarist David Jaycock, he released the albums Big Eyes Songs (2000), Clumsy Music (2001), Love Is Gone Mad (2002) and We Have No Need For Voices When Our Hearts Can Sing (2004), as well as the three-track EP I See Creatures (2003), all via the Leicester-based label, Pickled Egg Records.
[2] A mixture of avant-garde and folk music, the 78-minute collection drew the attention of Pitchfork, who said, "One ... benefit of the Family Players' ever-shifting strategy and personnel is that none of Do the Musiking's weaker ideas is able to linger for long, allowing each new track to present another open range of almost limitless possibility.
"[4] The website The Quietus said the album was, "a fine tribute to the folk tradition of a musician taking long established songs, putting his own mark on the tested formulas and then passing them on for consumption by whoever encounters them along the road.
"[3] In 2012, the group released a follow-up album entitled Folk Songs II on Static Caravan Recordings, credited to The Big Eyes Family Players & Friends and featuring a variety of guest vocalists including Yorkston, Alasdair Roberts, Elle Osborne and Adrian Crowley.