Big Cats!

Spencer "Big Cats!" Wirth-Davis is a composer, musician and producer hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wirth-Davis makes instrumental hip hop that draws from a wide range of musical influences including classical, hip hop and jazz. His work is melancholy, multi-layered and cinematic; a definite stylistic departure from the standard hip hop sound. As a multi-instrumentalist and student of hip hop, his music seamlessly integrates live instrumentation and traditional sampling techniques, while drawing from his background as a classically trained musician. In 2011, he received a McKnight Composer Fellowship, marking the first time it has been awarded to a hip hop artist. He has released music both as a solo artist and as a collaborator with other artists, including Sage Francis, P.O.S., Jolie Holland, Kyle "Guante" Tran Myhre, Big Quarters, Haley Bonar and others.