Great Big Sea: 'This Music is What Made us Unique'
Great Big Sea is one of Canada's best-selling artists with well over one million records sold in Canada. Their ninth release called The Hard And The Easy will be released in October.
This entire album is a Newfoundland songbook of traditional songs that were selected for how they speak of Newfoundland music, history, labour and love. The album also includes a bonus DVD of band interviews and live performance footage.
The band is Alan Doyle, Sean McCann and Bob Hallett, and their new album could just as easily have been entitled: Sean, Bob and Alan’s Party Favourites. Indeed the play list could be described as their own personal Top 10.
Band leader Alan Doyle said this is the music that they grew up with and the music they learned as children. Their appetite for it is genuine. “There were a thousand amazing songs in our backyards,“ said Alan.
“The biggest reason to do an album like this is because you can. If you are a Newfoundland musician, they’re available and accessible. Most folk musicians would love to have a body of work like this to draw on. We’re proud of these songs and very much love the place they come from.”
Tracing the evolution of Newfoundland folk music is a passion for Great Big Sea. Catch them at home with friends and a guitar, and this is what they’ll be singing. Maybe Cod Liver Oil, or Harbour LeCou, both classics from the Gerald S. Doyle songbook of traditional favourites.
“We always wanted to do this kind of album,” said Alan. “The fans ask for it, certainly, but it is more about the quality of the songs. This music is what made us most special, most unique.”
This solid and straightforward acoustic album of traditional and local songs is a first for singers and multi-instrumentalists Sean McCann, Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett, but it’s a logical progression. Newfoundland music and Newfoundland culture are both their genesis and their raison d’être.
Look for Great Big Sea’s new album The Hard And The Easy at your favourite record store. Don’t forget it would make a great Christmas gift for all your Great Big Sea fans and for anyone who loves folk music.
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