Browsing Tag

newfoundland music

Music

Day of Bouzouki Player Awesomeness, Part 2

So yeah! Those Beaudry boys? Making a powerful showing today. But they have their work cut out for them when it comes to the OTHER bouzouki player I adore. 😉 (Well, the other one who isn’t like, y’know, my partner and stuff, she said, looking meaningfully at userinfosolarbird…)

Y’all saw my post asking for Newfoundland band recs, right? So this morning, I think to myself–what the hell, I’ll go straight to the source. Alan, Bob, and Sean are on Twitter, I’ll ask them what THEY think we should be listening to while they’re on hiatus!

This was the result. \0/

What what wait that actually WORKED?

What what wait that actually WORKED?

The Doyle Has Spoken

The Doyle Has Spoken

I leave it as an exercise for you, O Internets, as to exactly how high-pitched my squee went. (Remember: I’m a piccolo player!)

I proceeded to get in several more Newfoundland band recs from Twitter folk as well, but as promised to The Doyle, I went and promptly checked out The Once. They are notable because Mr. Bob Hallett himself is their manager, so of course big ol’ GBS connection right there. I’ve now listened to the samples of their first album on iTunes, and yeah, I’ll be buying this. Their lead singer has a lovely voice, and while they don’t have the kind of raucous energy I love so much about the B’ys, they are very, very good. They remind me a lot more of oh, say, Solas, and that’s good, because I like Solas! And I’ll be making a definite point of checking out their new album when it drops next month!

For general reference, the other artists and bands that have been thrown at me on Twitter to check out are: Amelia Curran, Jim Fidler, the Novaks, Matthew Hornell, Hey Rosetta! (who I actually already previously knew about but had not checked out in depth), Andrew James O’Brien, Tarahan, and the Navigators (who I again also previously knew about).

Many thanks to @GBSIndyFan and @barbekresla, who threw me the Twitter recs!

Not all of these acts are trad–the Novaks appear to be more rock, and iTunes seems to think Jim Fidler is reggae. Dunno about Matthew Hornell or Amelia Curran yet either. But I’m going to give them all a shot! (Though in the case of the Navigators, I’m apparently going to have to work a little harder because their albums are not on iTunes.)

So yeah! Great big pile of Newfoundland band recs! And a tweet from The Doyle Himself! What a way to end a week! \0/

September 16, 2011 by
Music

Newfoundland vs. Quebec: FIGHT!

Okay, all you bands over there in Newfoundland? You b’ys aren’t going to take this MIGHTY QUEBECOIS INVASION of my iTunes playlists lying down, are you?

My fellow Great Big Sea fans, especially those of you who live or have lived in Newfoundland, or who are otherwise well-versed with Newfoundland music: I call upon you: who are the Newfoundland bands I should be investigating, to continue this whole delightful theme of “other bands I should check out while Great Big Sea is on hiatus”? Here are Newfoundland bands I already have albums by:

The Irish Descendants (Across the Water, Rollin’ Home, So Far So Good, Southern Shore)
The Fables (all of their discs)
The Punters (Certified Trad. Music, Songs for a Sunday Morning)
Shanneyganock (Volume VII)

Recommendations for any specific other albums by any of these groups welcome!

Also: the Navigators have already been brought to my attention, but so far I haven’t been able to find their albums sold somewhere where I can actually get them. Recommendations on that also welcome!

And, anybody not on this list, I want to hear about them. Bonus points if they’re anyone GBS has had dealings with, extra bonus points if there are bouzouki players involved! GBS-like style–i.e., high energy, with big full harmony on the vocals, the more people in a band singing the better–is ideal, although I’ll take smaller groups or solo artists too!

September 15, 2011 by
Great Big Sea

I cannot IMAGINE what tipped them off

My latest auto-recommendation email from Amazon is totally to giggle: Folk Songs of Newfoundland, by Alan Mills! Note also this dude has a separate album called We’ll Rant and We’ll Roar: Songs of Newfoundland, too!

Wikipedia informs me that Mr. Mills was best known for popularizing Canadian folk music, and it’s very clear, looking over the track listings for both of these albums, that my beloved B’ys either pulled hard from his songs or else were pulling from the same sources he did! Between these albums, I see a whole bunch of songs that were much, much later covered by GBS:

  • From the B’ys’ very first, self-titled album: “I’se the B’y” and “Great Big Sea”
  • From up and later also, Rant and Roar: “Lukey’s Boat”, and of course, “Rant and Roar”
  • From Turn: “Jack Hinks”
  • From Sea of No Cares: “Feller from Fortune”
  • From the mighty, mighty The Hard and the Easy: “Tickle Cove Pond”, “Harbor Le Cou”, “The Old Polina”

Mr. Mills’ versions are of course much more old school, and a lot more folksy. But damn, it’s weird and fun listening to his earlier versions of these songs. I’m very tempted to get both of these albums, just for the giggle factor of the contrast to GBS’ versions!

And clearly, Amazon ignored the “sexy, bouncy, long-haired bouzouki player” part of “customer’s affection for Newfoundland folk music”, when their auto-recommender code sent me that mail. 😀

December 15, 2010 by