Great Big Sea

I hope you'll take the time to listen to the Canadian group Great Big Sea. 


Since 1993 they have been traveling throughout North America and Europe, performing music that's a hybrid of rock and traditional Newfoundland folk music.
If you've not seen them before, maybe the best place to begin is the music video of "Lukey," on which they are joined by The Chieftains. ( see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOw3w-00Jqw )


Alan Doyle, Sean McCann and Bob Hallett (along with former member Darrell Power) opened a door for me into Canadian folk music. I had grown up singing some of this in school, and occasionally watching "Don Messer's Jubilee" and "Ryan's Fancy". But as a kid I was barely interested.


These guys are almost always better watched than merely listened to. The best place to begin is with the Great Big CD and DVD.

They rented a hockey arena and filled it with rowdy fans -- no, there must be a stronger word than rowdy -- crazy and berserk might be better adjectives here. My guess is that most of those Canadian fans had been drinking beer for several hours before the taping began.


Multi-instrumentalist Bob Hallett is the guy I pay attention to. He plays fiddle, accordion, mandolin, concertina, bouzouki, whistles and bagpipe (at least according to the Wikipedia article -- I've never seen him on bagpipes.)


With only one Canadian radio hit single ("Ordinary Day"), they can still fill venues from Virginia to California, from Saint John's to Houston. They remind me in this of Jimmy Buffet, who has made a 40-year career out of one hit single.


Our Irish band 'That Raucous Crew" has spent a lot of time listening to Great Big Sea. We sing covers of "Lukey," "The River Driver," "I's the B'y," "Donkey Riding," and maybe another song or two.


As a serious follower of Jesus I don't approve of all their shenanigans. But, like I say, they've opened a door for me to Canadian folk music that I never should have closed.