Lyndahere And Recent Updates…Some more thoughts.

@alanthomasdoyle "At the end of each GBS XX show someone says they don't know when they'll see me next. I say "Alan Doyle Band shows" every time. 26 November 2013

@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle "Hoping you will please make an Honest Woman out of me" 26 November 2013

It is just over a year since I wrote the post “Lyndahere the truth please” on the 30 October 2012 asking for the truth about Lyndahere’s or Lynda Elstad's relationship with Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea. Great Big Sea XX had just begun and Lyndahere had received some tickets to an event she was unable to say where she got them from and bootlegging a CBC Great Big Sea special.

The Great Big Sea XX tour is over and Sean McCann will be leaving the band. Alan Doyle’s stance to Lyndahere’s fan behaviour has clearly relaxed and is even supported by the number of tweets she is now receiving. It is clearly his choice and I wish both of them the best of luck. Lyndahere is not an honest woman in my book and according to the law because she has continued to do a number of illegal activities in the Great Big Sea fandom. Because she gets away with it doesn't make it right or legal.

What is clear is all the members of Great Big Sea have different ideas about what is acceptable fan behaviour including bootlegging and piracy. Two of the members Bob Hallett and Sean McCann have never ever endorsed Lyndahere’s fan behaviour including her bootlegging and piracy. 

'Lyndahere The Truth Please'published on 30 October 2012.

As the saying goes it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. The same goes for being the fan of a musician or music group. It is better to have been a fan and to experience disappointment than never to have been a fan at all. So I am going to ask what is the relationship between Lyndahere Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle? After the events of last couple of weeks I am not really sure exactly what the relationship between them all is.

It is typical of Lyndahere to undermine an important event in the professional lives of Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea. Yesterday was the launch of Great Big Sea XX. So I am not surprised when Lyndahere tweeted on Twitter she had gained access to a Great Big Sea performance at an event associated with CBC music and Great Big Sea and made videos. I find it interesting an organisation like CBC Music Canada who makes official videos would allow a member of the public to create bootlegged material at concerts associated with them. Something about having exclusive rights comes to mind. Anyone who signs a contract with Great Big Sea or Alan Doyle to make a video with an audience will know that it will be bootlegged prior to or after being screened.  

It is also unusual for Great Big Sea or Alan Doyle not to publicise an appearance, competition or the event on their Twitter account (Bob Hallett retweeted a Warner Music Canada tweet). I had visited CBC Music and their streaming of the Great Big Sea XX album everyday for the last week and a half and never saw a contest advertised. When asked how she obtained tickets to the event she said through a competition and then couldn’t remember how she got the tickets. 

Lyndahere wrote on her Twitter site

@lyndahere MT @CBC_Music ‘What am I doing here?” Watch @BlueRodeo and @Great_Big_Sea 30 October 2012

@rydunn Were you there?I didn’t even hear about this show. 30 October 2012

@lyndhere Yes I don’t think there were any public tickets for sale it was all a contest winners & comps. See @CBC_Music for show video links. 30 October 2012

@rydunn Ah really eh! How did you score ticket? 30 October 2012

@lyndahere The same way most who suck at contests: Know someone who knows someone(It was news/contest on BR.com too) 30 October 2012

@rydunn hah yes I figured oh well I guess I’ll wait till Sunday to see them. 30 October 2012

@lyndahere And I’ve got a few videos of my own I’ll put up after CBC put up theirs. (And when I get a decent internet connection). 30 October 2012

@rydunn Um, make that Bluerodeo.com. Apparently, BR.com is something else Oops. 30 October 2012

After checking the Twitter page of Blue Rodeo there was no mention of a contest advertised. I find it interesting that a band would not advertise a competition for its 25 anniversary show in Toronto. Lyndahere states she got tickets to this event through someone she knows who knew someone. Then all the seats available were not through a competition. I gather there are regulations covering competitions in Canada in making them fair and honest

When a competition for the Live at Revival filming of Alan Doyle’s album was held on Twitter Lyndahere of course scored tickets. A number of fake Twitter accounts were set up to win the tickets and retweeted. Lyndahere scored one of those tickets I would like to allege through an account of a person who is allegedly a friend of hers Christina because she never won them personally. Christina had only tweeted a couple of times when she won those tickets. Lyndahere allegedly shares a house with her in St John’s Newfoundland. 

Earlier this year Lyndahere wrote on her Twitter page she had attended corporate and private events including a birthday party and made videos and taken pictures. There is no evidence to state that any pictures taken and videos made were from those events. She has taken thousands of pictures and videos of Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea.

It is of course not the first time a fan has bragged about getting exclusive tickets to events that no other fans have implying they may have a special relationship with the musician or group in question. It is of course not the first time Lyndahere has not shared information with other Great Big Sea fans. A coincidence I don’t think so. There are just too many for someone not operating within the law and code of ethics of fan behaviour. But then she is a skilled and seasoned stalker.

PS I do not live in Canada or North America so I can’t go to any events held by Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea. I am not a Newfoundlander.

Farewell Sean McCann...Part 3.

The following article in The Telegram in St John's made the announcement that Sean McCann was leaving Great Big Sea. I am currently looking through fan photos from the Great Big Sea XX tour of Sean McCann to form the basis of a photo essay. (no copyright infringement intended).

Sean McCann leaves Great Big Sea by Tara Bradbury published in The Telegram in St John's on November 15 2013. (No copyright infringement intended)

Sean McCann has announced he will leave Great Big Sea at the end of the band’s 20th-anniversary tour.

McCann posted messages on his Facebook and Twitter accounts early Thursday afternoon. Sean McCann of Great Big Sea said Thursday he will be leaving the band “with nothing but love in my heart.”

“This will be my last tour with GBS and I fully intend to enjoy every f--ken second and leave the stage with nothing but love in my heart,” he wrote. “So come out to say goodbye and save the last dance for me.”

McCann, who was in Orillia, Ont., Thursday night for a Great Big Sea concert, declined to say anything further about leaving the band when contacted by The Telegram, but said he'd comment in the new year.

The band was flying in the afternoon to Orillia, Ont., where they performed Thursday night.

Great Big Sea was formed in the mid-1990s with fellow musician Darrell Power, who left in 2003 to spend more time with his family.

The band grew to become one of the province’s biggest exports and, a year ago, released “XX,” a greatest hits compilation celebrating their 20-year career, available with a DVD. The collection took two weeks to go gold.

McCann, like Doyle and Hallett, has a successful solo career, and has released two records: 2010’s “Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes” and 2011’s “Son of a Sailor.” He told The Telegram last year, while promoting “XX,” that he wasn’t ready to give up playing music.

“I’ve got some sore hips and sore knees, but the energy and passion is still there,” he said, laughing.

According to Great Big Sea’s website, the band will spend the next six weeks playing around Ontario and the eastern region of the United States before finishing the current leg of their tour at Moncton’s casino on New Year’s Eve.

Tbradbury@thetelegram

Farewell Sean McCann...Part 2.

The following articles are from The Telegram newspaper in St John's. The first article is an interview with Sean McCann about a Great Big Sea concert in St John's in 2009. The second article discusses the launch of his solo album. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did (no copyright infringement intended).

Great Big Sea to play home date at Mile One Centre; band hopes Obama hears 'Ordinary Day' February 14 2009 (No Copyright Infringement Intended).

They've been playing to large crowds since 1993, but the members of Great Big Sea still get nervous on stage - only when they're performing in Newfoundland.

"Our moms are always there," explained band member Sean McCann. "Maybe we'll convince them to babysit for us this time."

They've been playing to large crowds since 1993, but the members of Great Big Sea still get nervous on stage - only when they're performing in Newfoundland.

"Our moms are always there," explained band member Sean McCann. "Maybe we'll convince them to babysit for us this time."

The band - McCann, Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett, along with supporting members Kris MacFarlane and Murray Foster - will play at Mile One Centre March 14 in support of their ninth studio release, "Fortune's Favour," as part of an Atlantic Canada tour. Opening for them will be Vancouver-based Spirit of the West.

While Great Big Sea has had the opportunity to play with dozens of bands over the years, including The Chieftains and The Pogues, Spirit of the West is one the band is particularly looking forward to working with, since the members consider them a longtime influence.

"I remember seeing Spirit of the West years ago, when they came to Newfoundland first, at a Peace-a-Chord concert," McCann said. "There were just three of them, and they were playing traditional tunes and reels and jigs and stuff like that, with the flute and the mandolin, but they really attacked it with an aggression that was more punk rock than anything else. It had a real effect on us and we started doing some of their tunes. Their intensity is something we certainly paid attention to, and tried to bring to our own show as we progressed."

While Great Big Sea's success has progressed since their debut, self-titled album was released in 1993, their energy remains the same. Even after singer/guitarist/bass player Darrell Power retired from the band six years ago, they've continued playing the same high-pace, animated live shows they always had. Over the past year, they've concentrated mainly on performing in the States, and recently returned from a fan cruise called Ships and Dip, hosted by Barenaked Ladies.

Went gold

"Fortune's Favour," produced by Hawksley Workman, was released across North America last June, and went gold by September, meaning every album Great Big Sea has ever recorded has been certified gold or platinum in Canada. It's predicted the CD will reach platinum status by the time the 2009 Juno Awards are held in Vancouver March 29. Great Big Sea is nominated for the group of the year award.

While McCann is "delighted" with the nomination, he's taking it with a grain of salt, for now.

"I think this is probably our 50th nomination, and we've never won one. Maybe this will be our lucky year, who knows," he said with a chuckle. "It's great to be nominated for group of the year, but I'm afraid to start hoping, because we've been invited to the dance before."

More impressive than the Juno nomination, McCann said, is the fact that Great Big Sea's song "Ordinary Day" was voted among CBC Radio 2's top 49 songs to send to U.S. President Barack Obama.

In January, CBC held a vote for "49 Songs from North of the 49th Parallel" that would best define Canada for Obama. "Ordinary Day" was included with songs like The Guess Who's "American Woman," Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World," and Stompin' Tom Connors' "The Hockey Song."

"I hope he gets to hear it," McCann said of Obama. "I'm very proud of him. He's got a lot of weight on his shoulders, and I wouldn't want his job right now."

Eager to play

Nervous or not, the band members are looking forward to playing in St. John's next month, and showing local fans the show they've been putting off in places like Hollywood. It's the best live show Great Big Sea has ever done, McCann said, adding it was designed for big stadiums.

"Expect a lot of energy, and a very strong visual show," he said. "I don't want to give anything away, but we spent a lot of time designing our stage and our sets. We're trying to excite every sense."

Sean McCann flies solo by Tara Bradbury published on 5 February 2011 (no copyright infringement intended).

If Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash had spent much time in Newfoundland, their CDs might have turned out a lot like Séan McCann’s latest one.

Less than a year after his debut solo release, “Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes,” McCann is releasing his second, called “Son of a Sailor,” on Tuesday, mixing old-time country with a touch of local traditional music.

The new album was written, McCann said, in hotel rooms, dressing rooms, airports and tour buses over the past year, Great Big Sea’s busiest one to date.

“Lullabies” was a personal, introspective album dedicated to his two sons (Keegan, 5, and Fin, 3), and this one is a dedication, too: to a disappearing way of life.

“I was born out in Carbonear, but my family’s from Gull Island and Northern Bay. We had dories in the water; we could get up in the morning and catch tomcods, cut out tongues. I spent my days out on the water, rowing around and jigging cod, and I had a great time,” McCann explained. “I think those days are, by and large, gone. You’re not allowed to do that now, but there are no wharves to do it from, anyway, and there aren’t that many young children out around the bay anymore.”

The new album features first-person narratives, like “The Reply (The Ballad of John and Mary),” telling of the decades-long love story of McCann’s grandparents, and “Soldier’s Song,” profiling a deployed soldier, longing for home.

McCann was inspired to write the title track for his grandfather, while the first single, “Simple Song,” was written for Keegan, who asked his dad for something upbeat.

“He said, ‘Dad, I like your songs, but a lot of them are kind of slow — can you play a fast one?’”

McCann said. “He loves it. I caught him singing it in the bath last night.”

McCann wrote the album’s 10 tracks with a very distinct concept in mind — a country-Newfoundland infusion — and brought in two musicians he calls “the guns” to help him: Figgy Duff’s Kelly Russell and Newfoundlander Craig Young, who spent time in Nashville as a guitarist for country star Terri Clark.

The result, McCann said, is exactly what he was hoping for.

“By using them both, I have one foot in traditional Newfoundland music, and another foot in Nashville, and it mixed together so well,” he explained. “Whether or not it’s successful, it’s exactly how I wanted it to be. I wanted it to sound like an old Merle Haggard record, but I wanted it to be based in Newfoundland.”

Some of the tunes on “Son of a Sailor” aren’t entirely unlike the music McCann writes and performs with Great Big Sea, albeit more toned down and, like “Lullabies,” far more intimate, both in terms of content and nature.

“Great Big Sea has a very specific job, and that is to rock, and there’s not a lot of room for the stuff that’s on these (solo) records,” McCann said. “I think they just wouldn’t fly at a Great Big Sea show because people come there for a different reason. We’re a Newfoundland party band and we do that really well and I’m really proud of that, but I know I’m reaching different people with these records.”

While McCann has been working on his solo CDs, his Great Big Sea bandmates have taken up other projects, too: Bob Hallett released a memoir, “Writing out the Notes: Life in Great Big Sea,” last year, and is working on other books, and Alan Doyle has appeared in the Ridley Scott movie “Robin Hood” and on an episode of CBC-TV’s “Republic of Doyle.”

The group plans to take a little downtime over the next 18 months or so, in order to spend some time at home and work on solo projects, but will come back with a vengeance for its 20th anniversary in 2013, McCann said.

“That’s when you’ll see us back with a big tour and a big record,” he said.

McCann’s already been performing some of the songs from “Son of a Sailor” in small bars and other venues across the country on Great Big Sea’s days off, and said he’s been enjoying being back in an intimate-type show setting for the first time in two decades.

He’ll officially release the CD Tuesday — on the sea, fittingly.

Great Big Sea will join The Barenaked Ladies and others for the fourth annual Ships and Dip cruise on the Caribbean aboard the Norwegian Dawn, and McCann will hold an album launch off the coast of Cozumel.

“Son of a Sailor” will be available at Fred’s Records and O’Brien’s Music in St. John’s on the same day, as well as on iTunes.

Farewell Sean McCann...Part 1.

Sean McCann wrote on Facebook and Twitter on the 14 November 2013 the following…

“This will be my last tour with GBS...and I fully intend to enjoy every fucken second and leave the stage with nothing but LOVE in my heart. So come on out to say goodbye....and save the Last Dance for Me.

Thank You for all the kind words of support. I feel the Love. It is not a decision I made lightly. To the many concerned media looking for comment, i appreciate the interest and would be happy to talk to you all in the new year. Until then i would like to focus on a happy ending. Now back to work”.

These words written before the last leg of the Great Big Sea XX tour were totally unexpected and have left a lot the fans shocked and upset. Fans attending Great Big Sea concerts are celebrating Great Big Sea and Sean McCann’s contribution more than ever while pondering the future. There is no point speculating about the future as many fans have done before us, we will all have to wait and see what the new year brings.

While the tributes are flowing in on Facebook and Twitter for Sean, I would like to thank Sean for all the enjoyment his music has made to my life and I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do.

As I have been researching and reading articles about Sean McCann, his involvement in Great Big Sea and his solo career, the thing which really interested me was the importance of his children, how having them changed his life and his life as a musician. After reading these articles I can understand and appreciate why Sean would want to spend more time with his family and have greater control over when he worked and went on the road.

In the first article “Sean McCann from Great Big Sea. Dads Who Rock” written by Eric Alper a Canadian music correspondence Sean McCann talks about being a father and writing his solo debut album Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes (yummymummyclub.ca).

The second article is from 2010 and talks about how fatherhood has changed Great Big Sea, their lives and their music.


Sean McCann from Great Big Sea. Dads Who Rock by Eric Alper on YummyMummy.ca (no copyright infringement intended)
A disc of dreamy lullabies and late night songs weren’t on anyone betting cards for guitarist Séan McCann until the birth of his sons.

Chronicling the beginnings of his journey through fatherhood on the solo debut Lullabies For Bloodshot Eyes, Séan writes in the liner notes “Their arrival prompted a fundamental change in my disposition, and for the first time in my life, someone else mattered more to me than I did…and I was terrified.”

How soon after the birth of your sons, Keegan and Finnegan did you envision Lullabies For Bloodshot Eyes?
Almost directly after the birth of Keegan. I never envisioned myself writing lullabies – for kids or adults - at all in my previous life. When the boys were born, it just set in motion a whole other bunch of gears in my writing brain, pulling out a series of topics and subjects that I wanted to divulge into.

“Somewhere (for Fin)” and “Don’t Cry (for Keegan),” open and close the album.
Keegan has a keen understanding of what I do, and it’s starting to sink in that Daddy wrote a song for him. It’s a special thing for him…it’s his song, you know? It’s going to be a legacy for him, and Finn, when they’re older and understand what this record meant to me and how much they mean to me while affecting my work.

People don’t necessarily associate kids or a lullaby record with some of the topics you’ve approached. Usually it’s all sunny dispositions. You’re singing adult themes at times with a lullaby melody.
There are 2 lullabies on this record that are written for my boys, the rest of the record is very much for adults, although the kids and babies can absolutely get a lot out of it. I think adults sometimes underestimate children’s brainpower. Children can be quite deep. Keegan hears very heavy lyrics sometimes, and he’s very quick to ask what they mean. I don’t know the answers, or pretend to know the answers.. It’s great to see his young brain wrap his head around the lyrics.

Keegan once said to me, “Daddy, when you die, I want to die on the same day as you.” And I said “What? What do you mean?” And he said, “Because I don’t want to be alone.” We haven’t had the death talk or anything, it’s just his way of working through where do people go when they die. One might say he’s too young to talk to that question, but you know, I feel the same way, If he ever should die, I’d like to go with him. It forces me to think about those issues that are going through his mind. He’s stimulated me a bunch of times and allowed me to think about issues I never had to think about before.

There are very few things I thought of the same way after Hannah was born. I am amazed at how she understands her place in the world.
Yeah, Keegan knows somewhat that he came out of Mommy, and I said, “Well, I had a part in this, too, you know? And so he asked, “well, what part? Mom made me, not you.” “No, no, I planted the seed,” so, of course, two weeks later, he’s all “So, how exactly did your seed get in Mommy?” I want to keep putting them off, I want him to stay 4 years old.

You were the first Great Big Sea member to have kids, so I’m sure the rest of the band treated you like a guinea pig in that regard.
We used to tour for a month at a time, but now the most we could all stand to be away is about two weeks. The cracks start to form in the band, we all have young kids, and they need their dads. We get it all done, it just takes a bit more trips.

Songwriting for you has changed since you became a father. In what other ways has it affected Great Big Sea?
We would all be down at the pub, and I would be leaving first, but I didn’t want to go. I thought, it’s not a bomb, it’s a baby, just give it some love, and it’ll be fine. But it IS a bomb, it’s a life-shattering event that you’re never quite prepared for it happening. When Keegan came along, I thought, “Oh, it won’t affect my time, it won’t affect my writing, but it affected every single aspect of my life in the most positive way that I ever could have imagined. I now write at different times, I write early in the morning, I rehearse and record late at night, I’ve learned how to take naps. Nobody tells you that stuff. I’m writing more now than ever before, I’m spending precious moments writing and I don’t waste time. I’m more focused. I don’t have that luxury to go to the cabin for a week and write a bunch of songs. It’s yielded a higher quality of songwriting for me. If you want something done, just give it to a busy person, they won’t make as many mistakes or take a long time because they can’t afford to, so I’ve had to approach my writing that same way.

This year’s Juno Awards were hosted by your hometown of St. John’s. Did you bring Keegan to any of the festivities?
A bit. We love the Barenaked Ladies’ Snacktime – it’s one of the CDs we listen to on a daily basis in our house – their music is so genius, so brilliant, their smiles and personalities really come through on the album. Keegan and I were driving around town one day during the Junos, and ran into Kevin (Hearn) and asked him if he wanted a ride. He got in, and I told Keegan who he was and he was just stunned and floored. Kevin started singing the “Popcorn” song, and I thought Keegan was just going to cry he was so happy.


'Great Big Sea explore fatherhood, say goodbye to party life on new disc' The Canadian Press – The News 2010 (no copyright infringement intended)

At more than a few points on their new record, Great Big Sea kick up raucous rackets reminiscent of their early days when they made their name on buoyant blends of accordion, bodhran and chanting choruses ready-made for pub singalongs.

And yet, so much has changed for the St. John's band since they issued their self-titled debut back in 1992.

Now, the band's three principal members - Alan Doyle, Sean McCann and Bob Hallett - are fathers of young children and spend less time pounding pints than doing diaper duty.

It's a transition they examine on the lively new disc "Safe Upon the Shore."

"(This album) is surprisingly thematic for something like this," Doyle said over drinks at a dim Toronto pub.

"A lot of songs on there are about the push and pull of the commitments you have at home and your love for being on the road and the band. That kind of guilt and pleasure that comes with being in a band.

"And also, the whole sadness of leaving home."

Doyle and the band were just settling into Day 1 on the road, with a long drive to Washington looming as well as more days promoting their new disc - out Tuesday - and a series of summer shows that kicks off with a performance at Ottawa Bluesfest on
Friday.

Between them, Doyle, McCann and Hallett have four young boys. With a harried home life awaiting them, hitting the road now becomes less about partying and more about finally getting some work done - and, if they're lucky, sleeping past 6 a.m.

"We go on the road to get in shape," Doyle said. "We wake up at 8 o'clock - two hours later than we get up at home, I might add - and you have 13 hours till the gig, so you end up recording records for other people and writing books and doing solo records."

Adds Hallett: "I actually look forward to the time on the road because it's actually more productive. I just sort of focus on the job at hand rather than getting caught up in domesticity."

It's a theme the band works through again and again on their new CD, as on the McCann-penned tune "Wandering Ways," which opens with the following chant: "Farewell to the whisky, tobacco and smoke/Farewell to the rum and occasional coke/ Farewell to the girls who came ready to play/ For this is the end of my wandering ways."

While that song is the sort of jaunty jig the band has long been known for, "Safe Upon the Sea" elsewhere finds Great Big Sea branching out.

They venture into austere folk territory with "Follow Me Back," incorporate New Orleans brass into the album-closing march "Don't Wanna Go Home," and showcase chiming vocal harmonies on "Long Life (Where Did You Go)."

"Almost everything we know how to do is on this record," Doyle said. "And, arguably, a couple things we don't know how to do."

The album is partly inspired by a weeklong songwriting retreat they organized in October in scenic Humber Valley, N.L., a picturesque town that becomes a popular tourist destination in the summer but, according to the band, was virtually empty during their fall visit.

They brought along Paul Lamb, Jeen O'Brien, Jeremy Fisher and Joel Plaskett, the Halifax indie favourite who has three songwriting credits on the band's new record.

They were so impressed by Plaskett, in fact, that they've asked him to produce a record for them.

"He's now booked until two and a half years from now," McCann said. "He's so energetic, and his vision of music, when he gets an idea in his head, is so very clear and he's able to articulate that idea so very clearly. He's going to be a great producer."

The record also features songwriting contributions from two other marquee names - Randy Bachman and actor Russell Crowe.

Bachman spent an afternoon with Doyle and together they crafted "Dear Home Town."

"He always wanted to write a song that was like a letter of apology to Winnipeg for having sold his soul for a song and left the town," Doyle said.

Crowe, meanwhile, became friends with Doyle after a chance meeting years ago in Toronto. They actually wrote "Hit the Ground and Run" together years back - long before Crowe helped Doyle land a role in his recent "Robin Hood" film.

The band says the songwriting approach allowed them to expand into less familiar - or comfortable - territory. But the diversified approach also meant that the band's principal trio only wrote two songs together.

The airy "Nothing But a Song" is one of those collaborations, written after Doyle and McCann had resolved a small intraband spat that developed over a long flight between Newfoundland and Vancouver.

"We got bumped up to first class, which is great, but also quite dangerous because (drinks) are free," McCann explained. "Way too much honesty came out there."

But the song is a sweet ode to brotherhood, in which the lyrics were spun from an apologetic email McCann sent Doyle the morning after the trip.

Such "rackets," as Doyle calls them, aren't exactly rare in the band.

"Any group, business, any partnership, has this illusion that fighting and discord is bad," Doyle said. "It's not. That's how you make things better.

"A brother can be difficult."

Added McCann: "Being in a band is like being married to two dudes. And you're never going to get laid."

Obviously, the band was in a jovial, talkative mood, cracking jokes often over a couple rounds of drinks.

For one day at least, they were feeling free.

"This is our first day on the road, so jeez, we're drinking pints and having the time of our lives," Doyle said.

Laughing, Hallett replied: "We were changing diapers yesterday, man. This is fantastic."

Lyndahere And Music Industry Lies…The future of music.

I found this article retweeted by Murray Foster from Great Big Sea really interesting about the 13 most pervasive lies in the music industry. The discussion attached to the article raised some interesting points.

I have raised some of these topics before in my journey as a music fan for example, the role of superfans and YouTube and Google in the future of music.

Superfans like Lyndahere or Lynda Elstad justify their distributing music for free on YouTube and other sites by believing the musicians and artists will get the money back through touring and selling merchandise. Of course touring is in Lyndahere’s best interests. It is what Lyndahere lives for because she gets to see and be with Alan Doyle.

The article raises some interesting comments about musicians making a living from music. :yndahere is under impression because she doesn’t need to make a living, the musicians and artists she constantly bootlegs don't either. I agree totally with some of the comments in that as consumers we should pay for what we consume including music. Lyndahere is providing YouTube and Google with free content and the musicians and artists are not being paid for it.      

There is the never ending discussion about Google, YouTube and Spotify (which I don’t know enough about to comment on). People are under the impression they can watch music for free on YouTube and have unlimited downloads with Spotify. All of course are related to a consumer’s Internet Service Provider’s plan and download limits. The Internet is free only if we don’t pay for it ourselves but someone is ultimately paying for it.

The writer states “This is business, not altruism, no matter how it gets spun. And, the interests of Google and rights owners are diabolically opposed and will continue to be so.  Which also means that anything that is DMCA-compliant is ultimately great for Google, and fantastically bad for content owners”.

There is a false perception because something on YouTube doesn’t have a DMCA compliant notice is DMCA compliant. Google and YouTube make it difficult for people to make complaints about breaches in copyright.

My understanding of YouTube contracts is people opening accounts need to have permission to load up material from the copyright holders. YouTube have passed on the obligation of enforcing copyright to the copyright holders even thought is their responsibility to check their customers have copyright permission from the copyright holders to upload content and to have processes in place for reporting breaches. They are not interested in the breaches of their own contracts. Copyright breaches can only be made and enforced by the copyright holders.

“The 13 Most Insidious, Pervasive Lies of the Modern Music Industry” by Paul Resnikoff Digital Music News published 25 September 2013

Lie #1: Great music will naturally find its audience.

The Lie: The greatest music and artists will eventually connect with their audiences, naturally, thanks to a perfectly-lubricated, social, and borderless internet.

“Our kids are going to watch exactly what they want to watch, not necessarily what’s marketed to them,” then Topspin CEO Ian Rogers said as recently as 2010, while constantly underscoring that “quality is hyperefficient.”

The Truth: Just like the analog old days, most great music gets left behind and wallows in obscurity if not substantially backed or otherwise supported financially.  In fact, the biggest songs on the planet are often those blasted the loudest on the biggest platforms – and oftentimes, granted the most money from major labels (ie, Katy Perry, Pitbull, Flo Rida, etc.)

Lie #2: Artists will thrive off of ‘Long Tail,’ niche content.

The Lie: The musical landscape will increasingly be dominated by smaller and smaller artists, with smaller (but stronger) audiences.  And, they will all make more money through direct fan relationships.

“Forget squeezing millions from a few megahits at the top of the charts,” Chris Anderson famously wrote in his ‘groundbreaking’ Wired article that started a misguided revolution.  ”The future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream.”

The Truth: Instead of unleashing a torrent of successful niches, the internet has actually made blockbusters bigger than before.  All while starving artists down the tail.

“So, while the tail is very interesting, the vast majority of revenue remains in the head,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt brutally revised just a few years later.  ”And this is a lesson that businesses have to learn.  While you can have a Long Tail strategy, you better have a head, because that’s where all the revenue is.”

Lie #3: The death of the major label will make it easier for artists to succeed.

The Lie: No more major labels to choke the supply!  No one to hold the artist back!

The Truth: Sadly, the avalanche of unfettered, unwashed content was never quite filtered by the music fan.  Instead, it was all mostly tuned out, except by a small number of trusted curators.  Which means, most artists are deluged in all that stuff, and have a hard time gaining traction.

“We’ve had 10-11 years of American Idol, so you’ve had 100 or 110 top ten people, and you can count on your hand the number of careers that have sustained off of that,” Irving Azoff said late last year.  ”So that just tells you that even with the massive exposure of network TV, how hard it is to make it in the music business.” 

Lie #4: There will be a death of the major label.

The Lie: Major labels will die out completely, while unleashing a utopia of contract-free, liberated artists.

The Truth: Majors are weakened but far from dead.  But more importantly, they are still controlling popular music and its consumption, and building and maintaining artist careers.  It’s the reason why Jay-Z is still signed with a major, and why Macklemore did a deal with Warner Music Group.

It’s also the dirty little secret behind Amanda Palmer’s current name brand (you’re welcome, Roadrunner).

Lie #5: Digital formats will produce far greater revenues than physical.

The Lie: The absence of major manufacturing overhead, shipping, and brick-n-mortar retailers will drastically reduce costs and pave the way for greater revenues and income.

The Truth: Digital sales volumes are not only lower, but an era of singles eviscerated marked-up, album bundles.  And the current era of ‘digital dimes’ means that per-track, per-stream, or per-whatever payouts are far lower.

These days, artists that can actually sell physical (like vinyl and CDs) make more money.  The same is true for nations: Japan is now the largest recorded music market in the world, thanks largely to strong CD and physical sales (and even rentals).

Lie #6: “The real money’s in touring”

The Lie: If artists just give away their music for free, and let it be social and free-flowing, they’ll make it up on the road.

The Truth: Fabulously true for artists like Pretty Lights and plenty of EDM artists, but not most other artists.  In fact, most artists are struggling to survive on the road, and even established names have been forced to can tours because the money just doesn’t make sense (see Imogen Heap).

Lie #7: There’s an emerging middle class artist.

The Lie: Internet-powered disintermediation will create a burgeoning ‘middle class’ of artists.  Not the limousine, Bono-style outrageous superstars, but good musicians that can support families and pay their bills.

The Truth: There is no musician middle class.  Instead, the music industry has devolved into a third world country, with a wide gulf between the rich and struggling/starving poor.

And, those ambitious middle-class artists that try to make ends meet by spending 350 days on the road are probably not raising very good families.

Lie #8: Kickstarter can and will build careers.

The Lie: Superfans will come out in droves to support their favorite artist projects, and power their awesome careers.

The Truth: So far, it’s happened for Amanda Palmer, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Murder by Death, and a few other artists.  Which is great for those artists, but most irrelevant for the broader artist community.

Lie #9: Spotify is your friend.

The Lie: Streaming on Spotify will make artists money, if they just wait long enough.

The Truth: Spotify will make Spotify and Wall Street tons of money, if they’re really lucky.  And they’ve already made tons of money for major labels, not artists.

And even superfans rarely stream enough to equal the nice, upfront, transparent royalty offered by an iTunes Store download.

Lie #10: Google and YouTube are your friends.

The Lie: Google and YouTube have anything but their own profit-maximization goals in mind.

The Truth: This is business, not altruism, not matter how it gets spun.  And, the interests of Google and rights owners are diabolically opposed and will continue to be so.  Which also means that anything that is DMCA-compliant is ultimately great for Google, and fantastically bad for content owners.

So if you want exposure, go to YouTube.  If you want a paycheck, find it somewhere else.

Lie #11: If Pandora could just lower royalties, they could then survive, and really help all the artists out there.

The Lie: Sadly, Tim Westergren’s bubble is making him one of the biggest boogeymen of the modern-day music industry.  In an impassioned (but largely deceiving) letter to artists, Westergren asked artists to sign a Congressional petition asking for lower royalty rates for internet radio.

The Truth: What Westergren forgot to mention was that by signing the petition, artists were also supporting their own rate cut, which led to high-profile protests from groups like Pink Floyd. Meanwhile, Westergren – whose Pandora cashouts now surpass $1 million a month – has devoted endless amounts of time towards both publishing and recording royalties in the courts and Capitol Hill.

Lie #12: T-Shirts!

The Lie: Not only is the money in touring, but artists will make a killing off of merch table sales and t-shirts.

The Truth: Very, very few artists are (a) supporting themselves through touring, and (b) if they are, making tons of money from merch.  Sadly, the greatest merch tables sales came from CDs — that is, up until the early 2000s or so.  It supported tours then, it doesn’t support anything now.

Lie #13: ‘Streaming is the future…’

The Lie: Access will trump everything, and lead to a better, richer music industry for everyone.

The Truth: Let’s see what this green pasture ultimately looks like.  Spotify is hundreds of millions deep in financing without a profit; Rhapsody is laying people off; YouTube has been subsidizing free music access for years.

So here’s your future: YouTube, which has driven the price of recorded music most aggressively towards $0, will be around tomorrow.  Spotify, Rhapsody, Deezer, Rdio, and Pandora may not be so lucky.

Why I have decided to watch piracy...another journey

It was a hard decision not to watch all kinds of pirated material. Two decisions lead me to decide to watch a pirated copy of Alan Doyle's Boy on Bridge documentary when it eventually appears. It is increasingly frustrating trying to do the right thing and watch legal material.

This week I went into a DVD store to buy a new series of one of my favourite television series. I was told it would not be available until next  year. But they are already three seasons ahead in the US I tell the assistant who looks at me unsympathetically.

The second has been explained in the previous post. As the Great Big Sea fandom buzzes with excitement of Alan Doyle's documentary being shown on Canadian television, a lot of other fans including Americans and I can't watch it so I am going to watch a pirated copy.

I am on a journey into the world of pirated material and looking for reasons as to why we should watch pirated material whether it be music, movies or television shows.

To be continued...

Lyndahere And Illegal Downloading In Canada...Revised again.

There is a bit more to this story. @lyndahere or Lynda Elstad has said on a recent post on her blog 'Between the Rock and a Hard Place' published on the 8 November, 2013 that she watched 'Boy on Bridge' on a Movie Network channel.

However, on her Twitter site there are only tweets for advertising the documentary around 18 April 2013 when it first premiered. There is no indication she watched the documentary or tweeted Alan Doyle around this time about it.

It is very unlike Lyndahere to see something made by Alan Doyle and not comment on it on Twitter or write about it on a blog post. There was only one post on her blog for 5 April, 2013 about the Great Big Sea shows in Alberta. The next one was in May for Alan's birthday which contain a brief mention.

The main thing is here is that Lyndahere has decided not to distribute a pirated copy of the Boy on Bridge documentary and encouraged fans to view it legally in which ever form it appears.

Lyndahere has been copying illegal images from Alan Doyle’s documentary 'Boy on Bridge', and distributing them via Twitter a documentary that she is unable to watch because CMT isn’t showing it in America. Lyndhere is currently in Seattle and will have to find a pirated copy to watch from somewhere. Neither did she retweet the official promotion of the documentary by CMT on her Twitter site rather deciding to retweet it with her comments added on to a tweet sent by @scottgrimes.

It is not the first time Lyndahere has screwed CMT and Alan Doyle over. She set up an account under the name of her friend Christina Templeton in Newfoundland. The account had tweeted once and then tweeted Alan Doyle and Sonic Entertainment for tickets to the 'Live At Revival' concert which she got. Lyndahere walked in with her camera and bootlegged the entire performance at the same time CMT filmed it. She then pirated the entire CMT 'Live at Revival' special on her YouTube site Between the Rock. This is not the first time nor will it be the last.

Lyndahere knows the drill from CMT. I gather CMT would have paid for the privilege to have the documentary on their station. People outside Canada do not seem to be able to watch content from their site. If a musician or artist want people to see their work outside of a country then piracy on YouTube is not the answer. Nor should fans breach the deals they make with companies and distribute it illegally. And musicians and artists should not reward it.   

I found this interesting article about the future of illegal downloading in Canada published in the Saskatchewan News in December last year. It raises many of the same issues written in another article I have just put up on illegal downloading in Canada and how a Canadian software company is tracking over one million people for illegally downloading music and movies. (No copyright infringement intended).

What you should know about illegal downloading in Canada

'Regina copyright lawyer breaks down the impact of the Copyright Modernization Act' by Adriana Christianson, published on 4 Dec, 2012.

The Canadian music and film industry now has more streamlined options to punish the people who are still downloading movies or music, but a local copyright lawyer explains it’s not likely to happen very often.

Last week news broke that a Canadian software company is tracking one million people for illegally downloading music and movies. It's all thanks to changes that came into play in early November with the Copyright Modernization Act.

So what does it all mean legally? Regina-based copyright lawyer Cory Furman says the changes were made to clarify previously grey areas and allow for more enforcement around illegally downloading material.

“It’s primarily intended to catch –- and where I think there’s starting already to be some enforcement activity happening -- is around peer to peer file sharing,” Furman explained.

He admits it is a long and complicated process to actually take someone to court for breaking this law. First, they have to track IP addresses linked to file sharing on BitTorrent sites. Furman says that does apply to both people who download and those who upload.

Forensic software companies like Montreal-based Canipre can find those IP addresses by monitoring sites where they find illegally uploaded material.

After they find you, they have to send notice to your Internet Service Provider listing which IP addresses are linked to illegal downloading. From there the ISP is protected from liability but they do have a role to play.

“They then are required to pass on that notice to their customers,” Furman said.

That step comes down to a warning letter from the ISP to their customers saying they have been tracked for illegal downloading and could face legal action if they continue. Furman says if people keep downloading movies or movies after that, then they can take you to court.

“The rights holder can actually seek to have the ISP produce the particulars of the customer – so identify the customer who was behind that IP address,” Furman explains that allows them to effectively take legal action for copyright infringement.

That is what happened in a Montreal federal court recently. Several ISPs were ordered to give up the names and addresses of 50 subscribers who were linked to illegal downloading.

If it comes to legal action, Furman says copyright holders in the industry do have a more streamlined system than they used to. They can seek statutory damages without the need to go through a longer process of proving exactly how much money they really lost.

“They can basically seek in the statement of claim to have an award of statutory damages in the amount of up to $5,000 for example,” Furman said.

They still have the option to seek actual damages for more money but that would be harder to prove. This makes the law easier to enforce, but even with the changes, Furman says they still have to go through the court to prove the law was broken.

Due to the fact that it’s still a complicated and long process to go to court, Furman doubts these copyright laws will be enforced every time they find someone downloading material. He does believe we could see some cases popping up in the near future.

“It probably will be used enough to sort of create some public deterrent to people file sharing or downloading stuff without paying for it,” he said. “It may be the case that a particular copyright owner or rights holder might just choose to make an example of a couple of people.”

Lyndahere And The Illegal Copying Of Images… Why we should care !

@lyndahere or Lynda Elstad is illegally copying pictures from Alan Doyle’s 'Boy on Bridge' documentary/DVD and distributing them via Twitter and other social media. 

She may also be giving a false impression to her followers that some how she has been involved in taking photographs and the making of the documentary/DVD. Lyndahere is giving a false impression that this activity of illegally copying photographs has been approved by CMT and Alan Doyle. If Alan Doyle or CMT wanted to distribute professional images they would have.

This information is from a previous post about Lyndahere and taking pictures in the movies but also can be applied to taking images off documentaries/DVDs.

Taking pictures of a movie projected in a theatre is also illegal under the copyright act. A patron in a movie theatre cannot reproduce a movie, distribute a work, perform the content elsewhere, display a copy of the movies or make derivative works.

A derivative work is defined by Copyright Kids as “a work that is based up one or more pre-existing works. One of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner is to make derivative works. The United States Copyright Act gives many examples of what is a derivative work. One example is a motion picture based upon a book. If you create a derivative work with the permission of the owner of the underlying work, you as the author of the derivative work can obtain a copyright covering the original material you contributed”. 

An image taken off a DVD would be a derivative work. There are a whole range of works which are protected under copyright and include musicals, motion pictures, other audio visual sounds and sound recordings.

There are some circumstances in which people can reproduce others work without permission. Copyright Kids describes fair usage 

“The exclusive rights of the copyright owner are not unlimited. The copyright law establishes some limitations on these rights. One of the most important limitations on the exclusive rights is the doctrine of "Fair Use." The "Fair Use" doctrine allows limited copying of copyrighted works for educational and research purposes. The copyright law provides that reproduction "for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research" is not an infringement of copyright. The law lists the following factors, which courts must consider together in determining whether a particular use of a copyrighted work is a permitted "Fair Use," or is instead an infringement of the copyright”.

It was difficult to find information about taking pictures of movies in a theatre. There is plenty of information on how to take pictures off DVDs using a home computer but not in movie theatres. It is also illegal to copy pictures from DVDs.

So why should we care? Copyright Kids provides an excellent answer…

“As the creator of your work, you should have the right to control what people can and cannot do with your work. In the United States - one of the world's biggest sources of creative works like movies, television shows, books, computer games, etc. -- this right to control your work has actually turned into big business, but that's what allows all the creative people around us to get paid for coming up with all the wonderful songs, shows, books, painting, movies and other great works that we enjoy. Just think of all the cool songs your favorite band wrote, the great books you loved reading, the plays, movies and television shows you love to watch again and again. These talented musicians, authors, illustrators and screenwriters deserve our respect and appreciation - and they deserve to make a living from the hard work they put into their creative works -- otherwise most of them wouldn't be able to produce as many (or any) of the songs, books, plays, movies and TV shows that you like. That's what copyright is all about. It reflects our appreciation for all the hard work that goes into creating "original works of authorship" and respect for the right of the creator of that work to control what people can and cannot do with it.”

Murray, Thanksgiving And Illegally Downloading Material...Some thoughts.

MurrayFoster@murrayfoster1  Illegal downloading your fave band is like going to your parent’s place for Thanksgiving and stealing $5 from their dresser on the way out. 23 October 2013,

After reading a Twitter tweet by Murray Foster from Great Big Sea I began researching and reading information about illegal downloading of all material including music. I found the following article published this year in the Calgary Herald.

“That’s (not) the attitude here in Canada: It’s a pervasive sense of entitlement,” he said. “(Illegally) downloading content should also be socially unacceptable.” Barry Logan Canipre Anti-Piracy Enforcement firm.

The article “Effort afoot in court to sue Canadians for illegal downloads” describes how a Canadian firm has been monitoring Canadian's illegal downloading activities of copyrighted content for several months. There is now an action before the Federal Court in Toronto for over 1000 IP addresses and to take legal and other action against people who illegally download.

Part of the action also involves education…“Our collective goal is not to sue everybody... but to change the sense of entitlement that people have, regarding Internet-based theft of property.”

Effort afoot in court to sue Canadians for illegal downloads By Pierre Chauvin published in The Canadian Press on 12 May. 2013 (no copyright infringement intended).

MONTREAL — Massive lawsuits targeting people who illegally download copyrighted content are common in the U.S., where people have been stuck with hefty fines and out-of-court settlements.

Now there’s an attempt to bring that to Canada.

At the center of the effort is Canipre, the only anti-piracy enforcement firm that provides forensic services to copyright-holders in Canada.

The Montreal-based firm has been monitoring Canadian users’ downloading of pirated content for several months. It has now gathered more than one million different evidence files, according to its managing director Barry Logan.

One of its clients is now before Federal Court in Toronto, requesting customer information for over 1,000 IP addresses — a user’s unique Internet signature — collected by Canipre.

That client is the American studio Voltage Pictures, maker of hundreds of films including the Academy Award-winning “Hurt Locker.”

On the other side of the case is Teksavvy, an Ontario-based Internet provider. The IP addresses flagged by Canipre link back to its users.

The case is set to resume next month.

If the court orders Teksavvy to hand over customer info, it could be the beginning of a new chapter in the anti-piracy battle in Canada.

“We have a long list of clients waiting to go to court,” said Canipre’s Logan, who estimates that about 100 different companies are paying close attention to the case.

These lawsuits have been common in the U.S. Between 200,000 and 250,000 people have been sued in the last two years, according to one Internet civil-liberties group.

“They send off threatening letters telling them, ‘If you don’t pay up we’re going to name you in this lawsuit and you could be on the hook for up to $150,000 in damages,”’ said Corynne McSherry, intellectual property director of that group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Canadians don’t risk such severe damages, because of a bill passed last year that modified the federal Copyright Act.

Bill C-11 imposed a limit of $5,000 on damages awarded for non-commercial copyright infringement, which applies to the average consumer who downloads films.

“The reason Parliament did that (is) they didn’t want the courts to be used in this way,” said David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic.

The advocacy group is an intervenor in the Toronto case.

“Copyright is supposed to be a framework legislation. It’s not supposed to be used for building a compensation model.” He says the phenomenon of file-sharing suits is relatively new in Canada.

He said there has only been a single file-sharing lawsuit in Canada, launched by the music industry. The case, BMG Canada Inc. vs. John Doe, was launched in 2004, and it failed.

Fewer said no similar attempts have been made — until now.

“I’m a little bit surprised to see this (new) litigation popping up in Canada. We typically don’t have a culture in Canada for this kind of use of courts,” Fewer said.

For now, Canipre is the only Canadian firm providing this type of service. And it’s proud of the work it does.

“We understand the culture of piracy,” Logan said, adding that he has been involved in numerous IP-related litigation cases across Canada.

“We’re bringing that model up here as a means to change social attitudes toward downloading,” said the Canipre executive. “Many people know it is illegal but they continue to do it.”

The company advertises its ability to conduct “aggressive takedown campaigns” for clients.

It monitors websites where pirated content is known to be available, and it searches for its clients’ content. When it finds violations, Canipre asks the hosting website to remove the content — a process known as a takedown request.

“By aggressive, what we’re saying is, ‘We don’t do one or two takedown (requests), we do 1,000-2,000 at a time,”’ said Logan, who lives in Ontario.”We’ve managed to put a business process in place with a lot of the top-tier platforms that provide pirated content.”

But his company services don’t just include suing people. He says there’s an educational message, too.

“Our collective goal is not to sue everybody... but to change the sense of entitlement that people have, regarding Internet-based theft of property.”

“File Saturation” is one example of an educational message.

The firm uploads a harmless file to sharing websites which closely resembles the content users are seeking. There is one key difference: This particular file is completely useless.

The goal of that effort? Make it harder and more time-consuming to download illegally.

Logan expects Federal Court to order the Internet provider, Teksavvy, to hand over customer information.

Regardless of the outcome of the case, Logan will keep fighting against piracy.

“Litigation is not the only tool that will change piracy — it’s simply a tool.”

Logan wants piracy to become a taboo, much like drinking-and-driving is now.

“That’s (not) the attitude here in Canada: It’s a pervasive sense of entitlement,” he said. “(Illegally) downloading content should also be socially unacceptable.”

For now, piracy remains strong in Canada: there were more than 370,000 Bit Torrent transactions over a month — a transaction being each time a user opens a session to download a film — according to statistics gathered by Canipre for its clients.

Those statistics only include Canipre’s clients, so the actual Canadian number is far higher.