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."
“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."
