Sean McCann...Looking and sounding fantastic.

What an amazing photo!...I would love to go see Sean McCann sing in Toronto.

(from Sean McCann's official Twitter account. No copyright infringement intended)

“Sean McCann can’t talk right now…” An interview and a fan's response.

I would like to wish Sean McCann all the best following the surgery he had on Wednesday on his vocal cords. Recently Sean did an interview with The Telegraph in St. John’s, Newfoundland about the surgery, the release of his new album “You Know I Love You”, his tour in the Canadian Fall, some interesting comments about his observations on social interactions and smartphones, the listening music habits of people, the quality of music we are hearing on smartphones and being a do it yourself musician. I have written a response here.

I have  shared the article on Google + “Sean McCann can’t talk to you right now, but when he gets his voice back watch out” by Tara Bradbury published on 16 June 2016 in The Telegram in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Sean discussed the music listening habits of the public and that influenced him in the way he released the album. I must say I am really intrigued and excited by the format he has chosen to release his new album. Like a lot of fans I will be looking forward to Saturdays over the northern summer and listening to and seeing a video of one song a week. “The idea of putting out one song at a time, I’m having a hard time with that because that’s not how I listen to music…I am going to try the single thing, do one a week and not tax people’s attention spans, because they are busy. I’d rather take little steps and go further….”  

Sean said “But that’s the way the world is. The world lives on the phone, I really think these phones fracture our attention spans. I was walking around Pearson airport one day and there were about 5,000 people in the terminal, and no one was talking. Everyone’s eyes were down. I found it very metaphorical and it shocked me a little bit, but I don’t want to be in denial. The convenience they bring to the table is amazing. I think there is a kind of sacrifice that I hear in the quality of the music collections are (on people’s phones) but the convenience factor is more important on a society level. Convenience will trump quality…”

While the way people socially interact with each other has changed due to phones in Canada’s biggest city Toronto, it certainly looks like it is becoming that way in Australia. Phones are certainly distracting us from being in a space with the people we are with, in the here and now. I too have noticed the ever present phone coming between people, especially when they go out for meals and other social events. It just seems acceptable these days to spend time on the phone texting and using social media  while out with others.

Yes, I agree with Sean that phones are amazingly convenient in particular, for those of us without tablets or ipads. One of the major factors about using a phone for music for me is I can buy digital music/content from overseas and in particular Canada and Newfoundland that normally wouldn’t be available in other preferred formats like CDs  and where the postage is usually the cost of another album. So while the delivery method is not ideal and quality is poor, digital music is better than not having the music I want at all.

I certainly agree with Sean phones are convenient and yes I am like other people who want their information here and now. I use my phone for listening to music, reading digital books and researching. But I don’t spend as much time as I use to on my phone since I closed all of my social media accounts. I don’t take my phone out with me and certainly not to social occasions with friends and family. It is an odd feeling being the only person not checking out  what the rest of their friends and family are doing somewhere else rather than being with the people they are. But that just seems acceptable conduct for people these days and in particular for younger people.  

When I was recently in Canada and St. John’s, Newfoundland there is so much free Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is everywhere including hotels, public transport, restaurants, shopping centres and food chains. As a consequence I spent a lot of time on my phone taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi. Compared to where I live in Australia, there is virtual none and if there is the usage is capped.  

Sean makes some interesting comments about the challenges of being a do it yourself musician. I love the way he is releasing his new music week by week and with a short video clip to accompany it. I certainly love the first song of the album “You Know I Love You” and the fantastic black and white video. As a technological illiterate person I am having a bit of trouble locating where to buy the song and get it from the webpage onto my phone. But like Sean I will rise to the challenge. 

Fandom An Unexpected Journey…Three years of fandom.

Note: Sonic Entertainment did respond. The 39 bootlegged videos were flagged and removed. I was informed in September 2015 after another issue was raised. As a consequence I removed my statement they did not respond from this post.

It has been nearly three years (17 June 2012) since I first started to write this blog about my journey through these fandoms. Over the past couple of weeks I have taken time to relax and reflect on what has happened to me in the fandom (and some of the fans) and where I am going. As the musicians and actors and their careers have changed, so to have the fans, the activities they engage in, and how they share their stories on social media about their experiences have changed. Some projects have ended such as the television show Republic of Doyle and others such as Great Big Sea are enjoying a hiatus with their members enjoying success doing individual projects. But as a blogger it has been hard to keep up with all the different projects and fan stuff.

Alan Doyle released his So Let’s Go album, completed his So Let’s Go tour, got nominated for a couple of book awards for his book Where I Belong and is looking forward to some festivals in the summer and touring with The Barenaked Ladies during the Canadian Fall. What a concert that would be. Sean McCann has been touring and playing some small intimate shows throughout Canada and recorded another album. Bob Hallett has been busy with his pub Erin’s and restaurant Travola in St. John’s, managing The Once and helping out on a new play about to premier in the United States about Newfoundland. Murray Foster has been trying to turn his movie the Cocksure Lads into a television series, playing gigs with the Cocksure Lads and conducting a song writing school in Toronto. Kris Macfarlane has been playing with Alan Doyle as part of the Beautiful Gypsies and with other bands. Russell Crowe has just finished promoting his movie The Water Diviner which was released overseas. Wow. I am just exhausted thinking about all the interesting individual projects Great Big Sea and their friends have been involved in during their hiatus. Yet in places like the Online Kitchen Party for the Great Big Sea community on Facebook the fans are still discussing Great Big Sea and their future.

As a blogger who likes to research this fandom and the stories the fans share, this has been a really interesting and often challenging time keeping up with all the exciting events they have travelled too from far and wide. The fans still share their beautiful words, stories, pictures and concert videos brilliantly via social media including Twitter, Facebook and on chat lines. Fans travelled from around the world to attend Russell Crowe’s film the Water Diviner, travelled to see Alan Doyle and Sean McCann in concert, attend charity events and other events. I was lucky enough to go on yet another fan pilgrimage to Newfoundland early this year to see and meet Alan Doyle and see Sean McCann play at the Holy Heart theatre in St. John’s. Travelling to St. John's and Newfoundland was another dream come true.

I also have continued to be a collector of anything fan created and professional reviews, video clips and photographs by the actors and musicians and shared them via my Google + page. An easy stop for anyone who is interested in what I am interested in (with the exception of Russell Crowe, Scott Grimes and Allan Hawco as that information is collected on other fan sites with a lot more diligence than me although I will often share something if it is about the fans). My Google + page has had over 11000 hits.

Like in any fandom there are always highs and lows. And while I have had many private highs that perhaps other fans don’t really know about and in particular how much some of their sharing can mean to people like me who can’t be there, there have been lows. It is was sad to read that some people considered me a troll when I raised the issue of 39 illegal recordings that were distributed by the administrator of the Online Kitchen Party Facebook page and I am going to say this without permission from the copyright holders. (Irrelevant of the cost to download them was more than an album and without considering the impact that decision may have on a future live album).

It seems acceptable in this fandom and it seems that one of the only fandoms where there cannot be a respectful discussion about piracy, bootlegging and copyright and creating a sustainable future for music without some kind of abuse including name calling like a troll being bandied around. Despite the large number of professionally made videos at great expense to the musicians, some fans continue to make and feed people a constant diet of illegal bootlegged videos and recordings made without acknowledgement or support. And yet they continue to call themselves fans. (That is distinct from those that are made as part of the genuine concert experience and those with approval, that are quality and circulated on YouTube).

Alan Doyle has again endorsed Lyndahere’s bootlegging and piracy by retweeting a bootlegged recording today as this post was being written. On Twitter Alan told a fan if she wanted to use his music for anything else other than personal use they would need permission from Universal Music Canada. However, Lyndahere’s bootlegging and piracy has never been for personal use and was specifically recorded for public consumption and sharing. But he found this acceptable. To the best of my knowledge his music and the recordings from his latest two albums are owned by Universal Music in Canada. I guess as he has finished with the music and it is no longer needed that it is okay to endorse bootlegging and piracy. So I am all out of sympathy for him because Lyndahere like she always does and will ruin one of his projects in the future for him and his friends by stealing it and distributing it for free first. I am also disappointed for the fans who constantly do the right thing.

Lyndahere has never bootlegged Alan Doyle music for her own personal use. Lyndahere has always bootlegged it without permission and to be shared with no regard to the copyright holders. Unlike Lyndahere who is first to jump up and down when someone uses her stuff without acknowledgement or permission. She also doesn't share anything from other fans or anything without there being something in it for her. Every tweet she sends has her own face on it. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the origins of whose work it is. It has been a long time since Lyndahere retweeted on Twitter a tweet by Alan Doyle without her photo or comment on it. Neither the death of Molly the dog or Cory's lost guitar would warrant a retweet in their own right. On Facebook she only shares cute stuff about puppies, kittens and some quizz telling followers what a brilliant person she is.

I also found her comments on Twitter about changing her flight schedule a day early due to St. John's bad weather totally self absorbed. The cost of a return flight from St. John's to Toronto would be the weekly wage of many Newfoundlanders and the change of flight costs a day's pay for others. I am still no closer to finding out who pays for this total self indulgence of something she really doesn't have to do. But I suspect her friend Christina Templeton is funding these activities with credit cards. Lyndahere is clearly out of touch with reality living in a little jelly bean house in downtown St. John's. 

I have found her recent photos and bootlegs annoyingly and embarrassingly bad in particular, the dreadful faces that she found by stalking through her videos on Alan Doyle. Alan Doyle is just doing his job. That overbite thing she had latched onto like an adolescent school girl bullying the cool guy at high school is neither cute or funny but totally embarrassing too. Another annoying thing Lyndahere has latched on to is that calls Alan Doyle 'Boy'. It is another thing that is again neither cute nor funny but patronizing from someone who is neither family nor a friend and goes on and on.

Alan Doyle's inconsistency about piracy and bootlegging are now his own problems as his policy is unclear for fans. I have always known that Alan Doyle has supported bootlegging which is also piracy. He now needs to come out and support Lyndahere and her bootlegging and piracy consistently and regardless of the consequences which will be interference and control in any further projects. Of course Lyndahere will be there next time to pirate, bootleg and distribute for free the creative work of others as she always does. Good luck to all the people who have an invested interest in those in getting a return both creatively and financially.

This is different than the bootlegging endorsed by Sean McCann at his recent concerts. Sean McCann to the best of my knowledge owns his recent music and albums. At no time while he was with Great Big Sea did he endorse Lyndahere’s bootlegging of their music via social media. I also like quality bootlegging done as part of the concert experience and by genuine fans.

Well…Where to next? In early May of this year I wrote this after reflecting when one of my posts reaching 1000 visits. These comments still remain the essence of my blog writing today.

“Long ago I had an ambition to be a journalist. I even studied sports journalism at university for a semester but hated it. So that was the end of my ambitions to be a journalist. I have always been an information junkie and loved to research and write even though I am not really good at it. Blog writing fulfils those research and writing ambitions and interests that are fun.

When you have been dismissed as having nothing of interest to say on social media, then having a say becomes important. Having a say isn’t just about identifying what is wrong in my part of the world, defending those I love or standing up for others I love, it is about recognising what is good, wonderful and exciting too. And there is plenty of goodness. Writing this blog is also about telling a story.

One of the most important aspects of me writing a blog is education. If I can get someone to think about something for even just for a minute or hopefully for a bit longer, to be critical of what they hear and see that influences them to change their behaviour to make someone’s life a little bit better, that is good thing. On some days it feels like I am swimming against the tide and almost drowning but then I come up for air and all is right in the world”.

Thank you to all the people who continue to visit my blog. In the past three years 5000 Canadians and 15000 Americans have read some aspect of my blog plus a couple of thousand Australians, English, French and others. So many thanks to all the people who visit and read it.


Liz Smith