Alan Doyle informed fans on his most recent Facebook live
post from St. John’s that he was heading off to a concert in Ottawa and then to
record the new album for 10 days in
Vancouver.
Next week, on the 20 January, 2015 it will be two years since the ‘So Let’s Go’ album was released, so I thought it would be really interesting to go back and visit some of Alan’s thoughts and words about the making of the album, and look at images via interviews and some social media posts in the days leading up to and immediately after the release of the album.
Alan did a lot of brilliant publicity for the album throughout the year. Here are some of those that I found interesting.
‘Take Us Home’ premiers on the final episode of Republic of Doyle…Alan Doyle Official Facebook, 10 December, 2014.
Prior to the release of the ‘So Let’s Go’ album, fans had already heard some of the fabulous songs off the album for example, ‘Take Us Home’. The song premiered on the final episode of Republic of Doyle. I found this great post of an Alan Doyle selfie from his official Facebook page advertising the event.
‘National Post Sessions: Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle is looking for something true to sing on ‘So Let’s Go’ by Jon Dekel on published on the 21 January, 2015.
My favourite traditional interview still remains the ‘National Post Sessions: Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle is looking for something true to sing on ‘So Let’s Go’ by Jon Dekel on published on the 21 January, 2015. Alan answered some questions about the album and made two totally gorgeous videos with Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson that were attached to the article ('So Let's Go' and 'Paper in Fire'.
This is my favourite quote from the interview…
Q: How did the writing process for this album differ from your work with Great Big Sea?
A: The songs on So Let’s Go were written in a way I would never write in the past. I just thought it would be an awesome experiment to have a big pop music production centered by a simple guy whistling and playing his mandolin. With a folk song I’d sit with my guitar and come up with a story I wanted to tell and then I’d wrap a melody around that. For this I wanted to go into the rooms where the most popular music in the country was being made and make that kind of music but centred on a guy from Petty Harbour. All the best pop songs have something honest and true at the heart of them so why not have that part be me and my story?"
I have provided a link to the original article published, and circulated a copy of these videos on my Google + page for those interested.
http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/music/national-post-sessions-great-big-seas-alan-doyle-is-looking-for-something-true-to-sing-on-so-lets-go
‘An Evening With Alan Doyle January 26 2015… by Sean Sisk’.
The So Let’s Go tour album was released on 20 January, 2015 and the tour with the same name began the day after. There were several shows in Ontario, Canada and then the Ottawa concert on the 26 January before heading back to Ontario.
Sean Sisk a Canadian photographer based in Ottawa was asked to photograph a concert in Ottawa and wrote about his experience on his webpage Sean Sisk Photography. Included in this collection are three gorgeous black and white photographs, a group photograph of Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies, and two photographs of Alan walking the halls with Stickman Tak before the concert. There is also one of the band interacting with the audience.
There is a totally fabulous collection of colour photographs from which show Alan Doyle, the solo artist, the band member and interacting with audience. Sean also included a copy of the setlist for the concert. Only several of the songs from the album were incorporated into the concert including ‘So Let’s Go’, ‘Sins of Saturday Night’, ‘Stay’, ‘1,2,3,4’, and ‘Take Us Home’. Others were added as the tour went on such as ‘Shine On’.
Sean also wrote that after the concert Alan interacted with fans and was happy to meet, talk and sign memorabilia.
‘An evening with Alan Doyle January 26 2015’… by Sean Sisk can be found at Sean Sisk Photography.com
http://siskphoto.ca/an-evening-with-alan-doyle/ (no copyright infringement intended)
‘Alan Doyle: Celebrating the good times’ by Jeff published on the 28 April, 2015 in Wopperjaw.com
My favorite thoughts from this interview were…
Your new album is “an album for celebrating the good times.” Talk about that.
I joke that I wrote songs for a concert more than a record. I wanted these songs to be the cornerstone for a great night out for people. I wanted the songs to be ideal for a great concert.
The opening number is really exuberant.
“So Let’s Go” is a bit of a personal mantra of mine that I’ve had for years. It’s a call to action. In my mind, it’s the simplest piece of advice I give people over the years. So often people overthink things and doubt things and wonder if they’ll ever get a chance to do things. They say, “I want to go downtown.” I say, “So let’s go.” They say, “I want to go to Europe.” I say, “So let’s go.” “I want to go back to school to learn to be a dentist.” I say, “So let’s go.” It’s really a call to action and a celebration for people who realize that time is short."
Alan Doyle on The Marilyn Denis Show on 19 January, 2015.
Alan Doyle appeared on The Marilyn Denis Show with Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson. The Alan Doyle Trio performed “So Let’s Go” from the album.
Attached to the post are two gorgeous photos, one of Alan, Cory and Kendel and the other Alan. I have posted a copy of them here. No copyright infringement intended.
