Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle And ‘The Musical’ Album… By The Indoor Garden Party.

Russell Crowe recently announced on his official Twitter account that ‘The Musical’ album from the Indoor Garden Party crew will be available for pre-order from the 28 April, 2017 and officially released on the 16 June, 2017. ‘The Musical’ will be available digitally and on CD and Vinyl worldwide. Those fans who pre-order will receive four new songs from the album in advance.

In other relevant news that has got the fans talking is Russell Crowe hinted he has been trying to organise an Indoor Garden Party in the coming months. Originally planned to coincide with the release of album those plans have now been postponed as there has been some difficulty in getting all the artists and musicians with busy schedules and successful careers in one place.

For those new fans who may be asking what is an Indoor Garden Party I have included a copy of some reviews and news articles that have happened over the years. The Indoor Garden Parties in New York at Joe’s Pub and the Gramercy Theatre attracted world-wide media when special guests appeared. Russell and Hugh Jackman sang songs from their movie Les Miserables. Most of those news articles include a few bootlegged videos taken by fans.

I have also included a copy of an article from an Australian newspaper prior to the Indoor Garden Parties in Australia in January, 2014 as it provides an overview of what has happened in the past for those new fans and a photograph. No copyright infringement intended.

I have also included a photograph taken from a video on the official Russell Crowe Instagram site from an Indoor Garden Party. As always no copyright infringement intended.

My favourite reviews are always by long term fans and this one is from Brian Kremkau from an online music review page ReadJunk.com because of the love and thought that goes into writing his reviews. No copyright infringement intended.

‘Rusty’s big gig: famous friends banding together’. By S. Singleton, published on 13 December. 2014 by the Coffs Harbor Adocate.

NANA Glen's favourite farmer is gifting the Coffs Coast a one-off holiday treat.

Russell Crowe is returning to his hinterland home and bringing with him some very talented friends.
The Oscar-winning actor is producing The Indoor Garden Party at the Jetty Memorial Theatre over four nights from January 10-13.

Coffs Harbour will be the only place in Australia to see the show, which has received rave reviews around the world.

The unique production has already been staged in London, St John's Newfoundland and recently in New York City at the Gramercy Theatre and Joe's pub.

Speaking from the location of the new film he is both directing and starring in, The Water Diviner, Russell said the Indoor Garden Party was about friends who loved performing getting together telling stories and singing songs.

"They are very informal parties and always full of laughs and when you have voices like my friends have ... spine-tingling is the phrase that comes to mind."

The show will have a focus on the songwriting partnership which Russell has developed with his friend Alan Doyle of Canada's prominent folk band Great Big Sea for almost a decade. Great Big Sea this year celebrated 20 years of touring and album sales topping 1.5 million units.

Apart from Russell and Alan, the line-up is best described as eclectic.

The Indoor Garden Party promises to be an enthralling evening.

As well as performances by Russell and Alan Doyle the show will highlight the talents of an amazingly diverse and acclaimed roster of artists.

They include; Samantha Barks who played Éponine in the film version of Les Misérables, as well as various theatre roles in London's West End, including the role of Nancy in Oliver. She has recently completed filming Dracula Untold where she plays the character Baba Yaga and is currently filming The Devil's Harvest.

American actor, voice artist and singer-songwriter Scott Grimes who has toured with everyone from Bob Hope to Michael Jackson;

Swedish songwriter and producer Carl Falk who has co-written and co-produced hits such as What Makes You Beautiful, One Thing, Live While We're Young, Kiss You (for One Direction) and Starships and Pound The Alarm (for Nicki Minaj). 

In 2012 Carl was listed as No. 4 on the Music Week Top 100 Songwriters of the Year; Irish brothers Owen and Moley O Suilleabhain who perform as Size2shoes who have performed with The Chieftains, Bobby McFerrin, renowned poet David Whyte, and violinist Nigel Kennedy; Scottish actor, piper and bandleader Charlie Allan who Russell met on the set of Gladiator where he played the famed leader of the Barbarian Hordes in the opening scene; and Queanbeyan poet and rapper Omar Musa who won the Australian Poetry Slam in 2008 and the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2009.

It promises to be a show unlike any that has ever been seen in the place which Russell has called home for 17 years.

"It wasn't hard to convince anyone to come. The idea of spending time together and putting on a show is usually all the motivation any of them need but adding in that this time around it is in Coffs Harbour is a bonus," Russell said.

In addition, Russell said the line-up always features special guests which over time have included Sting and Hugh Jackman.





'Indoor Garden Party (Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle and Sting) @ Gramercy Theatre, New York.' by Brian Kremkau for readjunk.com (no copyright infringement intended)

Date: October 13th 2012 Other Performers: Samantha Barks, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand, Size2Shoes and others.

It was an all-star night last night at Gramercy Theater for The Indoor Garden Party in New York City. Actor Russell Crowe and Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle performed many songs off their album The Crowe / Doyle Songbook Vol. III, but they got help from their friends & colleagues Samantha Barks, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand, and Irish group Size2Shoes. Oh yeah, and Sting made an appearance at the end too!!!

The show was sold out (I felt like I was youngest one there haha), and the club had a weird setup. I had general admission tickets, so my wife Kristen and I had to stand up in between the stadium seating in the back and the seats down on the ground. I wanted to sit on the side but apparently that wasn’t okay. Most people had seats and there wasn’t many people standing. We ended up being close to the bar. Camera crew was around including a big crane and tons of video cameras. I can see why I was turned down to shoot this.

Russell Crowe came out with a wireless mic and was leading the crowd in vocal warm-ups and making everyone sound like horses. It was weird and funny, and he performed a “Ol’ Man River” from Showboat. After that he asked Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes and others to come out and explain how they warm-up and get ready. They decided to sing “Hit The Ground and Run” from the latest Great Big Sea album to warm up to. After that, Russell and Alan went through their Songbook III album with the help of Samantha Barks on vocals. She’s also going to appear in Les Misérables as well, and had a beautiful singing voice not to mention she was just beautiful as well. They played songs like “Love is Impossible,” “Perfect in Your Eyes,” “Killing Song,” “Disappeared” and “Too Far Gone.” I particularly liked hearing “Killing Song.”

Throughout the night, others took the stage to sing as well like the Irish group Size 2 Shoes who were really funny & entertaining. Kevin Durand did some poetry jam type of thing that was kind of funny, Scott Grimes played keyboards and sang. Never really knew he had such a great voice. At one point, Robin Hood and his Merry Men performed Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls,” which they did a lot of when they were promoting that movie. Besides what happened later, that song was the highlight for me. I was cracking up at the banter Russell and Alan were giving. Russell called Alan a 5 dollar whore because she’s always off writing with someone else. Alan said 5 dollars is too much, he’d do it for a bag of chips haha.

Middle of the show, Kristen tells me that actress Emma Watson (Harry Potter films) was like 5 feet from me. She never gets starstruck but when it comes to Harry Potter things, I guess she does haha. Actually, it wasn’t just her we saw, we were probably sitting next to at least 5 or 6 other cast members of the upcoming Russell Crowe movie Noah. They have been filming in Iceland and New York. I wasn’t surprised to see celebrities at the show, I was more surprised to have not seen any paparazzi. Guess they don’t read Russell’s twitter feed at all haha.

Towards the end of the show, everyone was just playing songs and coming back for encores. Russell played Bruce Springsteen’s “Highway Patrolman”, Scott Grimes did a few awesome covers of Michael Jackson’s “Man in The Mirror,” and Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis.” Russell said he was kind of stalling because one of his friend that was coming down from the ’60s to play a song for us. He said it’s fucking New York so who knows if he will get here in time. Well that friend ended up being STING! Yes, that Sting. The crowd went nuts and Sting played “Every Breathe You Take” with Scott Grimes on the keys and Alan on guitar. That made the night for me! What a way to end the evening.

Russell Crowe and Instagram…A new official social media account.

Several days ago Russell Crowe tweeted on his official Twitter account that he would soon have official accounts on Instagram and Facebook providing him with not only a way to combat the number of fake social media accounts out there with his name on them but also a larger audience and longer platform with which to express himself when the need arises. Until recently he had only an official account on Twitter.

Over the past couple of days traditional news organisations and in particular those in Russell’s adopted country of Australia have reported that he now has an official account on the social media site Instagram, what he chose to circulate and that his presence has attracted approximately 60 000 followers in four days. (Russell’s official Twitter account have been where traditional news organisations and gossip webpages get much of their information about him from and including me for my blog). I am looking forward to what Russell posts and shares on his account.

Russell’s presence on Instagram coincides with the release of his new album ‘The Musical’ with the Indoor Party Garden crew including Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes, Samantha Barks and Carl Falk. As Russell has done on his official Twitter account, he has continued to release snippets of songs from the album. 

I have resisted from listening to these snippets because I wanted to hear the album in it’s completion without any outside influences. But I just couldn’t resist those shared on Instagram. What a surprise they have turned out to be. 

One of the snippets called ‘Everything I Touch’ in which Russell sings sounds absolutely awesome and his voice amazing and in fine form. I am really looking forward to hearing more from this album as it has definitely been a labour of love from all those involved taking over 6 years to complete.

I found Russell’s first post about what it takes to be a great actor really interesting. His advice is that in order to be a great actor one must be able to make the perfect Ratatouille and then goes onto provide his recipe. This post really surprised me as I never thought Russell would eat vegetarian food or use a vegetarian recipe as his first post on Instagram because he raises quality organic beef on his Nana Glen farm. Anyway I love vegetarian food and can’t wait to try his recipe on my next meat free day.

Russell has also included a plug for Alan Doyle in a post about one of the songs they have written together 'Fight Another Day'. Hopefully with some of the recent publicity Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies have been receiving in Australia they may consider coming here for some concerts.

I have included a screenshot of Russell’s first post from his official Instagram account. The post contains a drop dead gorgeous selfie. No copyright infringement intended.

Alan Doyle And "A Newfoundlander In Canada"‟…A press release for the new book.

Recently a fan circulated on the Online Kitchen Party, A Great Big Sea Community Forum Facebook page, a press release for Alan Doyle's new book titled "A Newfoundlander in Canada. Always Going Somewhere, Always Coming Home" where he writes about leaving Newfoundland and discovering Canada for the first time. I have copied the release below for those fans interested.

I found this paragraph from the press release really interesting….“Alan’s few established notions about Canada were often debunked and his own identity as a Newfoundlander was constantly challenged. Touring the country, he also discovered how others view Newfoundlanders and how skewed these images can sometimes be. Asked to play in front of the Queen at a massive Canada Day festival on Parliament Hill, the concert organizers assured Alan and his bandmates that the best way to showcase Newfoundland culture was for them to be towed onto stage in a dory and introduced not as Newfoundlanders but as “Newfies.” The boys were not amused.”.

I am the first to admit that even though I have been to Newfoundland a couple of times, I don't know a lot about Newfoundland or Newfoundlanders nor do I have a great understanding about Newfoundland's complex relationship with mainland Canada. From what I have read and listened to in interviews and on social media, Bob Hallett and Alan Doyle have spent much of their time trying to educate and challenge people, in particular mainland Canadians about Newfoundland's unique history, people and culture and what it means to be a Newfoundlander as distinct from a Canadian.

My understanding (I don't mean to speak for Newfoundlanders) of what it means to be a Newfoundlander is that the majority of Newfoundlanders, don't like being called “Newfies” for short as the term has negative and derogatory connotations associated with it. In an interview from 1997 (that I posted in the previous post called Great Big Sea And Play 1997…Throwback Thursday) Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett discussed Newfoundland culture, music traditions and their new album Play in the June issue of Canadian Musician Magazine with Karen Bliss. They talked about what it means to them as Newfoundlanders and to be called a "Newfie‟ and the stereotypes that existed of Newfoundlanders in popular Canadian culture then.

“….Doyle and Hallett are sitting in Café on the Green, one of the restaurants at the Toronto SkyDome Hotel overlooking the "vista of blue seats", the empty playing field and spectator stands of the massive sports venue. It's the day after the Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ontario and Doyle mentions he was particularly bothered by the telling of a Newfie joke onstage during the untelevised portion of the presentations - even thought the perpetrator was singer/ pre-award host Kim Stockwood, a fellow Newfoundlander and fun-in-a-5'4" frame, who said it was her birth right to tell them but others shouldn't.

"I was looking around for a rock to throw at her," Doyle jokes.

"Kim is great and I really admire her and she's really ambitious, but there's a million ways for Newfoundlanders to internationally become known as being able to laugh at themselves and having a huge sense of humour, but the easiest way is we're all drunk dummies. Yeah, Newfoundlanders enjoy celebrating, but they work just as hard as they play. Because of Newfie jokes, you have to start at minus-four instead of at 0"

Great Big Sea constantly debunks the stereotype wherever it goes…” And they still do today.

Twenty years on both Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett continue to challenge the negative connotations of "Newfie‟ and what being a Newfoundlander means when the opportunity arises. While my understanding of the term "Newfie‟ is that it is considered derogatory by many I do recognise that not all Newfoundlanders feel this way and some do take pride in being called "Newfie" in particular on social media. "Newfie" takes on a different meaning when being used by Newfoundlanders themselves than outsiders either from mainland Canada or foreigners. When others call Newfoundlanders “Newfies” it is considered disrespectful. As an outsider and foreigner I would never call a Newfoundlander, a "Newfie‟ out of respect.

I look forward to reading and hearing about Alan Doyle's new book coming out in the Canadian Fall of 2017.

Copied below is the description that was released by Doubleday the publisher. I have also included a copy of a social media post by Alan Doyle on his official Twitter account of the cover of the book. No copyright infringement intended over the press release or the cover.

Alan Doyle… "A Newfoundlander in Canada. Always Going Somewhere. Always Coming Home". From Doubleday. (no copyright infringement intended).

“Following the fantastic success of his bestselling memoir, Where I Belong, Great Big Sea front man Alan Doyle returns with a hilarious, heart-warming account of leaving Newfoundland and discovering Canada for the first time.

Armed with the same personable, candid style found in his first book, Alan Doyle turns his perspective outward from Petty Harbour toward mainland Canada, reflecting on what it was like to venture away from the comforts of home and the familiarity of the island.

Often in a van, sometimes in a bus, occasionally in a car with broken wipers “using Bob’s belt and a rope found by Paddy’s Pond” to pull them back and forth, Alan and his band mates charted new territory, and he constantly measured what he saw of the vast country against what his forefathers once called the Daemon Canada. In a period punctuated by triumphant leaps forward for the band, deflating steps backward and everything in between—opening for Barney the Dinosaur at an outdoor music festival, being propositioned at a gas station mail-order bride service in Alberta, drinking moonshine with an elderly church-goer on a Sunday morning in PEI.

Alan’s few established notions about Canada were often debunked and his own identity as a Newfoundlander was constantly challenged. Touring the country, he also discovered how others view Newfoundlanders and how skewed these images can sometimes be. Asked to play in front of the Queen at a massive Canada Day festival on Parliament Hill, the concert organizers assured Alan and his band mates that the best way to showcase Newfoundland culture was for them to be towed onto stage in a dory and introduced not as Newfoundlanders but as “Newfies.” The boys were not amused.

Heartfelt, funny and always insightful, these stories tap into the complexities of community and Canadianness, forming the portrait of a young man from a tiny fishing village trying to define and hold on to his sense of home while navigating a vast and diverse and wonder-filled country.

Story Locale: Across Canada

SIGNATURE STYLE: Alan’s memoir, Where I Belong, was a resounding success and was celebrated for its charming, heartfelt writing about Newfoundland. His fans can expect more of the same in his stories about other regions in Canada.

NOT JUST ANOTHER “BAND ON THE ROAD” BOOK: Alan’s stories go beyond re-hashing wild tour memories and instead tap into a sense of adventure and self-discovery that is uniquely Canadian.

PROLIFIC AUTHOR: Whether he’s writing books, recording albums, touring or acting, Alan is constantly creating and remains active for his fans. His passion will be a tremendous asset when it comes to promoting the book.

GREAT BIG SEA FANS REJOICE: A Newfoundlander in Canada is full of fascinating tidbits about the band’s early years”.

Great Big Sea And Play 1997…Throwback Thursday.

Great Big Sea released their album Play approximately twenty years ago on the 20 May, 1997.

Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett did this fantastic interview with Karen Bliss in Canadian Musician Magazine published in the June issue of 1997.

This is a totally brilliant article for all those Great Big Sea fans interested in their early years. Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett speak articulately and from the heart about being a Newfoundlander, Newfoundland and traditional music in Canada. I found it totally fascinating.

I found this article on a site in which fans transcribed and collected material. I have not seen the original article. The site is called Great Big Sea Articles and Interviews and is available at greatbigsea.tripod.com. The article was edited for copyright reasons. No copyright infringement intended.

I also found this absolutely drop dead gorgeous photograph of Great Big Sea from the early years on the Internet. I couldn't find any details about when the photograph was taken. But I just love it. No copyright infringement intended. 

'Great Big Sea –Keeping With Tradition.' in Canadian Musician Magazine, June '97, volume XIX, number 3, pages 38-41. By Karen Bliss.

The acoustic-driven Celtic group does its ancestors proud, keeping Newfoundland expressions alive and well on its new Warner album, Play. The band members, all dyed in the wool Newfoundlanders - guitarist Alan Doyle from Petty Harbour, bodhran player Sean McCann from Carbonear, bassist Darrell Power from Outer Cove and multi-instrumentalist Bob Hallett from the capital city of St. John's - gladly give history lessons to foreigners (that includes mainland Canadians), explaining the origins of the traditional songs, the stories behind them, and the meanings of the dialect.

You'll discover that the "donkey" in the shanty "Donkey Riding" isn't a four-legged long-eared ass, but a winch for hoisting a sail or dropping an anchor, and that the phrase "she got seagulls in her eyes" in the original "Seagulls" means she's restless, constantly looking for something better. In talking about "Recruiting Sargeant", you'll learn that Newfoundland was a self-governing country up until 1949, with its own army and navy. And they'll tell you that traditional Celtic music is just as prevalent in a Maritime teen's life as Marilyn Manson and No Doubt - and it's not uncool to like it.

"It's not uncool because in that part of Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland, Cape Breton and PEI, traditional music is to some degree, popular music," explains Hallett. "Even mainstream radio stations would often play traditional-influenced music. The Rankin Family plays hockey arenas in Atlantic Canada. That's the sort of performance venues that we use. We're not obscure folkies playing in a university lecture hall in front of 30-year old hippies. We've been allowed to become mainstream performers.

"When we were kids, there was a band called The Wonderful Grand Band (Ron Hynes' early project). They were extremely popular, as a top 10 Friday night dance slot, and myself and Alan and Sean and Darrell were all 13, 14 years old. So, for a lot of kids growing up in Newfoundland at that point in time, we were lucky enough to see traditional music as acceptable as mainstream music and it saved us from that whole idea that you have to do one, or the other. When you hear it on the radio, then it becomes legitimized. It is cool," recalls Hallett, joking that it was his first bodhran, not a shiny, red Stratocaster, for which he scrimped and saved.

"I looked at that tin whistle for months sitting in the window," quips Doyle, adding more seriously, "we all have our Stratocasters tucked under our beds somewhere. At different

points, about all of us played in rock 'n' roll bands. When you're 15, you want to be Eddie Van Halen, you want to be Motley Crue."

"I don't know about Motley Crue, " Hallett quickly rejects.

"Or the Sex Pistols," Doyle corrects. "A lot of the traditional songs we play, we can't remember learning. I don't remember learning 'I'se The B'y'. I don't remember ever sitting down and figuring out how to play it on guitar. It came with the birth certificate and the lyrics were on the back (laughs). It was the kind of thing where, when it came time to start playing traditional music, it was the '80s, the hard rock era, and we ended up singing 'I'se The B'y' the same way Kiss sings 'I Wanna Rock 'N' Roll All Night' ".

Doyle and Hallett are sitting in Café on the Green, one of the restaurants at the Toronto SkyDome Hotel overlooking the "vista of blue seats", the empty playing field and spectator stands of the massive sports venue. It's the day after the Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ontario and Doyle mentions he was particularly bothered by the telling of a Newfie joke onstage during the untelevised portion of the presentations - even thought the perpetrator was singer/ pre-award host Kim Stockwood, a fellow Newfoundlander and fun-in-a-5'4" frame, who said it was her birth right to tell them but others shouldn't.

"I was looking around for a rock to throw at her," Doyle jokes.

"Kim is great and I really admire her and she's really ambitious, but there's a million ways for Newfoundlanders to internationally become known as being able to laugh at themselves and having a huge sense of humour, but the easiest way is we're all drunk dummies. Yeah, Newfoundlanders enjoy celebrating, but they work just as hard as they play. Because of Newfie jokes, you have to start at minus-four instead of at 0"

Great Big Sea constantly debunks the stereotype wherever it goes. Doyle even had a conversation once with actor George Wendt about the Pulitzer Prize-winning American book The Shipping News, by E. Annie Proulx.

"Ninety percent of the Newfoundland characters in the book are alcoholics or incestuous or lazy, so this was his impression of Newfound-land," says Doyle. "I spent at least an hour talking to him, saying, 'Look, rural communities tend to be filled with strange characters and God love it. It is fair to say, it's 20 years behind the times in some places, and it is fair to say that they love to celebrate. It's not fair to say that they're all incestuous and they're all alcoholics'."

Between them, the members of Great Big Sea have over a half-dozen university degrees. But with seagulls in their eyes, they all left so-called legit careers to perform their party mix of jugs, reels, singles and shanties, and contemporary pop-rock. Power was a teacher, Doyle worked at the Newfoundland Museum as the educational coordinator, Hallett was the editor of a provincial magazine and McCann was in the middle of his Masters in folklore. "That's the situation with Great Big Sea, we all do it because we love it, not because we have to pay our mortgages," says Doyle.

The four members, who all sing and play a variety of instruments, formed Great Big Sea in St. John's in 1992 and, a year later, recorded their eponymous independent debut with Pat Janes at Piper Stock Studios, in Torbay, Newfoundland. A mix of traditional and original repertoire, the album appropriately kicks off with the sound of crashing waves on "Great Big Sea/Gone By The Board", a traditional song about a tidal wave followed by an original reel

by Hallett. It also includes faves like "Drunken Sailor" and "I'se The B'y", done Great Big Sea style.

"There's a lot of traditional songs, but not as many traditional Great Big Sea songs," explains Hallett. "For us, traditional songs need to work in a live format and they need to sound good on an album. Some traditional songs have 95 verses in D minor about the great Fin Famine of 1933, which are excellent songs but I can't really see a place for them in a Great Big Sea show."

The next two years were spent performing at kitchen parties, universities, folk festivals and clubs, and when all was played and done, they had sold some 20, 000 units. With such impressive indie sales, and after an equally impressive live performance at 1994's East Coast Music Awards, the band signed a major record deal with Warner Music Canada and re-released the indie album, resulting in a further 15,000 units sold.

Considering themselves first and foremost performers, the band took just three weeks out of the hectic touring schedule at the end of last November to record the follow-up. Greenspoon was once again called in to produce it in the abandoned wing of The Battery, a hotel in St. John's, with some overdubs done at The Nickel and Toronto's CBC Studio 211, where it was mixed.

"There's a lot of great pop producers and a lot of great folk producers, but Danny can combine the two," says Hallett of their choice to work with him again. "It's really hard to mix acoustic guitars, electric bass and make the acoustic guitars sound fat and full, and the bodhran sound like a bodhran, instead of a floor tom. Danny can do this." (Greenspoon and Ross Murray engineered the album.)

"He had the task of trying to make two acoustic guitars and a tin whistle sound as big in a CD player as Gordie (Johnson) from Big Sugar's guitar, not teeny and small and AM-y," says Doyle, who sings, plays guitar, keyboards, bouzouki and mandolin. "It's tough, but he's a very good engineer as well as being a good producer. He knows how to mic guitars so it sounds big and knows how to sit it in the mix so they sound huge."

"A lot of it is choice of mics," adds Hallett, who also sings and plays a whack of stuff, including accordion, fiddle, mandolin, mandola and concertina. "Standard studio mics don't work as well for these instruments."

Once again, the album is a diverse collection of traditional shanties ("Jolly Roving Tar", "General Taylor", "Donkey Riding"), drink-in-death celebrations ("The Night Pat Murphy Died", "Jakey's Gin"), original numbers ("Seagulls", "How Did We Get From Saying I Love You...", "My Apology", "Something I Should Know") and contemporary covers (REM's "End of the World" and Colin Hay's "Haven't Seen You In A Long Time"). There's even a hidden song called "Little Beggar Man" which was fashioned into a Celtic rap of sorts and could very well be made into a dance remix.

"It was a Friday night when we all went into the studio too late and it turned into a big party. The tape machine was on and the next thing you know, the bouzouki's been plugged into wah pedals and this is what happened," Doyle laughs.

The uplifting lead single, "When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)", which begins with a slew of clichés, was written by three members of OysterBand, an on-again-off-again UK project. "We thought they'd written the song especially for us. Even though it was written a long time ago, it summed up our philosophy," says Hallett. "The basic arrangement was very

appealing for us, because of the kind of instruments we play. It was a song that wasn't like anything we'd written ourselves, but still had all the core values of our own music."

When it comes to picking the material, not surprisingly, there are hundreds of traditional songs in the collective minds of Great Big Sea.

"Everybody has their top 25 which they don't understand why the rest of the band doesn't like that much," Hallett chuckles. "And when it's time to do an album, there's ones that we've forgotten about that someone has sung at a party."

To make them a Great Big Sea song, instead of 50 verses and no choruses, essentially they'll take one verse and make it a chorus, and arrange it so that it fits into a three-minute and twenty second format. "What we do in the arrangement process is we actually try them all," says Hallett. "I can play quite a few, as well as Sean and Alan. We just play around. 'Let's try this a capella. No, this doesn't sound right, let's try a tin whistle instead of a guitar line. Nah, let's combine this with something else.' And we just play with it until we have something unique, that has the elements of Great Big Sea, but is still fresh. You can't make the same album, over and over again."

Unlike in Cape Breton, where Ashley MacIsaac has been accused of desecrating a respected and imitated tradition, Newfoundland traditionalists are far more easy-going. "Most people in Newfoundland are so delighted that one band is making songs that last for another generation," says Hallett. "It's less orthodox than Cape Breton and more a family tradition. Every family has its own songs and instrumentals, and there's no real set way to play or perform. The fact that you're doing Newfoundland songs is what's important, not how you approach them or how you arrange them. You can even change the words, the titles, and the melodies. Things like that don't seem to rattle people in Newfoundland as much."

Of the traditionals on Play, there are reasons Great Big Sea chose the raucous drink-in-death tale of "The Night Pat Murphy Died" and a capella "General Taylor", because they had memorable choruses and powerful melodies, "the elements of any good pop song". And, similar to the Second Line Brass in New Orleans, which performs at funeral processions, both songs celebrate the life of someone dead.

"There's a huge tradition in Newfoundland of singing jovial-type songs about deaths," says Doyle. "They've had hard times for centuries and this is a way to shrug your shoulders and keep going."

"Irony is at the core of all good Newfoundland songs," adds Hallett, "the contrast between the possible bleakness or tragedy that's inherent in Newfoundland history and also the sense of humour and the love of life and dependence that Newfoundlanders value in each other. That's typical of Newfoundland songs. The melody and the lyrics just totally belie what's actually going on between the lines."

"Recruiting Sargeant" is another such song. Based on the impact World War I had on St. John's, an up chorus prepares the young men to die.

"Newfoundland's army was wiped off the face of the earth in one morning, half-way through World War I, and the country never really recovered from it," explains Hallett, who wrote the song using part of a melody from an old Scottish war song. "It was one of the things that helped plunge it into the depression which led to Newfoundland joining Canada."

The irony continues, says Hallett, with Great Big Sea's joyous version of REM's "End of the World" as opposed to "the bleak and cynical approach REM took to it."

"The REM traditionalists will get very upset with us," teases Doyle. Great Big Sea's original material ranges from the unbridles optimism of "Ordinary Day" (written by Doyle and McCann) to the awkwardness of a break-up in "How Did We Get From Saying I Love You..." (by Doyle) to the more complicated lyrical structure of "My Apology" (by McCann), and shows the band members' individual writing preferences. "Alan tends to write closer to pop mainstream and starts from the melody and the hook; Sean tends to work hard on the lines. His is personal and often traditional, and I tend to make the story work first," capsules Hallett.

Of the variety on the new album, Doyle says, "We would like our records and our shows to reflect the kind of music we would sing if we sat around the living room. That's another thing I love about Newfoundland - the kitchen parties. You'd hear a Hank Williams song, then you'd hear a 7,000-year old traditional song, then a song that somebody wrote last week, and then someone would do a recitation, and everything would have equal value. And I liked the way our kind of music was applicable. I don't think we'll ever do a record that's all originals because that's not what Great Big Sea's about. Great Big Sea's about the songs."

Hallett's Glossary:

REEL: a dance tune that's in 4/4 time. It should sound like the running of a horse.

JIG: in 6/8, it's more of a rolling rhythm.

WALTZ: is in quarter-time, unlike the popular Viennese version, which is very structured. Most Canadian waltzes are a lot looser.

STRATHSPEY: slower, also in 4/4 time; very difficult to play. It's more of a Scottish form.

SINGLE: (as opposed to a double, which would be a reel): we use this form quite a lot. A single is in cut time, which is 2/4 time - same as 4/4, but you count to the beats in double time. It's very, very fast. The only thing that's remotely similar is a polka, but not much.

SHANTY: they were songs that were originally to coordinate work efforts on sailing ships and sailing docks.

GREAT BIG GEAR

Bob Hallett plays:

-Barcus Berry electric violin with LR Baggs pickup

-Hohner button accordiona; Erica & Sonata models with ATM clip-on mic

-Flatiron mandola with Fishman pickup

-Sausado, Chieftan and Feadog tin whistles

Darrell Power plays:

-Guild acoustic bass with Fishman system

-1973 Fender Precision bass

-1991 Fender Jazz bass

-Trace Elliot bass preamp

-Paddy Power 1993 Spruce Bones (custom made)

Sean McCann plays:

-Takamine EN10 acoustic guitar

-Fred Halpen and Brendan Glass custom built bodhrans

-Sausado tin whistles

-Audio-Technica wireless systems

Alan Doyle plays:

-Takamine NP25C acoustic guitar

-Takamine EN10C acoustic guitar

-Trinity College shortneck bouzouki with Fishman system

-Audio-Technica wireless system

All use Klark active direct boxes, Shure Beta 58 mics and Garwood

wireless monitors.

Karen Bliss is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle And 'The Musical' Album…Part two.

Russell Crowe has continued to release information via his official Twitter account about the new soon to be released album 'The Musical' with Alan Doyle and friends from the Indoor Garden Party concerts including Scott Grimes, Samantha Barks and Carl Falk. I wrote another post last month titled 'Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle And 'The Musical' Album…Part one.' that was published when Russell Crowe started releasing information about his new collaboration.

On Twitter Russell has provided a list of the songs and some snippets to tease the fans just a little bit. Like many fans I can't wait for this album to eventually be released. I have kept a copy of some of Russell's posts that he has shared with fans on his official Twitter account for my own interest.

I found another great review about his previous collaboration with Alan Doyle and Danielle Spencer titled 'Crowe and Doyle Songbook Vol.111' written by long-time fan Bryan Kremkau and published on the online music webpage readjunk.com on the 2 October, 2011. I have copied the review below for those interested fans. As always no copyright infringement intended.

I have also circulated some official videos from the South Sydney Media YouTube site of the Indoor Garden Party in St. John's, Newfoundland in 2011 on my Google + page for those interested a few weeks ago.

Upon reflection I agree with the author of this review that the fabulous, very talented and absolutely gorgeous Danielle Spencer should have received a lot more recognition for her contribution to this collaboration and album.

These tweets are from official accounts of Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle and Samantha Barks. No copyright infringement intended. 

“Crowe and Doyle Songbook Vol.111” written by long-time fan Bryan Kremkau and published on the online music webpage readjunk.com on the 2 October, 2011.

“Actor Russell Crowe and Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea have been friends and collaborators for awhile. Both have written songs for each other’s bands and Alan and Russell co-starred together in Robin Hood in 2010. Now they have an album out together called Crowe and Doyle Songbook Vol. III. The album features 9 tracks and then the acoustic demo versions of those tracks immediately following those 9 tracks.

As much as Russell Crowe’s name is on this album, his wife Danielle Spencer’s name should have been included as well. She and Alan Doyle sing duet for the most part, with Russell singing backup or secondary vocals. Doyle’s vocals are more distinguished or noticeable so maybe that’s why I think I hear him more than Crowe?

“Too Far Gone” opens up the album nicely and I really like the folk rock-iness of the songs. “Love Is Impossible” is more upbeat in the chorus and one of the stand-outs I think. “Perfect In Your Eyes” is another upbeat rock song that I really enjoyed. I like the added touch of some keyboards in there as well. “The Killing” is perhaps my favorite track because it’s got an old Americana, country-western feel to it. It feels like Russell wrote this one on the set of 3:10 to Yuma, if he even did write this. But that’s the sense I get when hearing this one. It’s strange to say that I like something that Russell Crowe has done musically but this album is very solid. Usually when I think of Crowe and music, I can’t help but think of South Park’s “Fightin’ Around The World” song spoof on him. While Crowe is heard and playing in the group, this album really belongs to Alan Doyle and Danielle Spencer. I’m looking forward to more albums like this.

Bottom Line: An interesting but effective collaboration between Crowe, Doyle, and Spencer. Notable Tracks: Too Far Gone, Love Is Impossible, Perfect in Your Eyes, The Killing

People Who Go To Concerts Lead Happier Lives…A fan responds.

“People Who Go To Concerts Lead Happier Lives, According To Science” was posted by Kendall Deflin on 15 August, 2016 to the online webpage liveforlivemusic.com. The post was shared on the Online Kitchen Party, A Great Big Sea Community Forum on Facebook earlier this month.

This article attracted my attention because it was done by researchers at a university in Australia. They found that those people who go to music concerts and dance events with others increased their personal well-being and had an overall higher satisfaction with life.

While I was unable to get access to the original research I did find this overview really interesting. I agree with their findings based on my personal experiences and my research from social media posts about people who go to concerts and who share similar interests in live music that it seems to have a positive impact on an individual’s well-being and satisfaction with life. However, if the research was done in Australia and Australia is an extremely large county that access depends on where a person lives, and how much money and time they have to travel to their favourite music events.

Going to live music and dance concerts with friends is different to those people who participate in fandoms. Participating in fandoms can cause fans considerable enjoyment as they meet and share experiences with like-minded fans they meet through social media and in person at concerts. Or the experience can cause a considerable amount of conflict as fans engage with other fans they come into contact with in an unconstructive manner over anything from the purchase of tickets to access to musicians and artists at concerts.






(no copyright infringement intended)

“People Who Go To Concerts Lead Happier Lives, According To Science” was posted by Kendall Deflin on 15 August, 2016 in the online webpage liveforlivemusic.com (no copyright infringement intended)

“There’s a very peculiar feeling one has in the moments leading up to a live music event: a mix of excitement, nerves, preparative thoughts, and responsible reasoning. You call your friends, line up the plans, pick out the right shoes, checking all the boxes from your list. It’s a sense of liveliness incomparable to most other moments we experience on the day-to-day grind, a feeling worth chasing after for good. Because we, fellow music lovers, know all too well that what we’re going in for will be exponentially greater than our expectations, and the resulting feelings of the other side.

Ultimately, it’s the combination of live music and community that makes these experiences so worthy of our happiness — according to a new study. Researchers in Australia found that people who habitually attend musical engagements are reported to have higher levels of subjective well-being. Deakin University scholars Melissa Weinberg and Dawn Joseph reported that Australians who participate in communal musical experiences — whether it’s at a live concert or a communal dance gathering — have elevated levels of overall satisfaction in life. Ultimately, the common thread is to engage with music in the company of others.

The study sampled 1,000 Australians, with an average age of 56, over the telephone in 2014. The subjects were asked to answer questions regarding their levels of satisfaction with health, achievements in life, relationships, et cetera, as well as their modes and levels of engagement with music; they answered with a numerical 0-10 or a yes/no response.

The researchers report that “total well-being scores were significantly higher for people who reported that they danced or attended musical events,” compared to people who did not. The

people who attended music events also reported higher levels of satisfaction with their standards of living. Similar conclusions were reported for those who danced with other people, scoring significantly higher in overall satisfaction levels than those who did not. Ultimately, people who habitually attend music events and/or dance with other people scored increased levels of well-being and satisfaction in life.

The correlation between live music engagements and dancing is clear; their relationship intrinsically binds together the freedom of art, expression, and self-satisfaction; and thus, increased happiness. Beyond the scientific reasons, that live music universally lowers stress levels, increases social bonds while decreasing levels of pain live music universally lowers stress levels and can even physiologically cause people to get “skin-gasms”, live music events naturally bring people together who are happy. This is most likely why the ritualistic practice has lasted so long. Happiness is contagious, and live music events are the center point for all these reasons.”