Great Big Sea And The George Street Festival 2011...Throwback Thursday.

Recently I was doing some research about the early years of Great Big Sea when I found a wonderful collection of photographs taken of the band performing at the George Street Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland from 2011 and 2013. There is also a wonderful collection of the Alan Doyle Band performing at the same event in 2014.

The photographs were part of an awesome collection of colour and black and white photographs taken of local, national and international musicians and artists who performed at music festivals, concerts, pubs, and other events around St. John's Newfoundland from 2008 to 2016. Included in the collection of photographs were some wonderful shots of the massive crowd of fans who came every year to St. John's for these events.

They were taken by a photographer known as Sin Jawns and are available at their webpage sinjawn.com. The photographs are well sorted and can be accessed according to the year, artists, and venues.

A copy of the setlist was circulated and supporting fan videos tell me they opened with Donkey Riding, Captain Kidd and Love Me Tonight then performed many of their classic songs such as The Night Pat Murphy Died, Lukey's Boat, Good People, Safe Upon The Shore, Ferryland Sealer, Helment Head, Consequence Free, Mari-Mac, and concluded with Ordinary Day. They came back for an encoure of Long Life, Oh Yeah and Old Black Rum.

Although there are no photographs of the crowd in this collection on this night but the reaction of the crowd to the music and performance was recorded in a number of fan videos from philpotta (Ordinary Day and The Night Pat Murphy Died) and NewfoundlandFanPages (Consequence Free) on YouTube. The fan video titled Great Big Sea @The 2011 George Street by NewfoundlandFanPages of Great Big Sea performing Consequence Free shows a crowd on fire and enjoying every moment singing and dancing along with all the songs with the hometown boys .

I have included a screen shot of some of the awesome photographs from Great Big Sea's appearance at The George Street Festival in St. John's Newfoundland in 2011. I have circulated the fan videos via my Google + page for those interested in taking a trip down memory lane. No copyright infringement intended.

LyndaHere, YouTube And Twitter...A fan's response.

Yesterday I was attacked on Twitter by Lynda Elstad or Lynda Here as she is known on Twitter and Facebook after I had contacted a writer's festival in Canada and informed them they were using one of her pirated videos to promote their event. They responded by taking removing the post. I informed them there were lots of legal videos they could use to promote their author talks.



This is not the first time Lynda has lied and bullied fans who question her endless piracy, bootlegging and criminal stalking. Last year a fan raised the question of her piracy and bootlegging on the Great Big Sea Online Community Forum on Facebook and Lynda told a range of lies and half truths to justify her activities on YouTube. These discussions were recorded in another post copied below GBS Online Kitchen Party, Fan Behaviour and Copyright...A discussion and response published on 6 February, 2016. There are other instances of her bullying fans throughout the years into submission on her blog Between The Rock And A Hardplace.

First of all Lynda accussed me of having a fake Twitter account. I have been using the same Twitter account for over 5 years and joined in 2012 and have over 8500 tweets. I don't have Facebook except as a log in for other sites and to do research on the musicians and artists I like and fandoms. It seems okay for Lynda to have a deviation of her real name on her account as Here is not her last name but not me. Elizabeth is my real name. It is my middle name. Like Lynda I don't use my last name but my account is called a fake account while her account is a genuine account.




Lynda falsely accused me of allegedly cyberstalking. In order to cyberstalk a person has to be contacted electronically and threaten the person. I have not contacted Lynda in nearly five years since I first wrote to at her blog and objected to her bootlegging and piracy and she tried to bully me as she has done other fans. She threatened me by trying to get me blocked from my Internet Service Provider and fired from my employment as she believed I was using a computer at work. Those incidents are recorded at the beginning of my blog in 2012. I have not contacted her on any of her social media accounts or any of the places where she posts including Facebook and Twitter until yesterday. I have not contacted any people she has contact with on social media under my Twitter account or other accounts. Fans are free to watch her videos she posts and contact her and they are not hasselled by me. I have tried to educate myself and others about bootlegging and piracy  through research. If Lynda knows I write about her and her bootlegging, piracy and fan behaviour in the fandom then it is because she has actively sort my blog posts out.

Secondly it seems okay for Lynda to discuss the fandom at length on her blog Between The Rock And A Harplace and invite people to comment over the years but not for me. I don't invite people to comment or discuss what is happening in the fandom on my blog nor do I discuss these observations with anyone anywhere else. While she is entitled to an opinion on her own social media pages and the fan pages I don't seem to be entitled to mine on my choice of social media, my blog.

Thirdly Lynda has a long record of manipulating copyright law and YouTube policy to make excuses her piracy and bootlegging. Lynda has implied that sharing bootlegged and pirated videos on social media are with permission which they are not. Alan Doyle has not responded to her endless Tweets and videos sent to him to his official Twitter account in over three years. He has on occassions shared other people's shares of her videos but this is not consent according to copyright laws. Alan Doyle to the best of my knowledge does not have copyright to the music he produces even though he has the right to perform it.










After checking the YouTube Terms and Conditions again Section 6 Your Content and Conduct Part D states "You agree that the content you submit to the Service will not contain third party copyrighted material...unless you have the permission from the rightful owners of the material...or you are otherwise legally entitled to post the material." Part F states "Youtube does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights on the Service." Lynda states she has permission but despite repeated requests for proof of permission she has never produced any permission documents on her Facebook, Twitter or YouTube accounts that she has permission to record videos before at events or after the event.

To the best of my knowledge YouTube does not send out 3 rd party copyright notices as stated by Lynda. The Content ID function provided to major organisations allows them to search YouTube and locate content. If the Content ID choose to contact account holders will be sent a notice of the options of what will be done including blocking or monetising. Because the Content ID holders do not send notices does not mean they approve of the content. The only reason Lynda has not monetised her account is that it increases the likelihood of it being issued with copyright infringement notifications.






Lynda has been uploading bootleg and piracy onto YouTube and making thousands of alleged false declarations about rights and permission she allegedly does not have. Lynda has a history of nastiness, bullying and ostracising those fans from fan sites like me who question her crimal stalking and endless photography, bootlegging and piracy. She manipulates the copyright laws and policies of social media sites to suit herself as she believes after many years that no one can stop her. Rather than waste resources searching YouTube and be on the end of her nastiness copyright holders have decided to ignore her activities rather than try and bring them down and use other strategies to minimise loses for recorded material.





The good news is that fans across the fandoms prefer professionally made videos and recorded music to bootlegged concert videos. The number of hits on YouTube of legal videos verses her bootlegged versions are testiminate to that.

GBS Online Kitchen Party, Fan Behaviour and Copyright...A discussion and response. 4 Feb, 2016.

One of the things I love to do is read fan’s social media posts who raised issues that concern them at concerts and engage in respectful debate. Recently an Alan Doyle fan posted on the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party on Facebook about fan behaviour at concerts and using mobile phone devices and cameras to record bootlegged videos and take photographs. The comments were directed at regular Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea concert goer, pirate and bootlegger Lyndahere and her latest recording of new music by Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies on the American So Let’s Go Tour for 2016. Copyright and fan behaviour at concerts in the fandoms I write about have been discussed on many occasions on various social media sites.

As I don’t have an active Facebook account or a member of the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party I will respond here.

Fan creators like Lyndahere and others, definitely know and use their copyright knowledge when it is their own fan created material being created and distributed. Some seem to forget or manipulated the copyright law and knowledge to justify their actions, regardless of what the artists and musicians (or the venues) whose music they record and distribute and take photographs want. Most fans and that includes really educated fans seem to choose their right and need to watch a bootlegged video and respond on a social media sites, over the rights of the content creators to distribute their work how and when they choose. Whether they do this through ignorance, a lack of education, their need to participate in social media or they just don’t care, it is difficult to tell.

Despite the many discussions that have occurred over the years about fan behaviour at concerts and recording music and taking photographs Lyndahere and many fans continue to remain a law and a force all of their own twisting copyright policy and laws to suit their own needs. While I don’t have a YouTube account, I must admit it has been a while since I looked at their policies on copyright. So this discussion inspired me to look further into the points made in these posts. After doing some research I am certainly in a better spot about YouTube and their copyright policy. I am glad artists and musicians and music publishers now have greater facilities to track the copyright of their music and a choice about how their music is seen through YouTube’s Content ID and a range of other devices.

I certainly don’t support Lyndahere’s argument that bootlegging and piracy should occur in order to give people access to content from concerts they can’t go to for any reason. Fans who do go to concerts first priority should be to the other paying fans around them. Concerts are now where many artists and musicians are making their money which has been increasingly difficult with streaming from which they receive little income. Without making money and a profit many artists and music can’t and will not survive, just as any business can’t survive that doesn’t make a profit.

The fan response (the name has been deleted to protect their privacy)...

“I love seeing him in concert! I don’t love having the glare of phone screens while people record whole songs. It is really inconsiderate to all the other concert lovers behind the person recording. It is one thing to take a picture during a show but recording it when it will be put onto YouTube by people hired to video tape songs – usually better quality than a cell phone. Although it does not seem to be enforced it is not legal to tape/record concerts due to copyright laws. I encourage all of you to lie in the moment and enjoy the concert for yourself.”

Lyndahere’s reply states...

“All copyright holders can object to their content being put on YouTube, which will honour their objection to by taking down the video. Many copyright holders owners opt instead to allow their content to be seen on YouTube, the majority of them getting revenue from ads shown on the video. Since my YouTube account is not by my choice “monetized” any ads that appear on my videos therefore benefit the copyright holder (and YouTube too).”

“Second this video was made with a camera held at my own eye level – you’d have to be sitting in my lap for the glare to have bothered you.”

“Third, Alan has no “people hired to video tape songs.”

“And finally, there are many people who for financial, physical and/or family reasons, do not have the ability to go to many concerts or any shows and “live in the moment”. I encourage them, and you, to allow each person to freely choose for themselves what they do or do not want to see.”

The fan’s response...

"Thank you for the clarification of Copyright Laws Lyndahere. That is different to all that I have read. Alan has many videos of songs, several taken from state POV by band members, which to capture the energy and excitement of the kitchen party at the time. Please do not assume others have the luxury of concert attendance due to health, money or location, this can be a very special concert for them, once in a lifetime –as well as you- do not walk in their shoes. The video’s distracting and glaring were taken at eye level of the owners, keeping in mind that seats are on an incline, the light from the phones was not dimmed at all. This does impact the other viewers experience and ruin their moments – I just people to be considerate around them".

Lyndahere's reply states...

"Fair enough. And I’d ask for the same consideration for folks here. Do feel free to ask YouTube about their policies in regard to copyright holders".

I agree with everything the fan has said. The social and cultural interactions of fans at concerts and other live entertainment events have changed considerably over the years. Mobile phones and technology has encroached into every aspect of life. While the use of mobile phones and technology has become a way of life for young people, for some mature people these changes have been difficult to adjust too including myself. Despite venues developing policies many patrons deliberately or ignorantly fail to observe them and as a consequence their use has become a problem as patrons disrespect other’s rights to enjoy a performance without the interruption of a mobile phone or camera lights. This fan is quite right in that the need to use technology to record the event for after the concert means that other fan’s moments may be spoilt. I agree with fans taking photographs and even a video or two of their favourites for personal use. However, bootlegging entire concerts is in bad form and totally distracting for the patrons around them but also undermines the artists and musicians.

From my understanding and research on YouTube and copyright, Lyndahere has conveniently forgotten to mention that in order to load a bootleg video up onto YouTube users are required to have permission from the copyright holders to record at concerts and to post on YouTube. To the best of my knowledge users are required to state they own the material. I don’t think during the time I have been writing my blog and as a fan I have ever seen a social media post in which Lyndahere has asked Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea for permission to record a concert or post one of her thousands of bootlegs and pirated videos on YouTube. Their limited response to Lyndahere's thousands of social media posts and attached videos illustrate to me that only under a very small range of circumstances do they approve of bootlegging including personal use.

Lyndahere is correct in that copyright holders can ask for their material to be taken down. Because they don’t doesn’t mean they approve. I am sure agencies who managed artists and musicians have enough to do without having to monitor YouTube for breaches in copyright. Taking down bootlegged and pirated material may also make some fans very angry and the consequences of an angry fan may not be good for an artist or musician. Because bootlegs and piracy are loaded up onto YouTube doesn’t mean the account holders have the musician’s and artist’s approval. And because people get away with bootlegging and piracy doesn’t make it legal or right.

Lyndahere seems to promote the fact her account is not monetised. One of the interesting things I found about YouTube is that if an account is monetised then it increases the possibility of an account becoming involved in a review for breaches in copyrighted material. Advertising on Lyndahere’s account probably means there has been a match with content creators submissions for registered copyrighted music and they have chosen to monetise with advertising rather than choose another option. Advertising that appears may also mean YouTube has put the ad on and until a claim from the copyright holders, the advertising revenue goes to them.

Lyndahere seems to have also forgotten the YouTube Content ID feature which allows content owners to identify and manage their content . In an article from YouTube Help “What is a Content ID claim?” they describe YouTube’s Content ID function. Content ID is only available to established music publishers and others with substantial published material. Content owners can run scans against the Content ID database they have submitted to YouTube to detect if there are any works that contain any registered copyrighted music and issue users with notices. The content owners can decide what to do which may include mute (which means they block the sound and people can still watch the video), block (the content or restrict the devices, apps or websites on their content can appear), monetise (running ads) or track the viewership. If there is a Content ID claim then the video can’t be monetised.

Lyndahere states “Third, Alan has no “people hired to video tape songs.” When either Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea have taped at live venues paid out of their own pockets, Lyndahere has nearly always bootlegged and put them on her YouTube site in competition to official versions. That list is very extensive. It seems a bit hypocritical to be concerned about Alan not having a person who takes videos, when in the past she has bootlegged concerts and specials in competition to their official live videos they have made at their own expense. The good news on this front is that on nearly all occasions fans prefer professionally made videos to those of bootleggers.

In her final argue Lyndahere justifies her position for bootlegging and states “And finally, there are many people who for financial, physical and/or family reasons, do not have the ability to go to many concerts or any show and “live in the moment”. I encourage them, and you, to allow each person to freely choose for themselves what they do or do not want to see”. It is kind of unfortunate she has not given Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea the same courtesy of when and how their music is distributed.

Lyndahere’s attitude is fans who can’t attend concerts for whatever reason have a right to content. I am wondering if this is her attitude then why hasn’t Lyndahere and her friend and patron Christina Templeton provided disadvantaged people with free tickets to concerts. One of Lyndahere’s airfares and hotel rooms for a couple of nights out of St. John’s could provide fans with a lot of tickets to see Alan Doyle rather than bootlegged videos. I don’t think I have read where Lyndahere has provided someone with a free ticket and if she has only at cost. Also if Lyndahere was really concerned about the inclusion of fans, one of the best and cheaper things to do is respond to fan’s comments who contact her on social media and share their contributions. None of which she does and if she does only very rarely.

Russell Crowe And The Manus Island Tweets...A response.

Over the past five and a half years or so I have written a lot about how Russell Crowe uses Twitter and other social media accounts...for the good, the bad and the ugly.

This time Russell has used Twitter to spread his opinion of Australia's off shore immigration detention centres on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and the men who are being held there. I will let Russell's tweets speak for themselves so I have copied those below. His tweets about Manus Island came almost immediately after he was photographed holidaying in Mexico with a young woman who he referred to on Twitter as his assistant.

This is not the first time Russell has criticised Australia's immigration policies in particular towards New Zealanders. In 2015 while promoting his movie The Water Diviner he raised the issue while doing interviews in Britain. In a newspaper article titled, "Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship, says Immigration Department" published in The Sydney Morning Herald in March 2015 "Russell boasted Australia had denied him citizenship in the country where he and his family lived. This time the British media reported he had applied twice for citizenship and been denied. The Australian Immigration Department stepped in and said they had no record of Russell Crowe applying for Australian citizenship or a permanent visa..." In another article titled "Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship." in the New Zealand Herald and published around the same time Russell is quoted as saying "Australian immigration rules were unreasonable (for New Zealanders)".... "No matter how long you'd been in the country, if you weren't in Australia for the majority of 2000 to 2002 - when I was particularly busy filming overseas - you can't become a citizen." He also probably never applied for permanent residency in Australia for tax purposes.

As an Australian I am angry at the way Russell went about this and his disloyalty to Australia and Australians whom he considers himself one of. I am also angry for all genuine refugees and immigrants who have come to Australia through the front door, taking citizenship and making a life for themselves here. Every year thousands come under a range of categories including students, refugees and family reunion. They often come to a country where English is not their first language, their qualifications are often not recognised, they come from a range of traumatic backgrounds, without financial resources, take jobs others will not do and live in a strange country without the support of a family and community. After years of hard work and without a lot of fuss they willingly make a new life for themselves and their family, take permanent residency and/or citizenship and all it entails with its rights and responsibilities.

In America it seems every man, woman and their dog have a celebrity gossip webpage and the associated social media pages are eager to distribute any publicity and make a living out of celebrity gossip. So off the Russell Crowe Twitter followers and the celebrity webpages went to make over some 3000 comments on Twitter to the attached posts and hundreds of shares of articles based on those posts. Many fans and followers made comments (in particular those loyal fans who blindly support anything Russell Crowe tweets in hope of getting a response and becoming part of the in gang on social media) took the word of Russell Crowe as the absolute inclusive truth, making ill informed comments about something they don't know anything about and could do nothing about. Then there were many Australians, some supporters but also many trying to support their government and venting their anger at Russell for not putting Australians in need first.

The Huffington Post and Mashable Australia lead the gossip webpages supporting Russell's tweets and half truths through a lack of research or just plain laziness. The articles were circulated and shared hundreds of times. They wrote the Australian government wanted to close the current facility and cut off water and other supplies. They failed to mention the men were being moved to another facility. However, they refused to move for security reasons. The Huffington Post wrote "Meanwhile, 600 asylum seekers still on Manus Island continued to face horrific conditions, faced by threats of violence, dehydration, starvation, no medicine, disease and heat". The Huffington Post did not write that many had been declared not refugees or asylum seekers and were being moved to another facility called Hillside Haus, not just abandoned into the community to fend for themselves.

Russell constantly declares he is an Australian and Australia is his adopted home, a home where he has never chosen to taken citizenship, vote or for the most part of his life, work. He is part owner of an Australian rugby league club which to his credit employs Australians and does some good work in the local communities. Russell's estranged wife is Australian and his children were born here and are Australian. It is well documented that Australia is his sanctuary, a place where he can live an ordinary life away from the celebrity Hollywood life in America. 

I personally have always known Russell isn't particularly fond of Australia and Australians except for a few close friends and the fans at his rugby club who pay memberships. I have followed Russell closely on Twitter for many years and I have always known this through some of his comments about Australia, his lack of support for Australian sporting teams and his low tolerance for Australians and their comments and their ability to speak their mind. The only exception seems to be the Irwins and Australia Zoo.

I see why Russell may have empathy with the men in detention on Manus Island. Like the men he left his home in New Zealand with his family as a young child to come to Australia for a better life. Over the years Russell has criticised Australia and their immigration policies, particularly towards New Zealanders as he did not take his opportunity to gain Australian citizenship because he was off in America making movies and millions of dollars and did not complete the residency period. Those residency requirements changed and he was no longer eligible or was not prepared to the do the time to get citizenship. Russell like the men in the off shore detention centre left their families leaving their women and children to go somewhere else. While Russell was able to return to Australia, he left his wife and children alone for long periods of time which media sources say eventually lead to the breakdown of his marriage.

As many commented on Twitter those men in the detention centre would have taken thousands of dollars away from their families to pay people smugglers along the way. They also ignored several safe countries until they got to their destination Australia. One comment I read put it nicely that while Manus Island is good enough for 40 000 people who live there it doesn't seem good enough for those men in detention. There is tension between the Manus Islanders and the men due to alleged bad behaviour by the men in the local community. I certainly understand why the local community doesn't want them there.

It is easy to criticise others and Russell and his followers have in the majority condemned the Australian government and their people on something they can do nothing about. The reality is and many will disagree with me that not everyone who gets on a boat and travels to a country without the appropriate documentation is a genuine refugee. The Australian government has an obligation to put the protection of their residents and citizens first and decide that. Australia has settled some 50 odd refugees in the United States. So one has to ask why has it been so difficult for the other men in detention not to get refugee status. The majority of those who condemn the Australian government and their people are not owning a problem and trying fix it also. Even though the Australia government is trying to negotiate with the United States to resettle 1250 people I didn't see Russell Crowe or his supporters putting pressure on the American government to speed up the process to take them. But then America is where he works and makes his money. And we all know he shouldn't bite the hand that feeds him in particular when he needs a visa to work and American consumers to buy his work.

Reference

Lieu, J. 2017, "Russell Crowe says Australia 'looks like *ssholes' when it comes to refugees" 6 November, 2017, published at mashable.com.

Cooper, L. 2017, "Russell Crowe Hits Back At Criticism Over His Housing Offer To Manus Asylum Seekers". 5 November, 2017, published at HuffPost Australia.

Chang, C, 2017, "Russell Crowe stands by Manus Island offer amid criticism" 6 November, 2017, published at news.com.au.

Hunter, F, 2017, 'F---ing disgraceful' : Russell Crowe unloads on Manus Island crisis' 2 November, 2017, published in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Quinn, K, 2015, "Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship, says Immigration Department" 25 March, 2015, published in The Sydney Morning Herald.

"Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship." published in The New Zealand Herald 26 March, 2015.

Alan Doyle And 'A Newfoundlander In Canada'...The book and album tour at home.

The first leg of Alan Doyle's new book tour through the east coast of Canada has finished at a packed house at The Rooms in St. John's. Since Alan has been home in St. John's there have been a range of interviews and performances on local television, radio and in newspapers and a book signing.

The book and album promotion as always has been supported with some awesome social media posts from Alan himself, the organisations doing the promotion and of course the fans. So I thought the St. John's gigs deserve a post of their own.

The CBC Crosstalk live interview and performance...

The highlight of the book and album tour at home in St. John's for me was the CBC Crosstalk interview and mini performance on the local radio CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Alan talked about the new book and album and Alan, Cory and Kendel performed some songs in the studio that included 'Come Out With Me', 'Row Me Bully Boys', and a nice interpretation of an old favourite 'I've Seen A Little'.

The official CBC Newfoundland and Labrador news feed wrote an article title 'First Listen 'I'm super-grateful': Alan Doyle releases new book and solo album' that was distributed via social media. The lucky fans who won the contest shared some nice words about being fans of Alan Doyle. I have circulated a copy of the article on my Google + page. 

The interview and performance was recorded and loaded up onto the official CBC Newfoundland and Labrador Facebook page for local and international fans who could ring up and comment on. At the time of the writing of this post the interview and performance was still available.

The Newspaper Article...

'The Artist Spotlight' by Dillon Collins published in The Newfoundland Herald on the 1 November, 2017. This is another really interesting article with some interesting comments so I decided to keep a copy of a couple of paragraphs. I was unable to share the article via my Google + page. The article has been edited for copyright reasons and can be found at the official webpage of the Newfoundland Herald.

"...From the boy on the bridge to the travelling troubadour, the life and career of Alan Doyle has been one filled with choice. The idea of choice, the necessity and the ability to control it have dictated the latter part of the career of the fabled Great Big Sea frontman turned solo success story. There’s choice in which career path to take on – frontman, actor, author, philanthropist and business owner. All of these things require a keen hand and the patience to balance dozens of spinning plates...

I would love for the next year and a half for there to be visible momentum and for it to keep growing. It’s amazing that it’s still growing. 2018 will be my 25th year as an exclusively professional musician. As my buddy Hawksley Workmen says ‘you still have heat around you.’ I was never sure what that meant, but that’s what he said. To still be in the game at all is a blessing. I’d just love for it to constantly grow a little bit so there is somewhere else that will have us the next week that didn’t have us the week before. Hopefully whoever had us last week when we show up there in a couple of years they’ll have us back with just as many or maybe a few more. Momentum is the most intoxicating thing in the entertainment business. To feel like whatever you’re doing is growing or moving a tiny bit quicker than it used to. That’s pretty awesome.”

The Rooms 'A Newfoundlander in Canada' book talk and Costco book signing...

Alan chose the magnificent St. John's museum The Rooms as the venue to do his talk about his new book to a packed house. The fans who attended shared some kind words and awesome photographs on social media. The following day Alan signed copies of his book at Costco.

I have included some screen shots of some awesome photographs from The Rooms and Costco book signing circulated on Alan Doyle's official Twitter accounts. No copyright infringement intended.








The Interview...

Although not officially an at home interview this article titled 'Alan Doyle: 'If I don't say it, I don't sing it' was published in The Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper on the 3 November, 2017.

The article has been edited for copyright reasons and I have copied two questions I found really interesting about what scared Alan as a writer and the best advice he received here. 

I have not been able to circulated this article on my Google + page for those fans interested in reading it.

"...What scares you as a writer?

Nothing scares me as much as confessing secrets in writing. There’s something about a permanent record of deeply personal thoughts or fears. It is like something you can never go back from. In my new book, I confess to feeling ashamed of my first reactions to a tense situation at a gig in Ottawa, and how my first instinct was to make the gig go smoothly rather than stick up for Newfoundland. I admit to feeling so guilty that I even considered anything but outright objection to the whole scene. For whatever reason, I find it much more emotional to write these feelings than to say them out loud.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

When I got my first big acting gig, a seasoned actor pal advised me: “They’ve hired you because they want you. So just be you and you’ll be fine.” So in everything I do – acting, writing, songs, whatever – I try to always remember that the more I can be myself, the better it should be received. I don’t write lyrics in my songs for me to sing if they are not words and phrases I would not normally use. If I don’t say it, I don’t sing it...."