"...Guthro says he likes to keep the parameters of the circle fluid and tries not to impose too many restrictions on the performers involved. Some performers may introduce their own work while others may indicate why they sing a particular song written by someone else and why they do it the way they do...“The beauty of these guys is that whatever they do, they make it iconic anyway.” Bruce Guthro
Last weekend Alan Doyle performed with Bruce Guthro and other artists and musicians at the sold out songwriter's circles in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Alan chose to include in his last performances of the year a new love song called 'Leather and The Last'. The new song was bootlegged by the usual sources and shared on social media including YouTube.
After reading so many good things about this new song from the fans on social media, and my love for an Alan Doyle and Stickman Tak solo performance, I confess I did watch the bootleg music video. This song was all the fans said it was and very beautiful indeed.
I have posted a screen shot from the official Twitter account of Bruce Guthro of those artists and musicians who appeared in the Halifax songwriter's circles. The post was shared by Alan Doyle on his official social media accounts.
(photo credit Bruce Guthro)
I have also copied an interesting article with Bruce Guthro talking about his love of performing and his ambitions for the songwriter's circle.
'Bruce Guthro hopes his songwriting circle will become annual event at Centre 200' by Elizabeth Patterson on the 11 December, 2018 at capebretonpost.com. No copyright infringement intended.
SYDNEY, N.S. — Give Bruce Guthro the choice between doing a songwriter’s circle and performing in front of 25,000 screaming fans and you might be surprised at his decision.
“I would do the songwriter’s circles forever,” said the Sydney Mines native during a phone interview while he was driving around doing errands in Halifax. “I enjoy those more than any other gig.”
Guthro, 57, was the frontman for 20 years for Runrig, a popular Scottish band that retired from performing earlier this year. The group often did large concerts since they were popular not only in Scotland but also in Europe. A combined total of 47,000 people watched Guthro and his fellow band members perform their last two concerts in August of this year in the park in front of Stirling Castle. Tickets to the Stirling Castle shows sold out within a few hours. Before that, the group sold out Edinburgh Castle a total of six times, more than any other performer, including Elton John.
Guthro admits there’s nothing quite like hearing 25,000 fans cheering all at once for you.
“It’s a great feeling,” he says. “It’s a ‘wow’ moment.”
But even after 20 years of playing concerts like that, Guthro had enough. Non-stop travelling between Nova Scotia and Scotland was exhausting, being away from his family for weeks at a time was tough and the desire to focus more on his own work had never left.
“I was more than ready to move on,” he says.
While Runrig had plenty of hits and fans in Europe, the group isn’t as well known here, a small fact that allowed Guthro to lead the musician’s equivalent of a double life. When he wasn’t singing in front of thousands in Europe, Guthro became better known for his first love, songwriting, on this side of the pond. Now it’s his time to explore and expand this side of his life again.
For the past 14 years, Guthro has been organizing the Bruce Guthro Songwriter’s Circle events in Halifax. They are held at the Schooner Room at Casino Nova Scotia and all have sold out for this year. The Halifax circles include such well-known writers as Dan Hill, Gordie Sampson, Myles Goodwyn, Alan Doyle and Michelle Wright. Now he wants to expand on that idea and bring it to Cape Breton. The first of what Guthro hopes will be a continuing series will take place at Centre 200 on Dec. 22 at 8 p.m.
“They’ve (the Halifax events) always sold out and I would love nothing better than to do an annual event at Centre 200,” says Guthro.
Indications are good that this will happen.
When Bruce Guthro would step on stage with Runrig, he would play in front of thousands of fans. This is a scene from one of the band’s performances at Edinburgh Castle.
“Eighty per cent of the tickets have been sold already for the Sydney event, so you should get your tickets soon.”
The Sydney Songwriter’s Circle will feature Matt Minglewood, Matt Anderson and the Men of The Deeps. The coal mining chorus may seem like an unusual choice for a songwriting event but not for Guthro.
“I saw them in Halifax and I found them so entertaining. They just rocked my world and I thought, ‘this could work.’”
Guthro says he likes to keep the parameters of the circle fluid and tries not to impose too many restrictions on the performers involved. Some performers may introduce their own work while others may indicate why they sing a particular song written by someone else and why they do it the way they do.
“The beauty of these guys is that whatever they do, they make it iconic anyway.”
During Guthro’s 20-year run with Runrig, he may have contributed five songs to the band’s catalogue since most of the group’s songwriting was done by founding members Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. Now he plans to make up for that by expanding his songwriter’s series and his own catalogue of songs. And because he has a large fan base in Europe, especially in Denmark and Germany, he’s already slated to do a Christmas tour over there in 2019.
“I plan to do more of what I want to do and less of what I don’t want to do,” he says, adding the songwriter’s circles will be a big part of that.
“It’s pure joy to me to do those.”
