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bs2007
Bob's Soundtrack 2007.
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My years with Sean (and many, many others) in Rankin Street
have been romanticized a bit over the years. I have often regretted describing
those years as ‘our apprenticeship in St. John’s rowdy dockside pubs’ in an
early bio. It makes Read More
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Taking a macro look at this journal, which I have been
keeping for well over a year now, a couple of broad themes seem to have emerged,
at least if one is judging anything by the number of comments various topics
have generated: for example, the more Read More
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This one has been delayed for a while - five straight
weeks of serious GBS studio days made it hard to even think about music, not to
mention write about it. I started this a while ago, but only recently got a
chance to finish it.One of the dominant Read More
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Most GBS fans remember when they first heard a particular
song. Often it was connected with a particular point in their life; a song came
along at just the right time, and caught the extreme emotion of the moment. It
is understandable, really. A lot Read More
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It has been some time since we played any festivals in
Europe. Three in a row in the past couple of weeks was a bit of an eye opener,
particularly after doing a bunch in Canada and the USA. Festivals come in many shapes and
sizes; some of the Read More
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When the button accordion came on the scene here some 150
years ago, dance players quickly adopted it wholesale. It had some huge
advantages over the fiddles and occasional tin whistles which had provided
music for dances in Newfoundland in an earlier Read More
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A while ago, I was talking about the difference between the
way we make records, and the way they used to be made. The difference can be a
little hard for a layman to understand; after all, to most people, a song is a
song. Audio quality, as long as Read More
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One of my original aims here was to illuminate the band’s
music by exploring my own influences, and trying to draw metaphors and links
between the two. Unfortunately, none of the songs I have been listening to
lately have anything to do with Read More
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The first time you go into a studio, it is enough just to
get something out that doesn’t utterly suck. As time goes by, ambition grows.
Now you want to introduce some nuances. And I do not think any seasoned band
would argue that tone is one Read More
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House-guests are often surprised at how few CDs I own.
Little do they know – this is fairly typical for musicians. It must have
something to do with the amount of music you end up carrying around in your
head. I know several word class players Read More
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More than once here, I have found myself referring obliquely
to the ‘Can-Con’ regulations. For the uninformed, this is a set of laws that
govern what radio and television stations in Canada are allowed to play. More
specifically, they dictate Read More
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It is funny how Newfoundland music has evolved over the past 20 years. Whether we intended it or not, Great Big Sea has had a vast influence on how the music is presented here. Our evolved pub band format has itself become an archetype. Like young people Read More
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The wanderlust that drives many a musician into the world often wanes as careers rise and fall. While I hate the tedium of airports and such as much as anyone, my enthusiasm for going somewhere different has never waned. My favourite time on any tour Read More
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I was never much of hippie, the laconic lifestyle necessary just doesn’t work for me. That may come as a surprise to some people – more than once in my life I have worn my hair in a ponytail, after all. Most would probably convict me on that Read More
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During a reworking of this website a few weeks ago, I took a look at the layout of my blog, and realized that the comments section was actually working. And so to complete my slide into self-indulgence, I thought I would answer some of the questions, Read More
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Serious fans, or ‘musos’ as my British friends would call
them, often want to know where the ideas come from. How do you get from a lyric
sheet to the finished product? How do you start with ‘a pile of notes’ and end
up with Read More
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Rattlin’ Roarin’ Willie is typical of their early repertoire. Although it is a great traditional sing-along, they never surrender to pub heroics, and throughout the piece they find subtle nuances, nuances I am still finding now. The blend Read More
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No one listens to the radio anymore, according to music business conventional wisdom, anyway. Of course, this isn’t true – people are just listening to hundreds of different stations at the same time. The mass audience that existed until relatively Read More
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On several levels, it is pretty safe to say that without Ryan’s Fancy we would probably not be here at all. But like many fortuitous events, nothing about this was obvious at the time. How did a trio of Irishmen come to change the culture of Read More
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Somehow, without anyone sending us a letter or certificate, we have become one of those bands people refer to a Canadian institution. There are only a handful – Spirit of the West, Blue Rodeo, Trooper, and a few more. Most are pretty much unknown Read More
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Amongst fans of traditional Irish music, it is almost a given that the Bothy Band were the greatest folk band ever. The recent death of founder Michael O’Domnhail got me thinking about them, and listening to their music for the first time in many Read More
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