GREAT BIG SEA is a bastard...by their own admission. Some of Canada’s favourite sons are giving Australia their first ever tour. This folk-rock partnership was forged in the harsh lands and rowdy pubs of St Johns, Newfoundland – yes NEW-F-F- -F- FOUND-LAND !! where co-founders Sean McCann and Bob Hallett met while playing traditional folk songs for boisterous crowds made up of hard-partying university students and off-duty fisherman. In 1993, after meeting fellow socio-holic and pub stalwart Alan Doyle they started GREAT BIG SEA in an attempt to create a new approach to Newfoundland folk music one that combined their original music with the traditional sounds and instruments they had grown up with.
"We weren’t the best musicians in town” says Bob Hallett, candidly, “we just wanted it more. We were driven by a bloody-minded need to succeed and we were rewarded for our bleeding.”
Now, 17 years, 9 studio albums later and a major contribution to The Shipping News score – GREAT BIG SEA have won over a global audience with their eclectic musical mix drawn from their rich English-Irish-French heritage. Somewhere along the way, GREAT BIG SEA ceased to be just a band - for the three core members and their assorted collaborators, it’s a way of life.
“Our music is of Newfoundland,” explains Sean McCann. “It would be impossible to do what we do if we were from anywhere else. Our songs come from the sea and the cliffs and the rocks and all the other natural beauties our country provides. Without her we simply couldn’t exist.”
As their home has characterised their music, so too has GREAT BIG SEA come to represent and define the energetic spirit that is Newfoundland. But this is no ordinary ‘sea shanty’ band. Their influences range from Bob Marley, The Clash, and Johnny Cash to Fergus O’Byrne and Donal Lunny.
Bluesfest Sideshow – GREAT BIG SEA
WHEN: April 3
WHERE: The Corner Hotel
TIX: www.cornerhotel.com or PH: 03 9427 9198
MORE: http://www.greatbigsea.com
