Take a splash in the Great Big Sea!

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Photo Credit: Fiona Younger

[Darrell]             [Séan]  [Alan]        [Bob]

Obviously, this is a page dedicated to my favourite band Great Big Sea. They are four guys from the "tropical island of Newfoundland, where the palm trees lean." The members of this band are Alan Doyle (vocals, acoustic guitar, bouzouki, and mandolin), Bob Hallett (vocals, button accordion, tin whistle, low whistle, fiddle, mandola, concertina, bouzouki, and mandolin), Darrell Power (vocals, acoustic bass guitar, and bones) and Séan McCann (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán, and tin whistle).

They are a traditional, yet diverse group, and although there is no single word to describe their unique sound, their music is an energetic, combination of celtic rock and sing-along folk, while remaining unmistakably traditional. Bob Hallett has said that Great Big Sea is "a really-aggressive, folk band that marries traditional, celtic music with modern rhythms. A lot of this music had four or five hundred years of history behind it so when you marry that to modern ideas, you've got something that's already a proven product."

These four University friends got together in 1993 and formed Great Big Sea. The band's birthday is March 5, so be sure to wish them a happy birthday when it comes around. Alan was quoted as saying in an interview with The Toronto Star on November 16, 1995, "We started out with the simple goal of playing the old songs, but picking them up where need be with modern tempos. It was a twofold kind of thing because that music is all around us, but when we were coming up it was competing with the rock music off the radio."

They now have 5 Canadians albums, released under Warner Canada, and 2 US albums, released under Sire Records. Almost all of these albums have been declared multi-platinum. They also have 11 music videos to their credit: Run Runaway, Goin' Up, Mari-Mac, When I'm Up, Ordinary Day, End of the World, Lukey (a collaboration with the Cheiftains), Consequence Free, Feel It Turn, Can't Stop Falling, and Everything Shines.

Great Big Sea has won numerous awards around the world, unprecedented for a folk band. The most-notable of these awards are the numerous East Coast Music Association awards. The count is now at 13, including 5 Entertainers of the Year. On a larger scale, they have been nominated for several Junos, but, alas, have not won one yet.

But, the best thing about this band other than the music is how they treat their fans. They always have time to do the "fan thing". They hang around after their shows, if they can, to sign cd covers, have pictures taken and just chat with people. They occasionally post on the message board to answer questions, update their fans on happenings, etc.

If you want to learn more, I suggest you visit their official site and peruse this and other fan sites. And, I highly recommend to you to go see these four Newfoundlanders live, if you have not already. It's a phenomenal experience, not to be missed.