Between The Rock And A Hard Place: Newfoundland, Great Big Sea, Alan Doyle, And Even Russell Crowe

"And Lessons Left To Learn" - Sure Things, Wise Words & Sweet Smiles (& New Hit Songs!)

 

 

I've got an early-morning flight and, as always, still need to pack. And watch the Habs beat the Wings (ever the optimist). This one is for the road. And from the heart. 

Alan Doyle, Winnipeg, October 2010

 

In a world tangled with uncertainties, each of us has our own handful of Sure Things; some big, some small, all Constants - those things that we know beyond doubt are True, would always be True, will always be True, no matter what the surrounding circumstances.

Alan's face is one of my Sure Things. No matter where I might have first seen that face, whether it was in a grocery store or on a train or in school or at church or in a bank or passing by on a crowded street - or at a hockey dance or on a museum tour or in a pub...or even on a television show - he would have caught my eye, my interest, all of my attention. And my heart. I would have thought his was a wonderful face, sweet and intelligent and gorgeous and filled with promise. 

I do think his is a wonderful face. Sweet and intelligent and gorgeous and filled with promise. A Sure Thing.

I really like that face. Constantly. 

 

 

During a GBS show some time ago (yes, I do recall which show it was and no, I'm not going to say), Alan was being particularly sweet, heart-meltingly so. But I wasn't buying it, not that night. When it came time for the break between sets (this was one of the two-set Evening With Great Big Sea gigs), I was out in the lobby with a friend, still not buying it.

"But he's being so sweet up there," my friend argued. "There's no resisting him when he's this sweet."

"It's from the Stage," I retorted, defensively indignant. "It's not Real."

My friend was silent for a few moments, thinking. Then she said something I will never forget: "I don't think there are very many places more Real to Alan Doyle than the Stage."

Those were the words of my Very Wise Friend. After she said them we went back to the show; all during the second set, I believed in each and every one of those sweet smiles. With all my heart. 

I still do. 

 

 

And just in case the title lyric was not recognised, here's a video of the Brand New Song from which it comes, a great song due out soon on Alan's upcoming Solo Album.  

 

I'm thinking this could very well be the First Hit off of that album. 

 

 

More when I'm back on the ground again.  

 

 

"Just Like You Always Will Be" - Something More At The Ship (Alan Doyle & Hawksley Workman)

Alan Doyle & Hawksley Workman, The Ship, St. John's, January 2012

 

 

You slept through the last small town,
I'll wake you up when the next one comes around.
Your eyes are closed, like you truly believe
You're safe and sound with me

No looking back, no turning into salt.
The city was crumbling but, baby, we're not to fault.
When things got too rough, I promised you we'd leave.
You're safe and sound with me.

You're safe and sound with me,
Just like you always will - just like you always will be.

The wipers clear the windshield of the rain.
My shirt sleeve dries your eyes the very same.
We fit together like the ignition and the key.
You're safe and sound with me.

You're safe and sound with me,
Just like you always will - just like you always will be.

The glove box light shines bright enough to see.
You read the map like you were reading poetry.
And it just might take you forever to see,
That you're safe and sound with me.  - Safe & Sound, Hawksley Workman

 

 

 

I've written here before about how impressed I was the first time I saw Hawksley Workman perform - as an opener for Great Big Sea at the George Street Festival, a show during which he danced with broom sticks and made sweet love to a feather boa - about how moved I was by the power of both his songs and his performance. About how it took me all of five minutes into that first show to realise how much I'd love to see Hawksely and Alan (and the boa) performing together. And also about how glad I was when word came out that Hawksely was going to produce what would become GBS's Fortune's Favour album. 

That wound up being a very good album, one of my own favourites from GBS; I still say that if you could combine the scope and sweep of Fortune's Favour with the emotional sincerity of Something Beautiful, perhaps add a generous dash of the hard-won authenticity of Turn and a strong shot of the resilient buoyancy of Sea Of No Cares, you might come close to making the perfect GBS album. Perhaps. But until that happens, there's much truth and pleasure to be found in the results of Hawksley's turn at the helm of the Great Big Ship.

Those first few times I saw Hawksley perform - on George Street, at the Edmonton Folk Festival, and at a few theatre shows here and there - I was so swept up in the high drama and lush sensuality of his Big Stage songs - Jealous Of Your Cigarette, Smoke Baby, and of course Striptease (which, I suddenly realised the other night at The Ship, I now think of in terms of Singing To, rather than Being Sung To) - that I can't recall much about the gentle, loving songs I heard at those early shows.

It wasn't until Hawksley came out to join GBS at their 2008 Molson Amphitheatre gig (one of the Biggest of all of Canada's Big Stages) at the very beginning of the Fortune's Favour Tour and they all started in with Safe And Sound - which I was then hearing in the context of the band having been safe in the hands of their producer - that I gave the song my full attention and heard Hawksely at his sweetest and most vulnerable - the rest of Hawksley...the best of Hawksley. Especially when Alan sang a verse of that gentle, loving song.

 

 

Seeing Alan come up and join Hawksely for a few songs this past Friday night (during the second of four straight sold-out nights at The Ship in St. John's) was very special. When Alan said he wanted to do Safe And Sound because it was his "favourite Hawksley Workman song," he made it all the more special. As he does. He also made me listen, more closely than I have ever listened before, to his Favourite Hawksley Workman song. Again, as he does. He always makes me listen, with heart as much as - at times with more than - hearing.  

I've had Safe & Sound on my mind, and in my heart, for the past few days now, ever since hearing Alan sing it. What it means to be that person, to offer that assurance, to make and then live up to that promise - a promise strong enough and true enough to last all the way along the road, through each small town and crumbling city, in the worst of any storm. To welcome arrival and accept departure with equal grace, regardless of degree of understanding or regret for opportunity lost; to believe in and to hope for the best. To love the steadiest and most sure. To treasure the trust inherent in the capitulation of those closed eyes.

Ignition and key, shirt sleeve and road map...hearing and heart. Safe and Sound. Even if it does take forever to see.  

Leave it to the Master Songwriter to choose the right song as his favourite. 

 

 

Just a bit of a song - one from that Fortune's Favour album upon which the two of them worked together - which has become quite the local favourite of late, recognised as much (maybe more) as the theme song of CBC's hit TV show Republic Of Doyle as it is as a GBS tune.  

 

 

 

 

And then to Alan's song, another from Fortune's Favour, another right choice - a song that tells the True Story of its Singer, its tale told all the more clearly and fully as Alan performs it here.

 

 

 

I love this song, have loved it from the first time I ever heard it, through closed Delta Ballroom doors at a Great Big Christmas sound check more than four years ago. It's since become a great production number at so many GBS shows - particularly effective as a set-opener - exciting and electric, enthusiastically responded to by a multitude of audiences. It's been powerful and true; there has never been a single time it's been performed when I've failed to see the heart and the soul, the passion and the need, of the Petty Harbour Boy. Never once has the answer been anything other than a heartfelt Yes. 

And even with all of that, this already-much-loved song becomes Something More - something stronger, something more honest and genuine and complete - in Alan's own version of it here. Freed from the customary expectation that each song exists to uplift and energise the GBS audience, Alan can beautifully and poignantly express the aching edge of uncertainty and the restless intensity of longing that anchor this song in a richer, deeper Truth and a clearer, perfected view. What I love the most about this song - that it's a Portrait of the Artist as the Man he is - is allowed to mature and grow and reach out for its full potential. And so too can the Man. 

The thought of what Alan could do with this song - of what he could with any song, especially his own songs - given a full freedom to choose and implement arrangment and tone, style and interpretation, is almost unbearably exciting. This is why the Solo Music - the albums and the tours - matter so much. What GBS does is great; nobody I've ever seen does what they do as well as they do it, and I earnestly hope they can keep right on doing it as much as they want for as long as they choose, for profit and for pleasure. But as inarguably good as it is and as clearly rewarding as it has been, the Whole has boundaries narrower than are those of its constituent Parts.

I believe deeply and sincerely in Alan's full potential with my own restless intensity of longing. How could I possibly not want to see the rest of him...the best of him?  And much more to the point, how could he possibly not want this for himself?

As daunting a prospect as it has to be to keep everything else on the go (ncluding taking good care of his poor wonky back) while making the time to write and record - his wealth of solo songs and his music with Russell and his soundrack songs and his reciprocal-covers project with his other musician friends and so many other grand possibilities - to put together a tour band to take on the road (quite likely writing and recording yet more solo-album material while on that road, and  on the GBS road too) to deal with label issues and show details and promo stuff...still, it's who he is and where he can go and what he can accomplish. It's the Something More he's been carrying within himself all this time. 

If finding a continuing outlet and a lasting expression for the fullness of his Something More is what will please Alan and satisfy him, then it's what needs to happen. It's what he will find a way to make happen - I believe in that too. 

And when it does happen, it will be Wonderful. Just like he always will be.

 

 

 

"I Wonder If You Love Me" - Anatomy Of An Unparalleled Performer, Journey Of A Lovable Man

 

Alan Doyle rocking the MTS Centre, Winnipeg, October 2010

 

I was thinking of a Trappers photo where I am jammed between the one gambling machine and the schooner in a fish-tank.- Alan Doyle, Twitter January 18th

 

Alan's Twitter conversation with a few of his longtime musician friends about the performance travails and indignities they all suffered in Days Gone By (circa 1990 or so in this instance - Trapper's was, and is, a somewhat cheesy George Street pub - yes, that's probably redundant - still the kind of place where the tourists go to be screeched-in and the musicians go to be paid little while being listened to less) really got me thinking.

My first thought was of how impressively far Alan's remarkable talents and indefatigable efforts have taken him from that narrow spot between the gambling machine and the schooner, of all the times I have seen him blazing brilliantly in the spotlights on so many significant stages: thrilling tens of thousands (and a Future King, whom Alan brought to his obedient feet) on Paliament Hill for Canada Day, the same numbers again at Halifax's Confederation Games, Ottawa's Bluesfest and Canberra's Australia Day. Molson Amphitheatre, Malkin Bowl, New York's Times Square, Hollywood's House Of Blues. An Olympics Gold Medal Ceremony, a Junos Songwriters Circle, a gala premiere in Cannes, the steps in Rome's Piazza di Spagna. 

By Land and by Sea, across continents and upon oceans...a Wide World Outside away from that fish-tank schooner. That was my first thought. 

My second thought was of how much I would have loved to see Alan performing back then, even if it meant I had to spend my evenings in Trapper's. No matter that he was jammed into such an inopportune position, offering up his Ozzie Osbourne covers with fingers sore from his having played till they bled - the show he put on then would have been much of what his shows are now: compelling, persuasive, moving, irresistible. It would have been an Alan Doyle Show - somewhat less expert, assured, and well-practised than are his present-day shows, to be sure, and perhaps even more endearing for that difference - but his show nonetheless. It would have been wonderful, incipiently wonderful with the tantalising promise of so much more wonderful to come. He would have made it so. 

Alan's desire, his determination, his drive - his need - to cause each and every audience to love him, along with his willingness (his courage) to let that need show were, are, and will always be the heart and soul - the  Secret Power, if anything so palpably and beautifully apparent could possibly be called "secret"- of each and all of his performances, whenever those performances happen, with whomever they happen. The sweet, awkward Boy, the dynamic Front Man, the incendiary Rock Star, the unparalleled Solo Artist (with his own unforgettable songs - that's how I first saw him, how I can't wait to see him again on his Solo Tour)...the eminently lovable Man.    

Lovable - and gorgeous too. 

 

 

Awesome and unparalleled, loved yesterday and today. And even more so Tomorrow.

 

 

"But We'll Never Run Out Of Good People" - Class Acts All Around (Rock Op Haiti Fundraiser for Team Broken Earth)

 

 

Alan Doyle, Interplanetary Rock Star 

Rock Op Haiti, St. John's

 

 

Congrats to all hands @TeamBrokenEarth for the wonderful evening and fundraising in St John's last night. Pleasure to be a part of it. - Alan Doyle, Twitter, January 15th 

 

I grew up with my Mom's definiton of "Class": Doing your best not to behave in such a way as to cause trouble for the people you care about. It's a good definition, but I like taking it one step further: Understanding when it is most definitely not All About You...and behaving accordingly.

The next step again is when folks take the time and make the effort to give of themselves, willingly and freely, to others. The deeper the need, the greater the gift...the keener the awareness of just Who it truly is All About. Those kind of folks - Good People by any standard of measure - are the Classiest of all.

There was no shortage of Classy People to be found last night in the St. John's GeoCentre at the Rock Op For Haiti, put on by Team Broken Earth to raise funds for continuing medical relief work in earthquake-devastated Haiti. From the best-in-the-Province chefs (from Raymonds, Blue On Water, The Chefs Inn, and Red Oak Catering) to the best-in-the-Anywhere musicians (Great Big Sea, also with a dandy  - but too short - opening mini-set from Andrew James O'Brien), to the host of assorted volunteers who helped make the evening happen, to the generous attendees who bid highly and well on the plethora of auction items ($5,400 for an 8-person dinner with Alan, prepared by Top Chef Todd Perrin!) and most definitely including the Team of travelling medical professionals who have made so much Healing happen where help has been, and still is, so badly needed...Class Acts, each and every one of them.

In any group of people, it's always easy to recognise those whose efforts and actions have earned them the praise of a heartfelt "Well done!" And a sincere and grateful round of applause goes perfectly with these words. Good People weren't a bit hard to find last night - they were right there, right in front of you, all along. Right there and looking fine.  

 

 One of the Very Best of them all plays a sizzling electric guitar. 

I've been badly missing that guitar. Even more so its Player.  

 

 

Just one video from this show, of a song co-written by Sean and his good friend (who was in tit-flashing attendance last night) Dr. Greg Browne. 

 

 

A bit more later about the GBS portion of the evening. This is what I want to say for now.

 

 

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Even when there's only a handful of photos to choose from, somehow there always seems to be one that sums up the evening.

 

 

I've pretty much hit a wall when it comes to figuring out what more to say about this show. I'd really rather just go with how cool it was of GBS to so generously play this gig in support of such a worthy cause - to play a full set too...that surprised me and impressed me all the more, especially considering the several-months-long layoff taking place both before and after this gig, not to mention the interminably long delay before they took the stage on this evening - and how much I hope they all enjoyed the opportunity to re-board the "Mother Ship" for a few days here in St. John's. 

I suppose I could add that, after having seen these men play so many shows in so many places for so many people, after getting a partial glimpse and awareness of how much hard work goes into doing what they do as well as they do it, there are certain audience characteristics I've come to particularly enjoy and appreciate.

While my All-Time Favourite GBS Audiences are those who are seeing - and being blown away by - the band for the very first time (by the band which is so wildly exceeding every single one of whatever expectations or preconceptions they brought into the venue with them), and I also love being in the midst of those rare and delightful audiences which are open and receptive to the full richness and variety of the band's entire catalogue, I think the highest and the best of all of any audience n any city that clearly feels - and clearly shows that they feel - grateful to be right where they are...grateful to the men for the music they have created and are now sharing. The gratitude these men deeply deserve.  

Those are the nights the band responds to what's offered up to them with more of the same, and then the synergy flows back and forth like a multi-directional tide. Those are the nights when Magic happens.

They deserve that too.

 

It was a rough night for photos, but I do have a few more.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did say "Right there and looking fine". For very good reason and most excellent cause. 

 

 

Oh yes, and I should have said that I'm very fond of shows where couples dance with each other. That's always so sweet to see. 

 

 

 

 

"Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah" - "Republic Of Doyle" Season Three Premiere (St. John's)...One Perspective

 

 

 Alan Doyle as Wolf Redmond

 

 

Alan Doyle as Alan Doyle

There is no sweeter face than this one. In my eyes.

 

On the Red Carpet - Alan.

 

 

On the Red Carpet - Sean Panting.

And the Star of this Red Carpet: Allan Hawco.

I enjoyed last night's Republic Of Doyle Season 3 Premiere at the Arts & Culture Centre. While it's true that St. John's still has a few things to learn about bringing off the finer points of a Red-Carpet Premiere - if Russell had been there, he might have decided to start directing traffic along that carpet...I half expected Alan to do it himself - it was still fun to watch how excited so many folks were about being there.

And about taking pictures of each other - decked out in their Finest Premiere-Wear - on that Carpet, those huge photos of Allan Hawco (sporting his characteristic Jake Doyle expression) right behind them. At the end of the day, there may have been nearly as many photos taken of each other as there were of the Official Celebrities. Which was fitting, since Republic Of Doyle has from the start made it (wisely) clear just who it is who's the real Star Of The Show: Newfoundland Herself. This show has worn its love for and pride in Newfoundland on its creative sleeve and that has made Newfoundlanders feel proud of themselves. The more excited locals I saw on that Carpet smiling for the camera, the more appropriate it seemed.

Which isn't to say there wasn't the expected flurry when those Official Celebrities came out onto the Carpet. They sent Alan out first - I think because they knew absolutely everyone in the building would immediately recognise him and make the surge toward the Carpet as soon as he appeared. And that's exactly what happened. Then a few others followed after, including series' actors Lynda Boyd and Sean Panting and co-writer/co-creator Perry Chafe, with series star Allan Hawco causing the greatest flurry and getting the most cameras on the go when he came out in the final position.

Then they all walked back to where they'd been waiting before, waited some more, only to come right back across the Carpet again, a bit hurried and self-conscious, up the stairs and into the (apparently unwrangled) clump of ooh-ing and aah-ing people standing at the top. It wasn't very smooth or slick or practised or uber-cool, not a bit like all of those La La Land premieres (or Cannes, for that matter) - but it sure was cute. And again, it seemed totally appropriate to the occasion.

 

 

I've been in the A&CC dozens of times, but this was the first time I'd set foot in the balcony. Our first-row balcony seats wound up giving us a great view not only of the episode being shown on the big screen, but of the main-floor audience as well. I'm purloining a pic from Mr. Hawco's Twitter page to show the A&CC layout...that's us up there on the far left-hand side of the balcony.

 

After a few more intros and remarks, it was time for the show to begin, to a rousing round of cheers and applause. That was the most fun of all, especially with the some of the Key Players sitting right there in the midst of it - including the Fellow I'd come to cheer and applaud, of course. The one with the sweet face. 

 

Canadian viewers who haven't seen the Season Three premiere episode yet can catch it on the Republic Of Doyle's CBC-TV site.  Those who live outside of Canada can find several online links for viewing; one of the easiest to use can be found at Project Free TV.  

 

 

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Joke's ended when you smashed the TV on me head, brudder.- Wolf Redmond

 

 

It's a very good RoD episode - really, with Russell Crowe and Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand...and Alan Doyle...guest-starring, how could it be anything less? - and the eager watchers in the A&CC reacted accordingly, laughing at all the right moments, cheering for Local Hero Jake Doyle's muddling triumphs, and breaking out in unsolicited, sincere applause at the start of each round of commercials. The 1.36+ million Canadian viewers reported in the next-day's tally indicates that the episode was solid ratings hit as well. 

And Alan did a great job acting. That's what I was there for and that's what I noticed, first and foremost, while watching him on the big screen in the A&CC (and while watching him watching himself on that screen...I really enjoyed that) and then again, several times again, when I got back home and watched the DVR-ed version of the episode.

Up there on the screen with such accomplished actors, some of whom have been doing this for a living nearly all of their lives, one of whom has won an Academy Award doing this (and deserved to win a few more), Alan was more than holding his own, keeping the beat perfectly and lookng as if he was exactly where he belongs, working like a pro and making it look as if he too had been doing this his whole life. He had all the lines, all the moves, all the expressions and stances, the timing and postures, down pat; he stayed in character every moment, background as well as foreground scenes. He was Wolf Redmond. He's got the goods.

He is the goods.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good seein' ya again, Dick Smack.

 

Way to go, Alan. You've more than earned the right to wear that Actor's Scarf you're so fond of. And look so good in. 

 

 

One of the more unfortunate aspects of Human Nature is how when a person gets to be really good at something, there is such a tendency - and such pressure, coming both from within and without - to keep focusing more and more on that thing, to keep getting better and better at One Single Thing...often to the exclusion of Everything Else. 

The people I admire the most - the people of whom I am the most proud - are those who refuse to allow their focus and their efforts, their accomplishments and their pleasures, to be so narrowly focused and needlessly limited. Those already-accomplished people who don't let doing one thing excellently well keep them from reaching out (and reaching inside) to try Something New - to be challenged and terrifed and delighted, to be exhausted from working as hard they can and then thrilled by their ultimate well-earned success, all over again. Again and again.   

Those to whom the bottle is always going to taste like More, each and every time they kiss it. 

 

It occurred to me last night that Alan's had quite the impressive week so far. He went to Toronto to help do press for and attend the Republic Of Doyle pre-sceening party. While there, he rocked the National Anthems at the Leafs/Wings game in front of a sold-out Air Canada Centre crowd and a nationwide Hockey Night In Canada television audience, doing so well that he got a (richly well-deserved) nod for his efforts the next day via Twitter from none other than Canada's Songbird herself, Anne Murray. He also found studio time while in Toronto for putting the final touches on his much-anticipated first solo album. 

Back home again, Alan attended the official premiere of the hit TV show in which he did an excellent Guest-Star acting turn alongside some of hs best buddies (between the HNIC anthems and the ROD episode, Alan performed for something like 2 million people this week) and then the next day he filmed a video with his bandmates for their milesone 20th Anniversary Album. Oh yes, and along the way he also found time to build a Snowman with his little boy; can't forget that significant achievement. 

All of this is Alan's week of accomplishments - what's public knowledge of Alan/s week of accomplishments, that is - so far. The week's not over yet. He's still got a major benefit concert for Broken Earth coming up on Saturday, and who knows what else is on his "Today's Achievements" lists for Friday?

At the very least, there's certainly still enough snow on the ground for another Snowman. 

 

 

Note: And shame on me for failing to note the biggest thing St. John's does right when putting on a fancy-schmancy Red Carpet Premiere: All proceeds from the evening went to Ronald McDonald House, Newfoundland & Labrador, currently under construction - and near completion - in St. John's.

 

 

"Oh, Say, Can You See..." - The Jon Bon Jovi Of Anthems, Republic Of Doyle Promos & Alan Then-And-Now (ETA: From First Attempt To Best Attempt)

 

 

Note: It's been pointed out to me that First Attempt could have been comprised of 4 band members, instead of being an earlier incarnation of Alan's Staggerin' Home duo with John Brenton, which would make Alan's "Half of First Attempt in the house" Twitter remark a reference to both Greg and himself.

Since I'm not sure how many First Attempters there actually were, and since The Other Quarter Of First Attempt doesn't sound nearly as cool as does The Other Half Of - although The Other Half Of The Half has rather a nice ring to it - I think I'll just shag attempts at mathematical accuracy and go with The Best Of Each And Every Attempt to describe Alan.

Adjectival accuracy at its finest. And his.

 

This Sweet Boy belongs here too. I sure saw him out on the ACC ice, rocking those Anthems at the Biggest Hockey Dance of all - that is, the biggest until he does it again for the Habs' Stanley Cup-clinching game.

(I have a friend who, whenever she sees a particularly gorgeous photo of a man taken back when he was a young boy invariably says, "If he'd gone to my high school, he'd have been walking with a limp the whole time!" I think of her words - and of that limp - each and every time I look at this photo of Alan.)

 

 

ETA: This video snippet, posted by Alan last night on Twitter from the mixing studio in Toronto, goes perfectly with everything I could see during his stirring Hockey Anthems performance the night before.

 

 

GHAWK lays it down at the mix studio. Half of First Attempt in the house. Yes B'y. - Alan Doyle, Twitter, January 8th

 

If you look closely. you can see the other half of First Attempt (Alan's first band, brilliantly - and confidently - named) reflected in the glass, videoing longtime friend and First-Attempt-mate Greg Hawco while he works on a track for Alan's only-a-few-months-away Solo Album, as final tracks are recorded and final mixes completed at Toronto's Loud Mouse Studios.  

Be sure to listen for the low, warm chuckle and the laughingly whispered "Awesome" at the end of the video. The Other Half of First Attempt has waited a very long time to say that word in this context. And to have that delighted laugh. 

From First Attempt to Best Attempt. Awesome it truly is, awesome it truly will be. Awesome you truly are. Yes, B'y. 

 

 

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...this sweet little smile - mixed relief and pleasure - on Alan's face right after he sang an excellent Star-Spangled Banner to open tonight's Leafs/Wings game?

 

 

 

He might have sounded a bit worried beforehand, mentioning his pre-Anthem nervousness on his Twitter page, adding that he'd watched a Bon Jovi concert on his flight to Toronto, just to get himself in the proper "Stadium Rock" frame of mind - but when it was time to perform, Alan Doyle came through, brilliantly and beautifully.

As he always does.

 

 

 

 

 

After getting past the really frigging hard one, O Canada was clearly a sheer delight. And so was its Singer.

 

 

 

 

Tonight, Alan was the Jon Bon Jovi of Anthems.

 

 

This Hockey Night In Canada broadcast also included an interview with Alan and Allan Hawco, promoting the upcoming (January 11th) third-season premiere of Republic Of Doyle, an episode in which Russell Crowe, Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand join Alan as guest stars.

 

 

As nervous as he had to be about having the notoriously difficult SSB looming before him, only moments away, Alan did an awesome job of staying focused during this interview. Almost as awesome a job as he did with both of those Anthems.

Almost, but not quite. They were very well-sung Anthems.

 

 

I first heard Alan, and subsequently Great Big Sea, in March of 2001; I didn't see them play live until September of that year. During that initial six months, I poked around here and there online, curious to see what I could learn about him and them. One of the first articles I ever read about Alan was a fairly extensive interview he had given, a good piece which gave a few clear, true glimpses of the Man being interviewed; one particularly illuminating comment Alan made in that interview had to do with how much better a world it would be if everyone - not just performers but everyone, even Dentists - got applauded for their good work.

In that same interview, Alan mentiioned having been at a recent hockey game - I think the referemce was to when GBS performed at the NHL All Star Game, but I'm not sure - and how utterly cool he'd felt when CBC broadcaster (and former NHL goalie) Kelly Hrudey said "Hi Alan" to him as he walked past. Alan said he was thrilled that Kelly Hrudey knew who he was.

I was thinking about that interview tonight while waiting for Alan to come out onto the ice and claim his Anthems at the Air Canada Centre, in front of a several-million-plus national audience. I thought about it while listening to Alan's friendly exchange with Hockey Night In Canada host Ron MacLean - the same fellow Alan cruised the Adriatic with last summer on the Gold Medal Plates trip, scheduled for a repeat journey this year - and again when the CBC cameras briefly showed The National News Anchor Peter Mansbridge chatting companionably with Alan during the game.

The interview came to mind once more, when I was thinking about how the Republic of Doyle's acquisition of its biggest-ever Guest Star is the result of what began years ago with an excellent song - Alan's "How Did We Get From Saying's 'I Love You'?" - written by an impressively talented Boy, with all due credit to Russell Crowe's impeccable taste and keen discernment in recognising the excellence of that song, as well as the impressive talents of the Boy...and, most of all, the priceless worth of the Man. Even more credit to Alan for his resourceful orchestration of a meeting between himself and Russell at those NHL Hockey Awards. The rest is, as they say, History; what I say is that the rest is the Future too.

Just about then, Alan came out onto the ice, looking endearingly nervous, performing admirably well. I saw him, heard him, was glad for him, felt relieved for him, am so proud of him. I could see the Boy who watched Hockey Night on TV with Big Brother every Saturday night in Petty Harbour, the Boy who would of course be thrilled when a big-league hockey player - an NHL goalie, no less - knew who he was and called him by name. I could see the Man, standing out there on the ACC ice in the blaze of the spotlights, singing for the mutitudes.

Rock Star, Actor, Master Songwriter, Front Man, Solo Artist...Alan. As far as he has come, as far as he is going, he's still Himself - still true. Still thrilled to be seen and known for who he is; still delighted to be noticed and called by name.

Still sure that applause can make this world such a better place.

 

 

"I Kiss The Bottle..." - Alan Puts His Best Face Forward & 'Many-Meeting' Solo-Album Straight Talk

 

 

...It tastes like "More"

 

Alan Doyle, Winnipeg 2010

 

 

Getting ready to begin what I hope is an awesome year. - Alan Doyle. December 31st blog

 

Of all the expressions that take a turn on Alan's face - an endlessly rich variety upon the most expressive face I know - there are a few I most love seeing: His gleeful Rock Star Guitar God King Of The Stage grin of triumph; his endearingly vulnerable crooked little Petty Harbour Boy smile; his wickedly satisfied gleam when he's been partlcularly, incisively, clever; his wide-eyed, wide-open wonder when given what he'd hoped for but believed he did not deserve.

And the expression in this photo, his Deeply Pleased With Himself face. Right now, given all that he's already accomplished with his new music for his solo album and how he's moving ahead on the final mix and the album-release and promotion details and the solo-show planning - I can't think of any more appropriate expression he should have on his face than this one. It belongs there.

Alan's got every excellent reason for being Deeply Pleased With Himself. It's a face that he wears so well, a face that suits him perfectly, a face that deeply pleases me. A face I love seeing...now and always.

A face that tastes like "More".

 

 

Truth be told, I'm considerably fond of - and deeply pleased by - the belly too. But that's for a later discussion.

 

 

More about Alan's "More" - some Solo-Album specifics I've been thinking about and a comment or two about his latest blog - in a bit.

 

 

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Another pleasure-giving sight of Well-Pleased Alan, seen here at the Rockin' Big Give, performing a brand new song.

 

 

 

Even if I didn'r think every new solo-album-destined song I've heard from Alan sounds absolutely wonderful, even if this wasn't the album - and the music - I've been waiting for since the very first time I saw and heard him perform...all it would have taken to get me 100% in favour of The Alan Doyle Solo Project is the gorgeous sight of how glad and grateful - how delighted and satisfied - he so clearly and consistently is to (finally) be doing this. 

Since I truly do find his songs wonderful - somehow, he's even been able to surpass my over-the-moon expectations of and abiding faith in what he could and would do on his own, quite the impressive accomplishment given the height of those expectations and the depth of that faith - and since I really have been waiting for more than a decade for his music on this album, that gorgeous sight is making me almost as glad and grateful, almost as delighted and satisfied, as he is. Almost. 

Thoroughly and deeply well=pleased. As it should always be. As he should always be. Exactly how I would have written it. Or it will be, when he's up there on stage accepting his Juno Award. Make that his first Juno Award.

Hey, if you're gonna dream...dream out loud.  

 

 

I'm still going to have to wait a bit longer to write the rest about his blog entry and the solo-album thoughts. This past month at home, for various reasons I don't think I ever got more than 2 hours of sleep at any one time and now that I've come back here, I've been rediscovering the Lost Art of Slumber. I'll write again, after a nap - maybe two.

 

 

 

When Alan takes his Solo Album on tour, I am so hoping his gorgeous beard gets to come along too. That beard goes with this music; it goes with the Man who has made this music.

 

 

And even if it doesn't come along, I'm still going to see it - right there where it belongs, on the Boy's sweet face.

 

 

Not sure. Many meetings this week. Keep you posted. - Alan Doyle, January 2nd, Twitter  (response to question about his solo-album release date)

 

Ever since Alan mentioned his Many Meetings, they've been on my mind. Nowhere near as much as they're on Alan's mind, to be sure; it has to be impossible to think about any aspect of his upcoming solo album that hasn't already occurred to him, and many more times than they have occurred to anyone else. But I do keep wondering how those meetings are going, hoping that they go exactly how he wants them to. 

I don't know very much about record labels, even less in these rapidly changing days of the industry, but I do understand goals, the primary one of which remains constant no matter what's going on in the music biz: Get your music heard. The better your music is and the stronger your music is, the greater the desire and the effort should be to bring that hearing about. Whichever ways best make that happen. 

Everything Alan has (generously) shared thus far from his solo album makes it very clear that this is music that needs to be heard, music that's going to make its lasting mark and receive its due notice and deserved acclaim once it does get heard. The goods are already there, in full - in abundance. Alan has worked with some of the best and brightest in the business to create and craft an excellent album, which is very nearly ready to make its Grand Entrance to the wide world outside; what he now needs from a record label - if he chooses that route - is the resolve and the means to ensure the greatest possible Grandness of that Entrance. 

What he also needs is to be working with people who are aware of (and can make the most of) the Great Big Sea connection while also having a clear understanding that this is Alan Doyle Music. If they can't grasp what that means - that a part of his music is what GBS does, and then there is all the rest, so much more - then they can't serve the music as it should be served. He needs someone who will put Alan Doyle's best interests first, not Great Big Sea's; GBS already has its own capable people for that job. 

Ideally, Alan will find someone to work with who will be right for him for the Long Haul. Unlesss he wants this to be his sole and single solo album - and, honestly, I can't bring myself to believe that's true for one moment - this is only the beginning for him, the first few steps along a brand new path, a path which will lead him to the opportunity to create, craft, and share all of the rich variety of his songs that live outside the framework of GBS. 

I've thought a great deal about Alan's solo shows - not much of a surprise that I'd think a great deal about those shows, I suppose - and come to some opinions that a few folks might find surprising. As much as I would personally love for Alan to play his solo gigs at multitudinous venues all around the world - as much as I would love seeing him perform in each of those multitudinous venues - it's probably not what's best for his music, let alone not what works best for his always-tight schedule, to be slogging away night after night in dinky little places, playing for the already-converted, many of whom have come to get their substitute GBS Fix. 

Again, it comes back to goals. Nobody knows better than Alan does why travelling musicians play those Endless Road gigs, a different city every night, set it up and tear it down and set it up again - all to build an audience and, with luck, make a living too. At the risk of engendering a somewhat-derisive snort from Himself for being a bit cavalier with his Bottom Line, I'll screw up my courage and point out that Alan doesn't need to earn a living from his solo shows, not right now he doesn't; he has the rare and wonderful luxury of being able to choose shows strictly on the basis of what best gets his music heard by those he most wants to hear it.

I might provoke another snort or two from him when I add that the one luxury he most assuredly does not possess is that of Time; with all of his other professional and personal obligations, even if he wanted to do Endless-Road slogging, it wouldn't be a viable option for him, and doing that slogging for the few free weeks he does have wouldn't go very far toward building the audience his music deserves.

But the simple truth is that Alan already has an audience, a huge audience. He's known by the GBS people and the Russell Crowe people and Scott Grimes people and the Republic Of Doyle people and the Hockey Night people; his is one of the most recognisable names - and faces - in all of Canada, with all of the media contacts and connections that go with possession of such a high profile. Alan's challenge isn't to build an audience for his solo music so much as it is to make sure that an existing audience, perhaps most of all those who have never seen beyond his Great Big Sea Guy persona, gets the chance to know that his solo music is now available and the opportunity to hear how wonderful that solo music is.  

Some music only comes fully into its own when performed live; this is especially true of music that finds its best and most complete expression with interactive participation. It's especially true of much of GBS's music. Other music can be as strong and as true when shared heart-to-heart as it is when shared live with an audience. As wonderful as I know without a doubt at all that each and every one of Alan's solo shows will be - and, again, as selfishly as I still hope for a pile of those shows, for sure as many shows as he wants there to be - I genuinely believe that Alan's solo music - unlike GBS's music, perhaps more like Ron Hynes' music - will not need to be seen performed live in order to be experienced at its best.  

To experience Alan's solo music at its best...hearing it, however and wherever it is heard, is going to suffice. Though seeing it will surely make it that much sweeter. 

What does all this mean, pragmatically? Lots and lots of TV and radio spots aimed directly at that audience who already know who Alan is and who just need to be shown how much more he can do than they may have thought he could. Carefully chosen gigs at venues in cities that will get him mainstream media coverage - a friend of mine calls these "more cluck for your buck" gigs - again, for the same reason. His music needs to be performed in places commensurate with its worth.

Well, that and at the places that make him feel really cool. As much as common sense says he needs to concentrate mostly on Canada right now, I'll confess to hoping to see him play solo in New York and LA and wherever else he's got his heart set on...just because he's going to enjoy it so much. Absolutely guaranteed to put the much-loved Deeply Pleased With Himself look on his face. And that is what I am going to enjoy so much. 

Alan Doyle finally venturing into solo music is a Big Deal; that venture needs to be treated as such. I sure hope that at one of this week's Many Meetings, Alan finds someone willing and able to do just that. Even if it winds up being himself.

Whatever it takes to get his music heard. 

 

 

I do love that beard. It tastes like "More" too. 

 

 

Probably enough of this for now. I'll save all those Alan Dpyle Back-Up Band thoughts for later. I'll also try to add in a few of the comments and questions some folks have made here about Alan's solo album.