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

"I'll Make It Worth Your While" - Intermission In Sunshineland

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I wanted to tell you but forgot on the last email that I am glad you said something about the restraining order business. I have heard that story so many times and each time I told the person I doubted it was true.

This came today from a person (who will remain unnamed, for the sake of her own privacy) who I consider to be a nice GBS fan, a decent person overall. Why put it up here? Why wait till now, given that this particular outright lie has been savoured, encouraged, and repeated over and over, again and again, for the past few years by some of the very least-charming denizens of The Happy-Fix World Of GBSunshineland? Because I suppose there should be at least one time and one place for making it quite clear that I know full well precisely where this lie originated, and that I also know just where the true culpability for the continuance of this lie resides.

Not like any of that is going to change what I do or who I care about, not one whit. Not by a jot or a tittle. You gotta love those jots and those tittles.

Sunshineland  (Michelle Doyle, Kirk Penney, Alan Doyle)

Everything's great in sunshineland
Girls and smiles and tans;
The whole world's happy in sunshineland,
Well they don't understand.
The sun always shines in sunshineland
On every mother and child and man;
The clouds never cover the sunshine band,
Well they don't understand.
We all know that's not true;
Even the sun gets tired too,
In sunshineland.

Everything's fast in sunshineland,
Boys and cars and plans.
They're gonna be the star of sunshineland;
Oh, they don't understand.
We all know that's not true;
Even the sun gets tired too,
In sunshineland.

What's a small-town girl to do?
Living underneath the same sky too.
Seems funny to explain,
I kind of like a little rain.

Everything's perfect in sunshineland,
Girls and smiles and tans.
The sun always shines in sunshineland;
Well they don't understand.
We all know that's not true,
Even the sun gets tired too,
In sunshineland.

And now I think I will go work a bit on some of the Shamrockfest photos. A very happy Easter to those who celebrate the day, and a peaceful Passover to those who observe that tradition...and perhaps just one more That was so frigging wonderful to see Russell Crowe and Alan Doyle on stage together again! from me - for now. More to come later, as always.

"I'll Make It Worth Your While" Part One - Russell Crowe Joins Great Big Sea At Shamrockfest & The Most Magical Moments Of All

Other people know Russell Crowe as a great actor, but I call him my friend. - Alan Doyle, intro for Russell coming out to sing the encores (Folsom & Molly Malone) with Great Big Sea (and Carbon Leaf)

You're Irish - you have to act like a fool on St. Pat's. - Scythian front man

"Folsom" Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle, & Great Big Sea, Shamrockfest, Wash. DC, March 2008, video download        (Quicktime file, 240 MB)

"Molly Malone" - Great Big Sea, Russell Crowe, & Carbon Leaf, Shamrock Festival, Wash DC, March 2008, video download          (Quicktime file, 132 MB)

There are times at shows when I begin to seriously question why it is I am there, sometimes because of how idiotically unruly a crowd is being, other times because of how predictably a particular subset of the fan base is behaving.  The latter is far more common at GBS shows than the former, and thus equivalently more patience-testing, but when the former begins to happen - usually at rowdy festival-type shows that are built around trying to encourage people to drink themselves into a state of utter stupidity -  and nonsense such as shoving, crowd-surfing and getting kicked in the head combines with the usual The Purpose Of This Show Is For Alan/Sean To Notice Me! antics...those are the times I find myself grimly clutching the barrier and questioning whether I am a fool for being where I am, and not just on St. Pat's.

It was a long day and a rough time at Shamrockfest yesterday, with the most unruly behaviour taking place at the "Bud LIght Stage" at this Drink Till You Drop 100 Points Off Your IQ festival.  I saw little kids who never should have been there in the first place be terrifed by the fool crowd-surfers and the pushing. I saw a woman slap a drunken boy across the face for nearly crushing her kids. I saw a fool blow out his knee in the mosh pit who was then crowd-surfed up to the front screaming that he needed to be carried out. I put up with the usual foolishness you have to endure when you are a small woman surrounded by large reeling drunken boys-not-yet-men (I always wonder where the small drunken boys/men are at these kind of shows...certainly nowhere near me). 

After hours of this - interspersed with some good music and some otherwise music - the chaos culminated during the CL set; I couldn't even tell you what CL played during the second half of that set, since I was wedged between crowd-surfers and panicked women behind me and huge security guards pulling people over the railing in front of me.  During the break between CL and GBS, whose headlining set would close the festival, there was a half hour of pushing and shoving as people tried to get up to the barrier; the security fellows were talking about how they hoped it would be over soon (curiously, they also told me that this show was nowhere as near as bad comparatively as the totally out-of-control actions at the Chili Cookoff - I am still pondering that piece of info). I held my ground, tightened my grip on the barrier and wondered about my sense.

Then the opening music begins to play and the questions vanish, on this night exactly the same as they have vanished on each and every other night in the past, the same as they are going to vanish on each and every other night to come.  No matter what those opening notes might be - even when Donkey Riding is what kicks of their show (absolutely the right choice with the Shamrockfest crowd...but starting  with Tonight the night before at the Atlantic City HOB show was a brilliant move), still, I look up at the stage and into Alan's face, and doubt is banished. One smile, one intent gaze, one rock-star strut is sufficient answer. This time...each and every time.

Seeing GBS play their Shamrockfest set was already more than enough to make all that led up to it worth my while, especially seeing how the rowdy nonsense really did die down once GBS came out on stage, mostly because there were now so few people willing to get the crowd-surfers up and help them on their way toward the front. Most everyone was instead listening and singing along; successful crowd-surfing requires participation on the part of many in the crowd, and the participation of nearly all in this crowd had switched to doing what that charming and insistent fellow up on stage was asking them to do; he had won their attention and their allegiance, and to those of us who had been in the midst of that boisterous crowd all day and endured how things had gone earlier, this was an awesomely impressive accomplishment.  Again, worth my while to see all on its own, exponentially more so when coupled with the sweet smile and the determined face.

Then, at the end of a swift, fierce, compelling GBS set that had already shown me all I had most wanted to see - at the end of a very long day - something happened that was wonderful beyond expectation, though certainly not beyond hope. I knew Russell currently was in DC filming - as soon as I had heard he was heading into town, I sent my own message to someone who I hoped would pass it along if need be, simply relaying the information that Alan and GBS would be playing DC on this night - and I went to Shamrockfest hoping, hoping, hoping.  A measure of that hope was purely selfish: I haven't seen Russell and Alan on stage together since Canberra, Australia Day 2006; after seeing so many of the Oz shows done by Alan and Russell and Russell's band The Ordinary Fear Of God, after having such a wonderful time at those shows and thinking so highly and well of the My Hand My Heart music Alan and Russell created together...I wanted very much to see the two of them back on stage together, nearly as much as I want to see the two of them creating more new music together.

And a measure of that hope was more generously altruistic, even if perhaps a bit impertinently so. I happen to think both the artistic collaboration and the continuing friendship between these two men is something that is beneficial to each of them. They seem like two people who have much to learn from each other, as well much to share with each other. Impertinent again, but I think they're good for each other, and that's more than enough for me. I was already some fond of the Sweet Petty Harbour Boy/Complicated-Conflicted Endearing Man/Brilliant Songwriter/Rock Star Guitar God before this collaboration/friendship began, and it didn't take much time at all to think well of the Multi-Disciplinary Musician/Songwriter/Actor/Master Storyteller. I love the music they make together, but even more than that, I love the smile I see on Alan's face when he and Russell are sharing their music on stage. The smile on Russell's face at those same times isn't a bit shabby either. Seeing those two smiles again after missing them for the past few years was an incredibly sweet experience, raising "worth my while" to a transcendent level.  My continuing hope is that they each have the opportunity to do as much and to be as much as they hope for themselves...I would dearly love to see more of those smiles on both faces. Hope satisfied lives on, stronger than before.

In a few days I will write something more substantial about both the DC Shamrockfest show and the HOB Atlantic City show, setlists and crowd stuff and all the customary shit, though I won't wait any longer to say I  thoroughly enjoyed the scrambled set list in AC, and Sean did a bang-up job on their new-on-the-upcoming CD (June 24th, titled Fortune's Favour) Newfoundland trad tune The Rocks Of Merasheen. No photos or video from the AC show (because it was an HOB show), but lots and lots of pictures from Shamrockfest, plus a rather bouncy video (not all of the rowdiness died down immediately; Alan had to earn the control he achieved) of Tonight, which was wonderful on both nights. Oh yes, and audio-only of a gloriously sexy Oh Yeah from the HOB show...the camera that can't be seen behind the barrier might not be able to take pictures, but it can still get sound, and these are very good sounds.

I don't have photos of Russell out on stage with GBS & Carbon Leaf since I concentrated on video instead, but I am sure there are going to be umpteen photos, based on the scramble for any and all kind of camera I saw taking place as soon as Russell walked out onto the stage; it was a huge crowd (I think around 15,000 per Barry, but I am not sure) and there were also several pro photographers and band-hanger-on photographers at stage edge. There will be pictures, probably more video too, from others. The person I was there with took a few shots when I wasn't in her way videoing, and I'll put those up too when I get them edited. For now, I am scrambling to get both videos uploaded and linked before I have to check out and go catch my flight to Edmonton. If there is only one video link here up at the top, that means the second one will come later, maybe while I am waiting at the airport to change planes or later after I check into the Edmonton hotel.  If they are both here, then I'll write more and put up photos some time after I make my way back home.  St. John's to Seattle via Ottawa-Toronto-Philadelphia-DC-Chicago-Edmonton-Vancouver has to be one of the oddest paths I have ever travelled. So far. With every single mile worth my while - and then some.

Then again, I suppose I am pretty easy. For all of those magical moments almost too wonderful to hope for, there is always the sweet simplicity of the most magical moment of all - that moment when the Petty Harbour Boy has me, when he always has me, at "Hello".

"I'd Love To Know Without A Doubt For Sure" - Great Big Sea's 15th Birthday & Holding On For Your Life

Today we are eleven years old. In band years, that's like 10,000. - Alan Doyle, State Theater, Portland, Maine, March 11, 2004

Happy Birthday, Great Big Sea.

I didn't realise it at the time, but our first "GBS road trip" - the first time we ever travelled for the specific purpose of seeing the shows of this band we'd seen only twice before the prior September in, as Alan is so fond of calling it, our own back yard - commenced on the day after Great Big Sea's 9th "birthday". But we had nary a clue about such matters back then; to us, it was simply March 12, 2002, and we were in Rochester, NY, for the first of five consecutive GBS shows. I doubt that I even knew for sure at that time how many years GBS had been together, let alone which day marked their beginning; all I knew back then was that they had fascinated and intrigued me at those two previous backyard shows and that I wanted to see more. I wanted to understand. Some desires remain constant.

For reasons I might go into some day, the show at the Water Street Music Hall was wonderful and terrible and weird and compelling. Might as well add in perturbing and bewitching. Things grew more strangely irresistible the next night in Buffalo and progressed along that same course in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit. Then GBS headed off to Chicago for St. Patrick's Day, the first five shows of their 10th year completed. I took those same five shows back home with me, along with an appreciably larger number of puzzled questions. I was still fascinated and intrigued. I still wanted to see more. And I still wanted to understand.

GBS's 10th birthday was spent at a shabby little bar in a  moderately disreputable neighbourhood of Birmingham, Alabama. If you counted the opening band's (which was Carbon Leaf) members and crew and added in the bartenders and the scattered bikers there for what they had expected was going to be their regular karaoke night, there might have been three dozen people in attendance that night to celebrate Great Big Sea's first decade. Maybe. After having spent the past year seeing this band play shows for thousands of people in some places and for that same tally of several dozen in other places, and after having seen quite a few other things as well during the course of that year, even if this GBS birthday/anniversary show felt more than a little surreal, that in and of itself was no longer all that much of a surprise - by then, "surreal" had acquired a distinctly familiar feel. Home is where the half-broken heart is. That Birmingham show would wind up near-prophetically foreshadowing the year to come.

Their 11th birthday - the one the opening quote of Alan's comes from - happened a few shows into what was going to be a gruelling tour for the  Something Beautiful CD, a lengthy tour that would consume the better part of 2004. Alan was already having a rough time with his voice that night, so much so that they had to scratch the scheduled solo encore that was on the set list. Sean sang a beautiful Molly Malone instead - with  Alan providing some impressive guitar work in support (he did have quite the guitar teacher for that song, after all, though it would take me several years and an excursion to Denmark to learn about this); it wouldn't be until several nights later that the song originally scheduled to debut on that 11th birthday would finally be heard live for the first time. It would all work out in the end, though; Alan's pipes got the rest they needed...and what better town could there be than Providence for the debut of Lucky Me? Sometimes a gift delayed is an even greater delight.

But their 12th birthday would be unlike all the birthdays that had come before. This was 2005, and 2005 was unlike all the years that had come before.  Bob and Sean were mostly family- and home-focused at the time; as for Alan,. unless my memory has gotten muddled, I do believe Alan could most likely be found in a metal shed on the other side of the world, working far into the night beneath unfamiliar stars, creating exceptional music with Russell Crowe.   

Thirteen would be the Year Of Business Decisions, cost-benefit ratios weighed in the balance and holding on for your life to what you most desire. Negotiations and love songs, to borrow an exquisite lyric from a master songwriter, works well for 2006. The auspicious birthday was celebrated at the Cleveland House Of Blues, and the Original Three sang a heart-shattering Clearest Indication trio encore.

GBS's 14th birthday happened just a few days before their boldly creative 2007 Spring Tour kicked off (the actual birthday found them in Whitehorse to play for the volunteers at the Canada Games). Playing Kalamazoo on the first show of that challenging and impressive tour three days later, Alan's solo encore was the absolutely amazing (and completely unforgettable) song with the thoroughly befitting and poignantly honest lyric I don't know where I'm going/But I know where I belong, There are far worse places to find oneself in than this, and 14 years does not seem an overly long investment of time in reaching such a place. 

Today marks 15 years, very likely what Alan would describe as "The first 15 years of Great Big Sea".  Of course, he might also say it's like 15,000 in band years by now. He could be right on both counts. Still other perspectives are possible. Great Big Sea may be 15 years old as of today, or Great Big Sea may be 15,000 years old as of today...but the sweet boy who can be seen in the brightest of Alan's smiles will forever remain 14.  He still fascinates and intrigues me. I still want to see more. And I still want to understand.

.

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I have quite a few video/audio files, none of them well organised or easily found in the midst of my customary chaos.  Some are at home on my PC, which doesn't do anyone much good right now, but I have enough of them packed tightly onto the hard drive of my poor little laptop to pick out a few of the files which for various reasons I find enlightening and intriguing from as many of GBS's years as I have some sort of record of. There are many people who deserve thanks for the file-saving and -sharing, some of whom I am sure to forget, with a few others who are probably hoping for exactly that outcome. Not being sure who is who or which is which, I'll just say a general thank you to all and leave it at that.  I've tried to include a wide spread of file sizes to accommodate different connection speeds, and a warning from the start against expecting much by way of visual quality with the older files, though the sound does hold up pretty well, considering.

Among the oldest files I've found: A dozen years or a half a lifetime ago; it's all your state of mind.

Old Black Rum, Rita MacNeil show 1, 1996     (Real Player video, 3 MB)

Run Runaway, Rita MacNeil show 2, 1996     (Real Player video, 2.5 MB)

General Taylor, Rita MacNeill show 3, 1996     (Real Player video, 3 MB) 

A gorgeous performance, followed by an especially sweet interview (I must confess to never having heard of Dini Petty before seeing this video clip). Then a clip that intersperses performance moments with some interesting Bob/Sean comments.

GBS on Dini Petty show, Pt. 1 - Process Man, 1997     (Real Player video, 3 MB)

GBS on Dini Petty show, Pt. 2 - Interview, 1997     (Real Player video, 8 MB)

Oakville Studio 2, June 1997     (Real Player video, 8.5 MB)

Interesting "real" interview of all four original  (and travel-weary) band members, with talk of the roads that lie ahead for them, followed by a clip of an equally interesting performance - awful video quality (try decreasing the size of the viewing screen) but decent sound.

Halifax Newsworld Interview, 1998     (Real Player video, 6 MB)

GBS @ The Ark, Ann Arbor, 1998     (Real Player video, 15 MB)

Great Big Sea ushers in the new millennium on the North American continent with a crowd of 90,000 of their closest friends in St. John's. 

GBS Millennium Show, St. John's, 12/31/99     (Real Player video, 25 MB)

A performance at the awards gig and a casually charming Alan/Sean interview clip.

Consequence Free, Junos 2000      (Real Player video, 4 MB)

Apple Blossom Festival, Wolfville, April 2000     (Real Player video, 8 MB)

Two songs from a beautiful first time in Boise, and a haunting pre-Ground Zero refrain.

Fast As I Can & Mari Mac, Boise River Fest, 2001     (Real Player video, 20 MB)

Sea Of No Cares live @ the World Trade Center, NYC, Summer 2001     (mp3, 6 MB)

Introducing the new SoNC CD in an online broadcast (delightfully including Stumbling In) and good times playing hometown Junos hosts. This is pretty much GBS as I first met them.

GBS Open Mic show (Alan's Hotmail/male), Feb. 2002     (Windows video, 62 MB)

Lukey/Sea Of No Cares, St. John's Junos, April 2002     (Real Player video, 10 MB)

For a year that began with optimism and ended very much otherwise, the odd and mostly bittersweet 10th anniversary show in a disconsolate Birmingham bar was, in retrospect, somehow acutely appropriate.

When I'm Up, GBS 10th Anniversary Show, The Nick, Birmingham, 3/11/2003     (Windows audio, 37 MB)

A couple of different versions of this filmed-for-internet-broadcast concert. The first is the whole show in one file and higher quality, and is thus frigging huge. The next set breaks the concert down into three compressed segments, so smaller size and lower picture quality, though the sound is still pretty good.

Koolhaus GBS Concert (Sympatico), Toronto, 11/11/2004 (complete)     (Windows Media video, 310 MB)

Koolhaus show (compressed), Part 1     (Windows video, 45 MB)

Koolhaus show (compressed), Part 2     (Windows video, 53 MB)

Koolhaus show (compressed), Part 3     (Windows video, 40 MB)

The Year Of The Long Break. This little lead solo clip (quite the memory of yet another unforgettable Calgary day...from the weird email in the morning to the Great Pub Escape at the end of the day) was the first videoing I ever did with my brandly new digital camera, the first attempt I'd ever made at any video; photos had simply not been doing justice to what GBS's lead guitarist was accomplishing with his instrument. The River Driver clip is of the second time GBS performed the song at a show; the first time was at Wolftrap, a venue at which any and all camera-wielders are promptly sent straight to hell.

WIAK Lead Solo, Calgary Stampede show, July 2005     (Quicktime video, 12 MB)

River Driver (2nd public performance), Fergus Festival, August 2005     (Quicktime video, 146 MB)

The rest of these can all be found here in that long list of video links on the right side of the page; these are just a few of the many that I've found especially significant over the past few years and which could take a rightful place in a GBS Through The Years summary.

This first one comes close to being my favourite of all the videos I have made: I had been waiting since September of 2003 to hear Alan's Walk On The Moon for a second time, and at this SC, he made every single moment of that long wait worth it; on a frigid winter's afternoon, Alan and his song created light and warmth and hope enough to prevail against the deepest and most unrelenting chill, and that light and warmth and hope abided long after the last note was played. Much the same could be said for the second clip, while the third is almost painfully lovely.

Walk On The Moon, Alan Doyle, ECMA Songwriters' Circle, Charlottetown, Feb. 2006      Quicktime video, 183 MB)

Lucky Me, dedicated to Steve Irwin, Centennial Square, Victoria, Sept. 2006      (Quicktime video, 156 MB)

Sea Of No Cares (living room version), Arts & Culture Centre, St. Johb's, March 2006     (Quicktime video  215 MB)

There's so much good from 2007  that it's next to impossible to choose only a few:

When I'm Up with Oysterband's John Jones, Tonder Festival, Denmark, Summer 2007     (Quicktime video, 212 MB)

Moly Malone, Alan Doyle & Danu, Tonder Festival, Denmark, Summer 2007     (Quicktime  video, 150 MB)

General Taylor For Mom, The Glacier, Mt. Pearl, Sept. 2007     (Quicktime video, 212 MB)

Straight To Hell (debut), Riviera Theatre, Chicago, Spring 2007     (Quicktime video, 210 MB)

Old Brown's Daughter & Crowd Mastery, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, Spring 2007     (Quicktime video, 150 MB)

When Alan Is King, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, Spring 2007     (Quicktime video, 170 MB)

Clearest Indication, Orange Peel, Asheville, Spring 2007     (Quicktime video, 205 MB)

Then wrapping up 2007 and moving along into this year, heading into their 16th year as Great Big Sea. It would be so wonderful if this year could be the proverbial Sweet Sixteen.

Tonight (debut, wirh 7 Joys lead-in), Great Big Christmas show, St. John's Delta, Dec. 2007     (Quicktime video, 250 MB)

Oh Yeah, Bowery Ballroom, NYC, January 2008     (Quicktime video, 110 MB)

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One final note, of a personal nature. All of this going back through old files has been quite the memory-trigger for everything that's happened over the past few years, a circumstance intensified by some of what's been happening recently in the here-and-now. It's been hard times the past few days. An old friend went to the doctor a week or so ago with what he thought was a simple injury of some sort - an "ache and pain" was all it was, he was sure. The doctors found multiple tumours throughout his body and he's been told that if he is very lucky, he might live another few months.  My friend's wife already counts herself very lucky, honestly and genuinely so; they married straight out of high school, and she said she feels lucky to have spent 30 years with the love of her life.

As so often happens in so many long-time relationships, these two went through their own rough times, including a very difficult stretch where he got it into his head that she shouldn't want to love him anymore, that it would be "for her own good" if she were to get as far away from him as possible. It was a bad storm that had to be faced and endured, but she dug in and refused to let go of everything she loved. Eventually, that storm faded and passed away, leaving its expected damage behind, but what mattered the most was still standing because the foundation was strong and the determination to abide was unyielding. If she had not held on so stubbornly to what mattered the most, she would not have had those 30 years with the love of her life.  And that, she explained to me, is why she is a lucky woman.  She knows that now she is facing the storm against which there is no hope of victory or even resistance; she is simply thankful for how long it has taken this storm to arrive. Better 30 years of what you love most than 10 - or, worse, than none at all.

Hold on for your life to what you love for as long as you can, and count yourself lucky for as long as you have it. A wise lesson to be learned at 15, or at 15,000. At least there are a blessed few things in this life that can be known without a doubt for sure.

Happy 15th. And 15,000th.

"For The Life And Times I've Had" - The Constant Petty Harbour Boy & Young Triffie Soundtrack Excerpts

Alan Doyle, Petty Harbour Boy (Vancouver/Coquitlam casino show, Nov. 2007)

Its no secret that I’ve been a huge Montreal Canadiens fan for a long time.  As kids, myself and brother Bern would do almost any chore asked of us on the weekends to earn the right to stay up late enough to watch Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights.  We never had cable TV, of course, but our Black and White floor model with the rabbit ears made from clothes hangers and wire picked up the signal nicely on most nights.  The game always seemed to feature the Habs vs. Toronto or Boston.

I loved every shift of every period of every game.  The Montreal Forum was like Narnia to me.  It was my Hollywood.  A place that I knew existed but I would never get to see.  The games were like mass.  The ritual of the opening procession, the standing and facing the Queen, the respectful removal of the gent’s hats, the bowed heads twitching in anticipation as the camera panned the stands.  And the players, marching armies onto opposing sides, eyes closed to ease the nerves and to summon courage and patience. -  Alan Doyle's Feb. 25th journal entry

For anyone reading here who has not yet read the full text of Alan's most recent journal entry....go, now. Follow the link and take your pleasure from his words.  Take your time - second and third readings will multiply that pleasure - I won't mind a bit waiting for your return; and when you come back, we can share some more of that pleasure.

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Before I have my own say about Alan's latest literary jewel, there's something I've been planning on sharing here for awhile. I would have loved to be sharing these excerpts from the Alan Doyle/Keith Power Young Triffie soundtrack in celebration of Alan's having just won the Genie for Best Song, but after reading that latest jewel written by Alan, it occurs to me that there is ample reason for celebration regardless of the outcome of an awards show;.this is therefore in celebration of a very dear man and his thoroughly impressive accomplishments:

Young Triffie's Been Made Away With: Music Excerpts From The Original Soundtrack By Alan Doyle and Keith Power

Blood Of The Lamb   Elisha A. Hoffman. Arranged by Alan Doyle and Keith Power, Performed by Todd Perrin.

Young Triffie's Been Made Away With   Alan Doyle. Performed by Great Big Sea.

My Hero   Alan Doyle. Performed by Michelle Doyle.

100 Pipers    Trad. Arranged by Alan Doyle and Keith Power.

Mountain Railway   M.E. Abbey, music by Tillman. Arranged by Alan Doyle and Keith Power.

Molasses Incident   Alan Doyle and Keith Power.

Washburn Sequence   Alan Doyle and Keith Power

The Mob   Alan Doyle and Keith Power.

It really is an excellent soundtrack, an outstanding first effort on Alan's part and I hope the first of many more such outstanding efforts to come from him.  Those who want to hear this soundtrack in its fullness can do so by getting ahold of the Young Triffie DVD.

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Editing this in... Alan Doyle and Jim Cuddy, Mile One Blue Rodeo show - with thanks to Kelli Smith for the photo.

In the middle of their standing ovation earning set, Jim and Greg asked me up to sing one of my favourite BR songs, “What am I doing Here”.  I closed my eyes sang as loud as I could, just to try to keep up.

I've been checking Alan's journal each evening for the past few weeks, hoping to hear from him, particularly hoping to read what I fully expected would be a wonderful account of a delightful time at Bob Gainey's jersey-retirement ceremony at the very centre of the Habs Universe in Montreal, and I also hoped for a mention of his electric moments on stage with Blue Rodeo at Mile One. Last night when I got in, I checked again...and there it was. There he was.  It took him awhile to get it written, but he was, as he alway is, so worth the wait.  And the video clip from Kris, a clip that show's the Petty Harbour Boy beaming with the joy of his childlike hockey obsession, is nearly as much a priceless treasure as is the Boy himself. The Man, however, has no equal.

It’s no secret that I’ve been a huge BR fan for a long time.  Well before GBS ever struck a chord, I used to stand in the dark corner of Trapper John’s on George Street, just to the left of the two video lotto machines, barely in view and earshot of the few stragglers who would turn their ears to the solo dude with the guitar, to hear me stumble through a cover of ‘Try’, or “Rose Coloured Glasses”.

The first time I read this - and I have since re-read it quite a few times, with more still ahead, I am sure -  my thought was how much I wish I could have been one of those fortunate stragglers watching that young fellow with the guitar over by the video lotto machines at Trapper's.  The same thought was on my mind and tugging at my heart when I read Alan's description of himself entranced in front of the rabbit-eared television on Saturday nights. I would have loved to see that boy, I thought...and then I realised the truth: I have seen that hockey-hero-bedazzled boy. Same with the young fellow playing awkward covers in Trapper's; I have seen him too. I see them both all the time, right there in the sweet face of the Man.

One of the most inescapable - and often one of the most difficult - lessons to be learned in this beautiful life is that as we pass through the crucible of choice and circumstance, we are impacted and shaped and changed by all that we experience. Some people are changed so much that they lose their connection to who they were and where they come from; they become Someone Else - sometimes a good thing, and sometimes not. For others, those for whom the ties that bind and the origins that define are at their strongest and most unyielding, there is a constancy at the foundation of heart and soul that abides unaltererd regardless of experience or challenge or success or disappointment. These people are still changed, as we are all changed, by experiences and challenges and successes and disapointments, but in midst of those changes, at the very core of who they are, they remain who they have always been and who they will always be.

There are those moments when the necessities of The Great Big Sea Guy overshadow the clear and distinct outlines of The Petty Harbour Boy, but that shadow is always fleeting and clarity always returns. The Man who is that Boy, the man who would still  be that boy if the path he had chosen had taken him to some completely different destination - goalie, teacher, author, priest, museum guide - always makes his own welcome return. Endearing, challenging, moving and maddening...as easy to love, as impossible not to love, as is the place that defines him.

Long way from Petty Harbour and the black and white TV.

Yes, to one way of looking at it. Perhaps less so when you think of it as carrying your home and your childhood with you in your heart wherever it is your path might lead you. I am so glad that boy and his siblings got their special evening together in Montreal, glad for what he and his band mates gave back to Bob Gainey and his family too. I sure hope he got to keep that #23 jersey. It suits him perfectly.

"An Arrow In Flight" - Surrendering To The Hope For A Smile On The Sweetest Face Of All

Sadly, no Genie Award for the dear and wonderful songwriter. Not this year, at least. But since that dear and wonderful songwriter's very first film-tune attempt resulted in his receiving a nomination for the highest award his country has to offer for such artistic endeavours, it seems eminently reasonable to assume that this one is quite likely just a matter of time. I hope that thought, along with his having received such notice and acclaim for his first effort, is enough to put a smile on the sweetest of faces tonight. Alan has given everyone who cares about him such excellent reason to be proud of him and his beautiful song; that pride might not shine quite so bright as does the Genie, but it is an award that belongs solely and irrevocably to him. I can't wait to hear his next beautiful song.

(And congratulations to Gordon Pinsent...not my favourite film from among the nominees, but still a tour de force performance by a always-impeccable actor.)

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Wherever I go, whether it's a stroll around the block or a bus ride across the country, I notice faces; I watch faces and read the multitude of stories those faces tell me. I always have. In the midst of that endlessly fascinating series of faces, on a very rare occasion and in the most unexpected of places, I see the face that causes me to stop and say, "That one...that face. That's a face that should be loved and encouraged and treasured."

Some faces are so endearing that they leave you hoping earnestly for anything, for everything, that will keep that sweet smile exactly where it belongs.

There are times when you simply have to surrender yourself to hope. I think today might be one of those days for me. I've been trying most of the day to get some "real" work done, but my mind keeps wandering onto other topics, specifically onto the topic of what's going to happen tomorrow evening at the MTCC in Toronto when the winner of the Genie Award for Best Original Song is announced. 

I suppose Alan feels somewhat constrained when it comes to saying much about how great it feels to find himself in such auspicious company with all the rest of the Genie Award nominees, even more so when it comes to expressing how utterly cool it would be to actually win the award that his excellent song Young Triffie so deserves to win. I, on the other hand, suffer from no such constraints. I think Alan's nomination is fucking fantastic and I want so much for him to win that I am apparently not going to get a damn thing accomplished until after the Genies, at least not much accomplished other than wishing him the best and hoping that the most endearing of all smiles winds up on his face again tomorrow evening. Exactly where it belongs. Alan Doyle, Genie Award Nominee is grand all on its own.;Alan Doyle, Genie Award Recipient...now that's how to write the story that goes best with the face.

A few more views of the Best Original Song nominee, doing the rest of what he does so very well. (All photos in this entry are from the second Vancouver casino show this past November.)

And just as gorgeous of a dream in black and white:

No matter what happens tomorrow, Young Triffie is a beautifully well-written song. And no matter what happens tomorrow, Young Triffie's writer is a dear and wonderful man. But if events should transpire in such a way tomorrow as to elicit a smile like this from that man, perhaps even cause that man to feel the urge to pump a victorious fist at stage edge, then the arrow's path will run true and straight, striking its target with expert aim.  Until then, not much else to do other than admire the beauty and power of that arrow in flight and hope for all good things deserved upon its landing.

And when I finally do hear what happened at the Genie Awards, maybe then I will finally be able to get some work done,.