Great Big Sea

Newfoundland's Great Big Sea When four guys from Newfoundland whose musical influences range from traditional fiddle player Emile Benoit to Pink Floyd get together to form a band, it'd be a safe bet that their music will be walking a line between Newfoundland traditional and mainland modern. Meet Great Big Sea.

In their latest album, Play, Great Big Sea covers the R.E.M. song, "End of the World," making that hip hit sound remarkably like a traditional jig. As Darrell Power told The New York Times, "We grew up wanting to be rock stars, too. But traditional music was right under your nose all the time." The resulting mix is Celtic cool, and it's appealing to an audience beyond the Maritime home where the group got it's first warm welcome.

The first Great Big Sea album was released in 1992, and was followed up in 1995 with Up, which sold over 100,000 copies in Canada. By the time Great Big Sea's third album was released, the group was a hit, and that album, Play, quickly went double platinum. With strong roots in Newfoundland, this success has meant representing their unique culture on the national and international stage.

The group's pure enthusiasm for great music is evident in their live shows, particularly the Great Big Picnic events, concerts held every summer on the East Coast, in which the group teams up with artists such as The Chieftains, Chantal Kreviazuk, and The Rankins to celebrate crossovers in traditional and modern music. The group's own live shows are well known for their energy and enthusiastic crowd participation.

Great Big Sea is made up of Alan Doyle, Séan McCann, Darrell Power and Bob Hallett, all multi-talented musicians. Séan plays bodhran, tin whistle, and guitar; Bob plays fiddle, accordion, mandolin, concertina and bouzuki; Darrell plays bass and acoustic guitar; and Alan plays guitar and keyboard and grabs the mike as lead vocalist for the band.

The Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party features titillating inside information, such as Darrell's recipe for Jiggs Dinner, "A Corned Beef Cabbage & Pease Puddin Scoff." There are also Great Big Sea products for sale on the site, including shirts, hats, and, of course, CDs.

Great Big Sea will be taking their great big sound to the United States, touring there from June to September. Last year, the group toured the US with The Chieftains and Sinead O'Connor. Their compilation album, Rant and Roar, has been released on a Warner Bros label for the US audience. For a preview, check out Great Big Sea's first fan site with photos, articles, and RealAudio clips of some of the songs.

--MRB
May-25-99

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