Published on Dec 1, 2005
At some point this summer, I was drinking around a campfire. (I
know, you’re all shocked. I’m sure my sterling reputation won’t
stand the strain.) At any rate, the people I was drinking with were
a motley collection of Celtic musicians, performers, and general
all-purpose opinionated artist folks. I recall getting into an
interesting discussion on the direction Great Big Sea had gone over
their last two or three CDs. Dave, the guy I was talking with,
thought that they’d really lost their roots on the last three CDs;
I, as regular readers of the DV know,
really liked the last few CDs. We
picked this apart for a while, then moved on to other
earthshattering topics (at least they seemed earthshattering after
a few mugs of Gluhwein).
I thought of Dave when I heard the new CD by Great Big Sea,
The Hard And The Easy. I’ll bet Dave really likes this CD. I
don’t think it’s so bad myself.
The Hard And The Easy is GBS returning to their roots, a CD
of traditional Newfoundland music mostly culled from the collection
of Newfie musicologists Gerald S. Doyle and Kenneth Peacock. It’s
completely acoustic, with several guest musicians filling out the
house party sound. The songs are a varied selection of
Newfoundland’s musical traditions, each explained in great detail
in the exhaustive liner notes. The production and engineering are
gorgeous, clean, and clear; on tracks like “The River Driver” the
harmonies are right in your face, bright and breathtaking.
Musicianship, as always, is excellent; most of the CD is dedicated
to the vocal sound, but there are some moments that left me in awe
at the skill involved.
The songs are, as with most traditional CDs, a mixed bag. While
some of them didn’t grab me as intensely as others (I admit to not
being overwhelmed by “Come And I Will Sing You” and “Harbour
Lecou”) all of them are performed with skill and enthusiasm, and
most of the CD is just plain fun. I challenge you — no, I defy you
— to not at least smile at “The Mermaid” and “French Shore.”
“Captain Kidd,” a traditional ballad about the great and dread
pirate, is sung with fervor and more than a bit of defiance. “Old
Polina” made me want to get up and dance, and that’s quite a trick
for me. “Concerning Charlie Horse” is a driving, thumping song
about, of all things, a horse who falls through the ice, and it’s
still worth a reel or two.
In short,
The Hard And The Easy is a danceable, enjoyable, and loving
piece of traditional music. Yes, it may not all be to your taste.
But I’ll bet Dave likes it, and I think I do too.