Thursday, October 21, 2004
Some things just shouldn't come from Canada...
Baseball, for example.
But for all they get the short end of the stick sometimes, my dear northern neighbor has some wonderful things for which I'm very grateful. Some of my ancestors settled there before making the trek to Utah, for example -- I'm grateful for that. There's great skiing not far from where I live at home at Whistler. My roommate and I trekked up to Victoria over spring break last year and had a blast. I have some friends from up that way, too.
The newest cool thing I've discovered from up Canada-way is a group called Great Big Sea. We listened to one of their CDs on the way down to the airport at 4:30 in the morning one cold January day, and that may very well be the only fond memory I have of last year's Conservative Political Action Conference.
Unfortunately, the guy whose car I was in didn't know anything more about the CD than that it was his brother's, so it took me a little while and a lot of digging to find the group. Since the CDs are mostly imported, they're a bit pricey on Amazon, too, so I put off buying one for a while, and then indulged.
The first one I bought, Rant and Roar, has an Irish-Canadian feel to it -- mostly folky songs with a few more modern covers mixed in.
I got a new one in the mail earlier this week (my brother points out that I am not unlike C.S. Lewis who, in Surprised by Joy, recounts how he would spend his spare change on books, and the joy he received upon receiving and opening them -- and, of course, reading them; for my part, I'm a pathological mail-orderer, and I suspect I do it just for the joy of receiving a little blue card in my mailbox that tells me I have a package!). It's their newest album, Great Big Sea, with a theme of sea music. There's the touching "A Boat Like Gideon Brown," the upbeat "Sea of No Cares," the softer, haunting "Widow in the Window."
I'm a fan. If you're interested in music that promotes the identity and communities of Atlantic Canadians, give it a try. If you're interested in folkish music with a pop feel, you might like it.
But for all they get the short end of the stick sometimes, my dear northern neighbor has some wonderful things for which I'm very grateful. Some of my ancestors settled there before making the trek to Utah, for example -- I'm grateful for that. There's great skiing not far from where I live at home at Whistler. My roommate and I trekked up to Victoria over spring break last year and had a blast. I have some friends from up that way, too.
The newest cool thing I've discovered from up Canada-way is a group called Great Big Sea. We listened to one of their CDs on the way down to the airport at 4:30 in the morning one cold January day, and that may very well be the only fond memory I have of last year's Conservative Political Action Conference.
Unfortunately, the guy whose car I was in didn't know anything more about the CD than that it was his brother's, so it took me a little while and a lot of digging to find the group. Since the CDs are mostly imported, they're a bit pricey on Amazon, too, so I put off buying one for a while, and then indulged.
The first one I bought, Rant and Roar, has an Irish-Canadian feel to it -- mostly folky songs with a few more modern covers mixed in.
I got a new one in the mail earlier this week (my brother points out that I am not unlike C.S. Lewis who, in Surprised by Joy, recounts how he would spend his spare change on books, and the joy he received upon receiving and opening them -- and, of course, reading them; for my part, I'm a pathological mail-orderer, and I suspect I do it just for the joy of receiving a little blue card in my mailbox that tells me I have a package!). It's their newest album, Great Big Sea, with a theme of sea music. There's the touching "A Boat Like Gideon Brown," the upbeat "Sea of No Cares," the softer, haunting "Widow in the Window."
I'm a fan. If you're interested in music that promotes the identity and communities of Atlantic Canadians, give it a try. If you're interested in folkish music with a pop feel, you might like it.
1 Comments:
I love Great Big Sea! My husband is from Newfoundland, and so are the guys in the band. Irish music is so much fun, and the music of Newfoundland is a slightly updated flavor from the Irish. I spent so much time listening to Great Big Sea while touring the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland countryside that all I have to do now, even here in Southern California, is put in Great Big Sea on a drive here, and the incredible relaxation and connection to the universe I felt there returns to my spirit.... One can really "feel the earth turn" there.... Glad to hear of someone else finding joy in their great music! (You should see Alan Doyle jump up and down on stage...he's like a five year old, so much energy!)
