#newfoundland music

[mywifeleftme]

310: Ryan's Fancy // Dark Island

Dark Island Ryan's Fancy 1971, Audat

Really lovely progressive folk record here from Ryan’s Fancy, a trio of Irish boys who settled in St. John’s, Newfoundland (by way of Toronto). They quickly became local favourites, even earning a CBC television series that followed their traipses across Newfoundland and the Maritimes. Their repertoire relied on traditional folk songs from the British Isles, augmented by originals, and more contemporary numbers by songwriters like Ewan MacColl and even Merle Travis.

Dark Island was one of three Ryan’s Fancy records released in 1971, but the one that received the widest distribution (including eventual Irish and UK pressings). The boys are in fine form, proving their vocal bona fides with a splendid mandolin-led arrangement of the modern Scottish lament “Dark Island,” and zipping through a variety of fun boozing songs like “The Manchester Rambler” and “The Greenland Whale Fisheries.” But they had a real knack for twinkling, borderline pop under the hood too; their take on Tom Paxton’s “Everytime” has a Buddy Holly-esque vocal, and even a faint similarity in arrangement to Holly’s beloved “Everyday.” It’s a wonderful recording, and their original “A Children’s Winter” isn’t far behind it in terms of charm.

Ryan’s Fancy clearly had a deep regard for the folk tradition and were happy to work within its form, but they have ear enough for then-recent developments both in English North America and across the pond to give Dark Island a contemporary flavour despite its ye olde lyrical trappings.

310/365

[geodude96]

Your line about Bruce brooding reminded me of a lighthearted Canadian song that's one of my all-time favorites. Part of it goes: "You can wake up in the morning in a foul mood, Linger on the toilet and worry and brood, Or climb to the top of the mountains and watch the sun."

How does the batfam sharing a bathroom go ie a hotel

Bruce: *brooding on the toilet*

*lock gets picked*

Damian: *comes in and brushes his teeth*

Dick: *steps in the shower*

Tim: *changes his clothes*

Cass: *combs her hair*

Jason: *sprays a cloud of deodorant*

Selina: *puts on her makeup*

Barbara: *washes her hands*

Steph: *draws a smiley on the fogged mirror*

Duke: *takes a selfie*

Alfred, bringing more towels: Master Bruce, what's the plan for breakfast?

Bruce: *shrugs*

[danceonthetide]

There’s medicine shelter food and mirth

enough for everyone on earth

But if it’s more than your toil is worth

it might as well be trash

Angry voices loudly bray

insisting we pay our own way

Not as they do but as they say

while counting up the cash

And the cry of a hungry child

should make an ogre weep

Why’s the price of bread and milk so dear

and flesh and blood so cheap?

"Flesh and Blood" - Rum Ragged (original Jim Payne)

[haveyouheardthisband]

[sonjabysonjamorgan]

hejshx i watched kathy bates matlock last night and throughour the whole episode she was like “i’m matlock! like the tv show matlock 😜” and i was like so matlock exists as a show in the new show???????????? lmfao. but then the end of episode reveals she’s using an alias to take down big pharma. apologies to anyone who cares about matlock starting kathy bates spoilers

[fearful-quartet]

Okay I know I only ever come on here to talk about my random resurgent love of specific musicals but just. Come From Away is so fucking good yall.

The parts that always get me are the songs using multiple languages, specifically "Darkness and Trees (reprise)" and "Prayer" which both have that underlying theme of religion being international.

Now I am not a religious man, I have my own beliefs but they are easily swayed one way or another. However, the way the musical emphasizes and highlights that despite language barriers, a common viewpoint can bridge that gap easily. It doesn't just go for religion either, but that kindness. It took one act of kindness after another to show that words cannot beat actions, and your actions have impact.

I could rant for hours about Come From Away and how masterful it is

[wealmostaneckbeard]

Come From Away is a great nonfiction musical about 9/11. Specifically about the thousands of people who were stranded in an underused airport surrounded by woodlands and friendly people in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. The play acknowledges the pain and suffering caused by the terrorist attacks with earnestness. But it presents the event from the perspective of those people in Canada. And in doing so, strips the historical event of the apocalyptic pretensions that American Neoconservatives and Islamic Wahabists have given it.

For the people who are the stars of this show, 9/11 was an opportunity. For the local "ganders" it gave them a chance to re-affirm their cultural values of hospitality and selflessness. For the "plane-people" it was an unexpected experience to bond with strangers and explore new places. Both locals and plane passengers were horrified by the events that brought them together. While some gave in to despair and/or lashed out angrily, everyone else rose to create a little community across the boundaries of nations, languages, and religions. And this unity has persisted, even after the participants were literally scattered across the world. Plane-people have come back to revisit and repay the ganders for their hospitality and the Ganders will always welcome back their friends from away.

That's the narrative and reality, as for the musical itself, it's songs and tone are perfect for the subject: Newfoundlanders sing traditional fishing shanties, Passengers sing songs of hope, boredom, and despair in their diverse languages, Crews sing about their careers in the air and how painfully personal 9/11 was for them. The dialogue between the numbers is just just as great, guaranteed to make you laugh and cry.

In conclusion, if there is ever going to be another 9/11 musical, Come From Away is going to be the high bar it will have to clear. And I doubt that any will, for the next decade at least!

[heavy-nfld]

Giant Giant are one of the newest sludge/doom outfits in Newfoundland and they for sure brought the riffage on the final day of Heavy NFLD Fest at Pavlov’s Electric Verandah.

[wormically-music]

“Chorus of the Damned” by Wendigo.

[oldshowbiz]

Desperate attempt to cash-in on the popularity of Waylon Jennings

[lightscamerabitchsmileee]

The fact that Shania Twain my childhood favorite artist before Taylor was in my province of Newfoundland performing this weekend??? oh man I wish I was home to see her live (im living in Cape Breton lol) 😩😩 oh well here's to hoping I get to see her at the Cavendish Beach music festival next year in PEI or if she comes back to Nova Scotia anytime soon 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[desperatelysuckidol]

Poem

So yes, it’s true.

I was walking

down the street you know, and

I turned to Ralph—

you know Ralph—

and I said, Ralph,

did you know

that there has actually

been a string

of thefts this months, actually,

all over Aberdeen.

I said, Ralph, you know,

someone has to put

a stop to this, it’s actually

gone too far, and only you

know what to do

in situations like this,

you are, actually,

the only person who knows

what to do in a situation

like this. Ralph, I said,

we need you.

Come back.

[larimar]

explorecanada

Step into O’Brien’s Music Store (@obriensmusicinc), where Newfoundland’s musical heritage comes alive.

Established in 1939, this family-owned gem has been the heartbeat of St. John’s music scene for generations. Whether you’re local or a visitor, it’s a must-visit for any music lover! 🎶

📷: @karaokeefe 📍: @obriensmusicinc@newfoundlandlabrador

[mistwalker-official]

Huge thanks to Jason Saulnier for these videos of our set at The Red Knight in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia during our tour last year! Here's the song "Bastant Fist Assault". Our whole set is up on his channel 'Concert Vault'. Go check it out!

[knoxious-and-devoted]

come from away is so insanely important to me

just watched it for the first time in a long time (one of the few things apple has ever done right is making the pro-shot accessible) and cried 7 times. not just because it's both one of the happiest and most devastating musicals ever but also because i miss newfoundland so much and can't wait to go back.

i miss my (not actually related) family out there. it feels like an age since ive been back home.