[Ob3ron]

Evenin' all! Just wondering if anyone on these boards know Great Big Sea... Every single man, woman and child (or any combination thereof) from my locality (the Canadian province of Newfoundland) know them well; they're from here. They're somewhat prominent in Eastern Canada, especially Atlantic Canada and I know they've toured extensively in Europe, but I still have no idea what kind of listenership they have. So if you know them, it'd be cool if you could just say so, where you're from and maybe how you heard about them.

IMHO, they were a great band when they were really the "local guys". All of their songs really meant something to us Newfies and were mostly traditional "jigs and reels". It seemed everyone had a friend or a cousin who knew one of them. It feels like since they've gone bigtime, moreso than just in our small province I mean, they're music has lost what made it great; the local flavour. This is what a CDNOW review from the time before they "went big" had to say:

Quote:

By now, Great Big Sea are probably tired of being called Newfoundland’s answer to England’s Oysterband, but the parallel remains a good one. Both bands combine the traditional music of their homelands with politics and rock ’n’ roll and come up with a mix that’s both melodic and danceable. But with stronger vocals and more of a pop sound, Great Big Sea is more accessible. If there’s one problem with bands that do both original and traditional music, it’s that they usually do only one of them well. But that’s not the case here. The group’s own music is wonderfully melodic, with four-part harmonies and acoustic, driven melodies with accordion, fiddles, whistle and mandolins, all driven by a full drum kit. But the traditional songs are of equally high quality and are drawn from local Newfoundland sources. In many ways, they relate to problems that are still relevant today. There’s a sense of joyfulness to the group’s music: It’s lively and fresh and reflective of their high-energy live show. They say that the best folk music is that which communicates and relates to the audience, and Great Big Sea does just that in a big way. Jim Lee

I've introduced a nice many people who knew nothing about Newfoundland to them, and have gotten split reactions: some hate 'em, some love 'em. I'd really be interested to know what you all think of them. To hear what they sounded like in what I call their prime, go here or what I consider their "big time more non-Newfoundland accessible' go here. And here is their official website.

 

[Nightfall]

I've known about them for a long time. I live in the Detroit metro area and frequently watch channel 9, the Windsor CBC station just across the river, for hockey broadcasts. While watching three hour hockey games, you see pretty much every commercial that the CBC has on upcoming shows and specials. Almost all of the musical specials advertised seem to feature Great Big Sea as one of the included acts. In fact some friends of mine and I have often joked that every Canadian music event televised on the CBC seems to be required, by law, to have either Great Big Sea, or The Rankin Family as a participant! <g>.
As far as their music, I find it enjoyable, though certainly, they are much better as a live act, given their obvious enthusiasm when performing.

 

[archosman]

I work for a post house and recently dubbed one of their concert films for broadcast. Can't remember which one it was.. but didn't think it was new. That's been my only exposure to them. We also edited The Chieftains performance at the Ryman... which made me think of Great Big Sea.