I first heard this song on TV sung by the most influential band I have ever known, Wonderful Grand Band. The voice singing was that of the legendary Ron Hynes though the words he spoke could have been directly from the mouth of any one of my father’s generation in Petty Harbour. They spoke with weary heartbreak to see the way of life their parents lived, with happy, busy days on the waters and in the kitchens, supplanted by shrinking fisheries and one household after the other emptying to flea to the mainland for work in faceless crowds in nameless factories. I hope you love Cody’s short film to accompany Back Home on the Island as much as I do. My hometown, like so many on the coast of our Province is hoping to hold onto some of the best of our traditions and remind everyone, including ourselves, that we come from a rich and beautiful time and place.

Hi All,

New music to share! I had a few free days while touring around the Atlantic Bubble in November. Nipped into Joel Plaskett’s amazing New Scotland Yard studio with Cory and Kendel. We recorded six songs in three days live-off-the-floor, directly into an old tape machine. Leave Her Johnny has been one of my fav shanties since I was a kid.

This shanty of a ship’s last day is one of the dozen or more I don’t remember learning. I realize this may seem odd to some, as in most parts of the world people have one or two songs they don’t remember learning, like Happy Birthday or Silent Night. But in Newfoundland we have so many songs that are just part of our language. I doubt many from around here could tell you when they learned I’se The B’y or Lukey’s Boat. We just know them.

Hope you like it. Full EP comes out in May, more to come!

Cheers,
Alan

Writing this book made me smile or even laugh out loud regularly as I recalled some of the amusing steps and way more of the amusing missteps of my lucky lucky life. I hope it brightens your day.

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