Hey All

In the interest of public health and ensuring a safe and fun concert environment for all, we are rescheduling the next leg of Canadian dates on the Rough Side Out Tour due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

I love concerts. I live for concerts. Everyone on the AD team from the musicians to the audio and lighting crew to the t-shirt sellers are all showbiz people. I speak for everyone on our tour buses and in our office that it is thrilling to put on a show and heartbreaking to have to postpone one. 8pm show night is the culmination of a day’s work for some of us, a week’s planning for some, and months and months of preparation and scheduling for others. The shows are sacred and we’ve done everything we can to save them.

We’d LOVE for you to still join us for a night out when our tour resumes. A lot of people are asking how they can help the music community during these troubled times. Here’s an idea that would be very helpful. If you have a ticket to the show in your chosen town, please come and enjoy a night out. If you just can’t make the rescheduled date, consider gifting it to someone or donating it to a local charity as an auction item. If you absolutely need a refund, we’ll see that it gets done one way or another, but please consider it a favour to your fav band or artist to do everything in your power to keep the sold tickets sold. Thank you for all that.

Please click the MORE INFO button on the tour page for all the latest ticketing info.

So the Ontario/Quebec shows have been rescheduled to:
May 26 London
May 27 Mississauga
June 21 Montreal
June 22 Ottawa
June 23 Kingston
June 24 Toronto (tix from April 3 will be honoured)
June 25 Toronto (tix from April 4 will be honoured)
June 26 Kitchener
June 28 Hamilton
June 29 Belleville

And the Atlantic Canadian shows have been rescheduled to:
October 5 Fredericton
October 6 Moncton
October 7 Saint John
October 8 Summerside
October 9 Halifax (tix from April 9 will be honoured)
October 10 Halifax (tix from April 10 will be honoured)

We tried, but could not fit the Quebec City show into the new plan. We will try to make it there at a future date.

In the mean time, Stay Safe Everyone.

A

Here we are, Rough Side Out worldwide release day. This EP is a collection of songs I wrote and/or recorded with some of my favourite writers and dearest friends working primarily in the Canadian country music world these days. Donovan Woods and Todd Clark are two of the most well-rounded musicians and songwriters in the biz and I am blessed to have been granted so much of their time and talents in the past year or so. I so happily gathered with them and a few others and in between laughs and tacos, these songs were born. There’s a country feel that is new for me and yet these songs are undeniably tied to my traditional Celtic home on an Island in the sea. You can take the Boy out of the Bay, but… well, you knows

The songs are about topics dear to me, from the love of the concert in We’re Gonna Love Tonight, to the tip of the hat to the pub singer in Anywhere You Wanna Go, and onto the never-ending conflict of wanting this night to never end while longing for the next one to come in I Gotta Go. I’ve always wanted to do a big, brokenhearted duet and was so glad that one of the country’s great voices Jess Moskaluke agreed to sing with me on What the Whisky Won’t Do. I was equally grateful when our old pal Dean Brody answered the call to join me on We Don’t Wanna Go Home, so we could finally explain to the world how tough it can be for a touring musician to find an open bar after the gig. It’s OK is really a whisper to people suffering with mental health issues to let them know a better day is coming, and Paper in Fire is, simply put, one of the most influential songs of my life and I’ve always wanted to record it.

Of course, all these songs are really designed to make a grand night out and I hope to see you out there as we tour these tunes and a whole bunch of favourites from my own records and the Great Big Sea catalogue on the Rough Side Out Tour. All the Beautiful Beautiful Band are on the go as well as the wonderful Kelly Prescott as special guest in Canada and Chris Trapper for the US shows. All should combine to make for the greatest Kitchen Party ever.

Thanks so very much for all of this. As Ever.

Cheers,
Alan

Hey all,

Very excited to start the most extensive tour I’ve ever launched. The Rough Side Out Tour will roll from California to Newfoundland and all parts in between with some brand new music and bunch of old favourites, too. I’m stoked to tell you about the first two Canadian legs of the tour with stops as far West as Vancouver and as far East as Halifax. The Beautiful Beautiful Band are ready to roll and our special guest, the incredible Kelly Prescott will be opening the shows. Gonna be a Time!

Every ticket purchased for this tour includes a physical CD of my new EP (getting released on February 14, 2020) and one dollar from each ticket sold for this show will go to support the A Dollar A Day Foundation. Every dollar collected goes directly into the hands of proven Mental Health and Addictions programs across the country. We’ll help with the opioid crisis in Vancouver and homelessness in St. John’s and a whole lot more in between. Pre-sales start early on October 23!

And if you haven’t yet, you can LISTEN to my new single with Dean Brody now, We Don’t Wanna Go Home!

Cheers,
Alan