My review of Great Big Sea’s album The Hard and the Easy has been published on Blogcritics. Originally, I was supposed to be reviewing their live CD/DVD that came out last fall, but the publicist sent me that one instead. Unfortunately, that was last November and in the mean time I had misplaced it. Recently retrieved, I sat down this evening and wrote the review. It’s a good album of traditional songs — highly recommended for folk fans.
Newfoundland-based folk trio Great Big Sea (Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett, and Séan McCann) have been performing together for nearly fifteen years, and in that time they have recorded eight albums that feature a mix of original compositions and traditional songs from the Newfoundland area. The variety of oral and musical cultures that make up modern Newfoundland is a source for thousands of songs, and for their ninth album, The Hard and the Easy, the band decided to display some of the gems.
In addition to the exquisite recording and production work fans have come to expect from the group, the album includes a DVD that features each of the songs introduced by a member of the band and then performed in a casual setting, either on the back deck of a house, or in a living room party with friends and family.
