While it has been confirmed that the band has officially retired, former members Alan Doyle and Séan McCann have continued performing in their own solo careers typically including music from Great Big Sea in their setlists.
The band played its first official concert on March 11, 1993, opening for The Irish Descendants at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland. The founding band members included Alan Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin), Séan McCann (vocals, bodhrán, guitar, tin whistle), Darrell Power (vocals, bass, guitar, bones), and Bob Hallett (vocals, fiddle, accordion, mandolin, concertina, bouzouki, whistles, bagpipes).
Power, McCann and Hallett had already been playing together in another band. In the winter of 1989, the band, a six-piece with guitar, bass, fiddle, accordion and mandolin played its first show at the Memorial University's winter carnival talent show under the name "Newfoundland Republican Army" or NRA, and won first prize. The band's only other appearance as NRA was later that winter at the university "Grad House". The band then dropped the fiddler, accordion player and the name.
The band found its new name as original bassist Jeff Scott rented an apartment on Rankin Street, St. John's, where the members first met and discussed the formation of the band. As a four-piece, the band first appeared as "Rankin Street" at a little pub in downtown St. John's called "The Rose and Thistle", playing for $100 and beer. They played through Sean McCann's stereo system, as renting a PA would have cost more than the night's earnings. Susan Hickey (guitar and vocals) left the band months later to attend school in Halifax and was replaced by Darrell Power. The band gained much popularity playing such local pubs as Bridget's and Greensleeves. In 1991 Jeff Scott was replaced by Jackie St. Croix on bass. The band released one recording on cassette titled "Rankin Street".
In 1997, the band reached the top ten of the Canadian RPM pop chart with "When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)", a cover of a song by the British folk group Oysterband. They performed at the 1999 Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto.
The band won the Entertainer of the Year award at the East Coast Music Awards for every year between 1996 and 2000. In 2001, they decided not to submit their name for nomination in order to allow other bands to compete. They have also been nominated for several Juno Awards, including Group of the Year in 1998, 2005, 2009, and 2011.
Darrell Power retired from Great Big Sea in 2003 to spend more time with his family and friends. Supporting members of the band include Canadian freelance drummer Kris MacFarlane (2002) (drums, accordion, guitar, backing vocals) and Murray Foster (2003, formerly of the band Moxy Früvous) (bass, backing vocals).
In late 2005, the band released its long-awaited "traditional" album, The Hard and the Easy, on which they recorded their favourite Newfoundland party songs. The title of the album comes from a line of the song "Tickle Cove Pond", one of two songs on the album about a horse falling through ice.
On June 13, 2007, the band announced they would return to the studio with producer Hawksley Workman. On March 14, 2008, the band announced that the title of the new album would be Fortune's Favour, borrowing a phrase from one of the songs on the album, "England". The album was officially released on June 24, 2008 across all of North America.
On February 23, 2010, band member Séan McCann released his debut solo album Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes to pleasing critical success.
On July 13, 2010, Great Big Sea released their new album Safe Upon the Shore in North America. Alan's "From the Road" blog on the band's website, originally confirmed its production in an April posting, speaking also of the album's subsequent release in July. "Nothing But A Song" was the first single off the bands' ninth studio recording, with a subsequent tour kicking off at the end of the summer 2010.
Great Big Sea announced a 'greatest hits' album titled "XX" in October 2012, accompanied by a 20th anniversary tour with 32 dates in 28 cities across the US and Canada which kicked off on March 5, 2013 in Los Angeles and finished in St. John's on April 23, 2013.
In 2013, McCann announced that he would be leaving the band at the end of the XX tour, much to the dismay of his bandmates. Struggling to maintain his new sobriety, he told his bandmates in January of 2013 that XX would be his last tour with the band, but the rest of the band and its management refused to announce this publicly. Finally, in November 2013 with XX almost over, McCann announced his departure himself in a tweet, feeling that the fans needed to know. While largely vilified by Great Big Sea fans with little said by the band or management to counter this view, McCann claims he was devastated by how Great Big Sea ended and wishes it could have gone differently.
Following McCann's departure, the remaining band members spent a year or so trying to find an amicable way that they could continue without him. Eventually coming to the realization that they didn’t want to go on like that, and happily retiring the band.
Dear Home Town
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What's waiting; where you go.
Nothings certain but the fact:
That you're leaving.
Still, you roam,
From the straight and narrow road,
Riding nothing but the lies,
That you believe in.
Frame after frame,
The pictures all remain:
Photographs of all the hearts you've broken.
Frozen in time,
Are the ghosts you left behind,
Waiting for the words you left unspoken.
Ho no no!
Dear Home Town:
I never meant to let you down,
When I sold my soul for a song.
Dreams are to blame,
They still linger and remain,
In the heart of a child who's been gone.
Dear Home Town.
Tell the girl:
It's a wide and wondrous world,
There's room enough,
To leave a life you're hating.
And the highway runs both ways,
And there's seats left on the train,
And if you take it to the station,
I'll be waiting.
Ho no no!
Dear Home Town:
I never meant to let you down,
When I sold my soul for a song.
Dreams are to blame,
They still linger and remain,
In the heart of a child who's been gone.
Dear Home Town.
And tell my Mom:
I miss her lovin' smile,
And tell my Father:
I really miss his laughter.
Tell my sisters and my brothers,
Tell my friends and all the others,
That we'll meet in the Sweetest Hereafter.
Ho no no no no no nooo!
Dear Home Town:
I never meant to let you down,
When I sold my soul for a song.
Dreams are to blame,
They still linger and remain,
In the heart of a child who's been gone.
Dear Home Town:
I never meant to let you down,
When I sold my soul for a song.
Dreams are to blame,
They still linger and remain,
In the heart of a child who's been gone.
Dear Home Town.
[Break-down Scat singing]
Dear Home Town.
The lyrics to Great Big Sea's "Dear Home Town" describe the conflict between pursuing one's dreams and leaving behind a hometown and the people who live there. The song starts with acknowledging the uncertainty that comes with leaving, as the singer doesn't know what's waiting for them after they depart. Despite the lack of certainty, the singer acknowledges their departure. They choose to leave the straight and narrow path they once knew and instead choose to believe in the lies they tell themselves about their pursuit of a better life. The chorus of the song features the singer talking directly to their hometown, expressing regret for letting them down and admitting that dreams have distracted them from their responsibilities.
Line by Line Meaning
No one knows, What's waiting; where you go.
Uncertainty looms over the future, as one sets out on an unknown journey.
Nothings certain but the fact: That you're leaving.
The only thing certain is one's departure from their hometown.
Still, you roam, From the straight and narrow road, Riding nothing but the lies, That you believe in.
One strays from the conventional path and is compelled to live in deception.
Frame after frame, The pictures all remain: Photographs of all the hearts you've broken.
Memories of hurting people linger and stay with you, like photographs staring back at you.
Frozen in time, Are the ghosts you left behind, Waiting for the words you left unspoken.
The unspoken words haunt you and the people you've left behind, frozen in the past.
Dear Home Town: I never meant to let you down, When I sold my soul for a song.
Apologies to the hometown for leaving for pursuing a career in the music industry.
Dreams are to blame, They still linger and remain, In the heart of a child who's been gone.
The dreams of pursuing music still persist in the heart of someone who has left their hometown.
Tell the girl: It's a wide and wondrous world, There's room enough, To leave a life you're hating.
Encouraging someone to leave an unhappy life and explore the vast and exciting world.
And the highway runs both ways, And there's seats left on the train, And if you take it to the station, I'll be waiting.
Assurance of standing by someone if they decide to come back home, as the train and the highway offer two-way travel.
Tell my sisters and my brothers, Tell my friends and all the others, That we'll meet in the Sweetest Hereafter.
A message to their loved ones that they'll reunite after death in a peaceful place.
Dear Home Town:
A recurring phrase in the song, expressing the artist's sentiments towards their hometown.
Contributed by Levi C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.