37^TH ANNUAL GEORGE STREET FESTIVAL

The biggest party of the summer returns once more as the 37th annual George Street Festival unveiled its lineup that includes trad favourites, rock stars and country crooners.

Rounding out the list of headliners is Juno winners Arkells, 90s rock staples The Tea Party, Newfoundland’s own The Navigators, Shanneyganock, and Alan Doyle, pop rockers Marianas Trench and country superstar Brett Kissel. Supporting acts include Fortunate Ones, Kellie Loder, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Neon Dreams, Meghan Patrick, Sam Roberts Band and Women of Rock! 

Tickets at georgestreetlive.ca

STARS ON THE ROCK

This year will see a host of legendary rock stars hit NL. Mary Brown’s Centre will play host to British icon Sting (Sept. 16th) and Canadian rock gods Blue Rodeo (Sept. 10th). Bryan Adams returns with an intimate show at the Arts and Culture Centre (Sept. 5th), while Canadian metal greats, Exciter (July 23rd) and Anvil (Sept. 1st), will take the stage at The Rock House.

MUSIC COMES TO CHURCHILL PARK

The center of St. John’s is getting set for a big time musical happening with the debut of the Churchill Park Music Festival. Announced for the must-attend music showcase are hit-makers Matchbox Twenty with special guests Our Lady Peace, Gin Blossoms and Timber on August 13th, with event organizers expected to roll out more acts for August 12th and the following weekend on August 19th and 20th. 

For tickets and more key information visit churchillparkmusicfestival.com

CURTAIN CALL: NL AT THE THEATRE

It’s not just music that puts butts in seats, as Newfoundland and Labrador will play host to a series of theatre-centric performances this year.

Alan Doyle’s theatrical debut, the widely acclaimed Tell Tale Harbour, will be heading across the province in Sept. and Oct. (artsandculturecentre.com for more info.)

Jackass star Steve-O will bring his comedy routine to Holy Heart Theatre (August 29th), and Spirit of NL will celebrate its milestone 25th anniversary (July 28-29).  

COME ONCE MORE FOR COME FROM AWAY

Though Come From Away may be wrapping its historic runs in New York and London in the coming months, Newfoundlanders will get to feel the magic once more before its all said and done. Come From Away The Concert will bring the sounds of the Tony winning performance to Gander and St. John’s for a series of highly anticipated events this September.

NL’S RISING STARS TAKE TO THE STAGE

A slew of rising stars across Newfoundland and Labrador will be honing their craft in venues across the province throughout the summer. Keep your eyes open for performances by Carolina East, Quote The Raven, Justin Fancy, Fortunate Ones,  Nico Paulo, The Once and Kellie Loder throughout the second half of 2022.

NL’S TRIED AND TRUE FAVOURITES

Newfoundland’s got talent to spare, and you can find many of these gifted artists hitting venues across the province throughout the summer. Janet Cull, Adam Baxter, Kelly-Ann Evans, The Kubasonics, Sherry Ryan and Chris LeDrew are just a few of the fan favourites you will see, and hear, across Newfoundland in 2022. 

PARTY AROUND THE PROVINCE

The great thing about summer in Newfoundland? We loves a good come down. No place is that truer than at a trad show. From Alan Doyle and his Beautiful Band, to the b’ys that brings the house down in Shanneyganock, and the always fan favourites Celtic Connection, Irish Descendants or The Navigators, if there’s good times and good beer, you’ll find trad music near! 

Let us know which shows you’ll be attending and who we should spotlight as summer concert season kicks into gear!

Who are we? What is our purpose? What do we do when that purpose is gone?

Those were looming questions Catherine Allan and Andrew James O’Brien – aka award-winning duo Fortunate Ones – wrestled in recent years wrought with massive shifts and changes both personally and professionally.

For O’Brien, that change began in 2019, where a procedure on his hand led to him unable to play guitar in any meaningful way for the short-term.

“At the time it just felt like a physical inconvenience, I think, in a lot of ways. We were headed toward and already feeling kind of professional burnout in some ways. We had toured so relentlessly for many years without any real stopping. It just felt like that’s what you do,” O’Brien shared in a stidown with The Herald. 

“So at the time when I had my finger operated on, I wasn’t really thinking about it in the grander sense of life. It was more of an inconvenience. But I started working at The Inn by Mallard Cottage, and it was this job that I took just to do something in the downtime. And I really kind of got into it.

“Once my hand healed I was playing guitar for fun, which is something that I hadn’t done for years. I felt burnt on the instrument. I felt like I had hit a ceiling in my playing. I didn’t feel creative. And then all of a sudden, with this slowdown, it started to creep back in naturally, this kind of creativity and the need to explore or kind of mentally debrief after years of constantly grinding. And then COVID happened, and it was like the ultimate universal reaffirmation that the slowdown was necessary.”

Time to breathe

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic may have served as a grim and uncertain cloud for many in the music industry, but for Allan and O’Brien, it was a respite from tireless years of performance-based burnout.

With O’Brien becoming sober in February 2020, and the duo still re-charging from their tireless schedule for the past five years, the global shutdown became almost therapeutic for a pair in need of time to breathe.

“I had actually gotten sober in February 2020. Didn’t know what COVID was at the time. And so coincidentally, it was basically like the universe was telling me I needed to recalibrate. So the pandemic was this ultimate kind of audit of life. And then when I got down to it, we were able to focus on important life changes and just rest and self-care, getting back to each other. And that was the catalyst for all this kind of creative, almost like a personal, creative renaissance,” O’Brien shared candidly.

“We sort of retreated,” adds Allan. “And we could see a lot of our peers really panicking, which is really unfortunate, racing to see what are we going to do during this time and doing the online shows and whatever they could to keep their ship going, whereas we completely retreated because we had no idea. We thought okay, we need to really reset here and maybe the best use of our time for now is to keep writing, keep making and relax into that.”

Relaxation and mediation would come in the form of a house sitting gig in rural Newfoundland, where the in-and-out-of-music couple would take to a salt box house in English Harbour.

“Honest to God, I thought so many times when I was out there, like this is saving me,” Allan admits. “Just the quiet, looking at the ocean, trying not to get swept up in the panic of the moment, which was really hard for all of us. And we all had our freak out moments. But rural Newfoundland really gave back to us over these last couple of years.”

The pandemic downtime proved fertile creative ground, with O’Brien and Allan communicating with their producer Joshua Van Tassel remotely, setting to work on their third studio album That Was You and Me. 

With production for the album originally scheduled for the spring of 2020, the duo worked remotely with Van Tassel, working on demos in their home before heading to Toronto to record in October of 2020.

Therapeutic distraction

“One thing about having that extra time, because the majority of the songs were written pre-pandemic, we really got to like live inside them when we actually demoed them ourselves and bounce ideas back and forth with Josh,” explained Allan. “We really got to live them and it was such a good distraction and sort of therapeutic to really get inside those songs.”

The promising upstarts that burst on a national stage with their debut album The Bliss in 2015 and the seasoned and battle-tested professionals before us in 2022 – distanced by time and life lessons – couldn’t be more different artists and indeed people.

Desires, dreams and realities change. For O’Brien, realizing there’s indeed life after music, was a strong catalyst in his own road to personal growth and healing.

“Ever since I was 18, I in some way wanted to be an artist or a performer. At first it was an actor for a brief time and very quickly became, no matter what it takes I’m going to be a musician. I’m going to be a songwriter. I’ll do absolutely everything it takes,” he shared. 

‘An honest way’

“And then when you realize you put all this work in and then all of what you’ve built gets taken away so abruptly and kind of profoundly, coupled with the pandemic and me kind of happily working at this inn in Quidi Vidi, writing and playing for fun again for the first time in years, I realized that I wasn’t interested in dying on the hill of music as my sole career or sole identity or sole pursuit. 

“And I think once I actually reckoned with that and kind of came to a place of peace with that, it opened me wide up creatively. I felt the pressure was gone. I felt like it didn’t matter to me how what I was creating was received. It just felt good to be doing it in an honest way again. And I realized that I can play guitar and sing and write songs for fun and do other things for money if I have to and if I want to.”

A beautiful new album, new management team and publishing deal, and the future shines bright for two of our province’s finest musicians, and warmly welcoming humans.

For now though the final word goes to Allan, who channels the good words from the bands’ deeply personal, emotive and all-together from the heart record.

“I’m going to quote a lyric from that new record. ‘All the moments you had, both the good and the bad are just a part of your story.’ It feels like we’re on steady ground for the first time in a couple of years and everything was worth it leading up to now.”

For more information on Fortunate Ones and That Was You And Me visit fortunateones.ca

Composed in a time of true change both career-wise and globally, That Was You And Me finds the chemistry of the duo in full force, with raw and honest songwriting meeting a stripped down vulnerability and unquestioned talent.

“The pandemic was this ultimate kind of audit of life,” shared O’Brien in a sitdown with The Herald. “And then when I got down to it, we were able to focus on important life changes and just rest and self-care, getting back to each other. And that was the catalyst for all this kind of creative, almost like a personal, creative renaissance.”

Adds Allan, “One thing about having that extra time, because the majority of the songs were written pre-pandemic, we really got to like live inside them when we actually demoed them ourselves and bounce ideas back and forth with Josh (Van Tassel, producer). We really got to live them and it was such a good distraction and sort of therapeutic to really get inside those songs.”

‘That Was You And Me’ arrives on June 3rd. For more information on the album and touring information visit fortunateones.ca. Stay tuned to The Herald for our full-length sit-down with Fortunate Ones. 

JUNO-nominated, Newfoundland duo Fortunate Ones will celebrate the season at home in St. John’s with the return of their Holiday Show on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at the Arts and Culture Centre. Special guest is Nico Paulo.

Performing a collection of Christmas classics and their own festive tunes, including the Alan Doyle-produced “Hold On To Christmas Day” and their EP All Will Be Well, Fortunate Ones will warm up your winter with plenty of cheer to make your holidays merry and bright! 

“It’s true, it’s really happening. We’re hitting the road this December for some holidays shows with Matt Andersen and Reeny Smith in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island,” shared Catherine Allan in a video announcing the tour.”

Adds partner in crime Andrew James O’Brien, “It’s been a minute! We can’t wait to see you on the road with Matt and Reeny. We’ll see you soon!”

WE’RE GOING ON TOUR!!

December holiday shows with Matt Andersen & Reeny Smith

Dec 1 – Fredericton, NB – Fredericton Playhouse

Dec 2 – Saint John, NB – Imperial Theatre

Dec 3 – Moncton, NB – The Capitol Theatre

Dec 4 – Pictou, NS – deCoste Performing Arts Centre

Dec 6-7 – Truro, NS – Marigold Cultural Centre

Dec 9 – Glacé Bay, NS – The Savoy Theatre

Dec 10 – Charlottetown, PE – Confederation Centre of the Arts

Dec 11 – Wolfville, NS – Acadia University

Dec 16/17 – Halifax, NS – Dalhousie Arts Centre

Dec 18 – Ottawa, ON – National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts