Great Big Sea Hitting the Road

08/04/2010
. Great Big Sea have announced a new tour in support of their recently released album. Here is the announcement: Great Big Sea voyage a little further from their signature Newfoundland inspired sound to land Safe Upon The Shore with their tenth album which was released July 13th through Redeye.

Recorded in "fits and starts" over a six month period, the album was produced by Los Lobos' Steve Berlin and Great Big Sea in New Orleans, L.A., St. John's, NL and anywhere that inspiration struck, including tour buses and various dressing rooms along their tour.

"A lot of this was recorded straight onto Alan's laptop, as soon as we had the ideas, " explains Sean McCann, singer and bodhran player. "As for the rest, for a long time we wanted to record somewhere with a vibe, somewhere with an atmosphere that might seep into the songs themselves. There is nowhere on the continent, really, that has more of a vibe than New Orleans."

And the vibe is evident with the New Orleans brass on "Don't Wanna Go Home," the Bayou-inspired hootenanny "Hit The Ground And Run," the Southern folk/rock harmonies of "Good People" and delicate Creole/folk-infused lullaby "Follow Me Back" mix with the more traditional Newfoundland fare on 'Yankee Sailor" and "Road To Ruin."

Aside from Great Big Sea co-founders and songwriter Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett and Sean McCann, Safe Upon The Shore also includes co-writes and various acclaimed artists including Russell Crowe and Canadian singer-songwriters Randy Bachman, Jeremy Fisher and Joel Plaskett.

"At this stage, we sometimes all kind of know each others ideas too well," explains multi-instrumentalist and singer Bob Hallett. "It's too easy to do the obvious. Writing with a big group of people pushed everything into different directions. Of the songs we started there, we ended up using a bunch of them on the album."

"Some of these songs took a long time to grow up, some of them came to us ready to head out into the world," added McCann.

Renowned for their live show, Great Big Sea make "an explosively joyful noise" that's "bright and melodic, passionate and heartfelt" (-Washington Post). The group will perform select cities this summer before embarking on their North American tour this fall.

Catch Great Big Sea on tour in the following cities:
August 12 BAYFIELD, WI Big Top Chautauqua
August 13-14 ST. PAUL, MN Minnesota Irish Festival
August 20 TORONTO, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
August 21 SOUTH POMFRET,VT Suicide Six Ski Resort
August 22 VIENNA, VA Wolf Trap Filene Center
September 14 WATERVILLE, ME Waterville Opera House
September 15 PROVIDENCE, RI Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
September 16 BURLINGTON, VT Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
September 17 BOSTON, MA The Orpheum
September 18 BALLSTON SPA, NY Irish 2000 Fest
September 19 NORFOLK, CT Infinity Music Hall
September 21 SYRACUSE, NY The Westcott Theater
September 22 STATE COLLEGE, PA State Theater
September 23 PITTSBURGH, PA Byham Theater
September 24 NEW YORK, NY Webster Hall
September 25 GLENSIDE, PA Keswick Theatre
September 28 CHARLOTTE, NC McGlohon Theatre
September 30 ROCHESTER, NY German House Theater
October 2 CHATHAM, ON Chatham Capitol Theatre
October 20 ANN ARBOR, MI Michigan Theatre
October 21 KENT, OH Kent Stage
October 22 JOLIET, IL Rialto Square Theatre
October 23 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Pantages
October 24 WINNIPEG, MB MTS Centre
October 26 REGINA, SK Conexus Centre
October 27 CALGARY, AB Jubilee Auditorium
October 30 EDMONTON, AB Jubilee Auditorium
November 1 VANCOUVER, BC Orpheum
November 4 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Palace of the Fine Arts Theatre
November 5 LOS ANGELES, CA House of Blues
November 6 SAN DIEGO, CA House of Blues
March 17 CARMEL, CA Sunset Center
March 18 ARROYO GRANDE, CA Clark Center
March 19 LONG BEACH, CA Carpenter Center

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