| Islands of Song |
| Ron Hynes, songwriter extraordinaire, was an acquired taste for me. I had first seen him at the Folk Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland in 2000 and was not hooked by his music then. Later, I began to enjoy his songs, listening to compilations that included him. Well, people, he blew me away this week! I cannot stress how talented this man is and how well he puts it out there on stage! He is a master at what he does. He takes a song and weaves it into a flawless pattern of sound that just catches you up and transports you to another plane. Each person in the audience was caught up tonight and they showed their appreciation by giving him quite the reception and quite the send-off. Ron was warmly welcomed by the audience, many of whom already were familiar with his songs, especially Sonny's Dream. Wearing his trademark hat, he stated, "The muses gave me this song in September 1976, but I didn't record it until 1984" and he launched right into "Sonny's Dream!" The band sounded great as they accompanied him on this most touching song. I am enjoying listening to the songwriters tell how they came up with songs, where they were, etc. It's better than a Songwriter's Circle because we are getting more music, and we still get the tales. Ron knew that the people here already were familiar with Sonny's Dream, he had an odd encounter here with some teenagers singing it, who didn't believe that Ron was the one who wrote it. Gave us a good laugh! |
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| After the band played the last chords, they disappeared into the back wall through a hidden door. Ron turned around to say something just as the last one was entering the space behind the wall. "A band that disappears into the wall? Man, I need to move over here!" Ron chortled. "1962" was the next song and I enjoyed all the little remnants of that '60's music he referred to in lyrics and sound. This was one of those songs that grew on me the more I heard it. Ron explained that Newfoundlanders were no strangers to disasters at sea. The disaster described in this next song happened on Valentine's Day in 1982 when the Ocean Ranger oil platform sunk in a storm off the coast of Newfoundland. At the time it was the world's mightiest drilling rig. All hands died - 56 out of 84 were Newfoundlanders. It is considered Canada's worst ocean disaster since World War II. The song is Atlantic Blue and like Sonny's Dream, it is well known in sea-faring communities. The line I was stuck by? "What shade of memory never fades?" Atlantic Blue. |
| "Like all true blue Newfoundlanders, I am in touch with my female side. The next one is a love song written in Dublin." With that intro, we heard "From Dublin, With Love." Nice song - it was my first time hearing it. I must have been pretty intent on listening because I didn't write anything down about it, but I know I enjoyed it. There's a smilie face in my notes. |
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| The band accompanies Ron for Sonny's Dream. This was shot right before they disappeared into the wall. |
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| Darrell Power joined Ron for the next song, "Get Back Change." Some Great Big Sea fans have heard Darrell sing that in encore I think, but it was a first for me. Of course he did a decent job! |
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| At the end of the song, Darrell bows to the Master, Ron Hynes. |
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| I love this photo of Ron and Ger playing the last song together. |
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| Friday's Grand Finale |
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