| Atlantic Crossroads Newfoundland 2005 |
| Ger Wolfe was the first of the first at the Ship Inn. He opened with Call Me Down, one of my favorites from his Ragged Ground CD. He said it was written to recall those days waiting for the school bus on the corner with his Mother. He then told us that it was great to be singing a song in Newfoundland, that he had never been this west before and was surprised that it looks much the same as Ireland. Next was what he called an immigration song, written for his brother who emigrated from Mayfield to London in the 80�s, looking for work. It was called The Lark of Mayfield, also from his Ragged Ground album.
His next song was in Irish, The Rocks of Bonn(?). Ger sang it unaccompanied. Then came She Scattered Crumbs written after he had noticed a line of bird feeders hanging up in the winter between two poles. Then my favorite, Curra Road � He said, �this is dedicated to Jim, Lillian and Anne for their support, and also thanks to Wayne and Sheila Cook.� He mentioned that Jim recorded a version on his new album. I was sorry to see him leave the stage, but another one of the great Irish musicians was scheduled next so I didn�t complain. (insert imaginary photo) Ken Cotter came up and began his evenings entertainment with Without Love, a favorite of mine that I heard him sing in Ireland. The second song�s title I didn�t catch, but it had the line �highways of happiness with golden arches� in it. I thought that was a brilliant use of a phrase. Still Canal came next. I always want to call it Steel Canal. It�s one of his trademark songs. The more Ken sang tonight, the stronger his voice got, I guess he was happy to have his lovely wife, Val, there supporting him on this trip. I enjoyed spending a little time with her one evening in Ireland in March. There was an audience participation song - �La La La� we sang. �Let�s keep singing so the music never ends.� I�m all for that! The title song from Ken�s new CD, Agent Orange, was next. He explained it was written about �the situation in my country for the past 80 years.� I remember the line �Who says wisdom comes from being older?� Good question! He closed with a love song whose name escapes me. Good set from Ken this evening! (insert imaginary photo) I had seen Colleen Power at the ECMAs in February and in Ireland in March and was looking forward to her return to a stage near me. Although I�ve had her first album for quite a while, I am just starting to appreciate it. And the songs I heard from the new album are going to tip my hand and cause me to spend money for her new CD, Face and Eyes. She explained to us CFAs (Come From Aways) that to be �face and eyes into something means to be really interested in it.� I�ve heard the expression recently in Cape Breton, too, so it�s not just a Newfoundland phrase. And so we heard her first song, Face and Eyes in Love. After that came a song about being taken away by the fairies. I didn�t catch the name. Then she sang a not too complimentary song called Mama�s Boy. She must have had some experiences with love in her younger days. A silly song called Happy Girlfriend was next. Colleen explained that she written it 10 years ago after she had a band called Happy Girlfriend and dated one of the band members. That was a big mistake! And if you thought THAT was silly, you should have heard the next song, Zero to Horny in Six Beers. I think that�s all I�ll say about that one. LOL! The last one, The Leaving Song was dedicated to �all the trees in the world.� Get it? Trees � leaves. LOL! She warned the tourists in the room, �You visit Newfoundland and eventually, you�ll stay.� Yup, it�s coming to that for me I think. |
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| Here is my one good photo from the evening.
Ger Wolfe sings "Heaven Paints Her Holy Mantle Blue" |
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