| Bound Down for Newfoundland |
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| One thing my bodrhan instructor (Michelle Stewart) taught me last year was to know when NOT to play the drum as well as how to play it. There were quite a few songs where the bodhran would not have added to the music, so for those songs I just tried to harmonize with whatever they were singing. I don't get to do that outside of Church very often. I used to sing in a sextet in college where I had to make up any harmony I was singing. And my family will attest to the fact that I cannot sing straight melody on a song. I am always searching out the part I like best for harmony, or trying to pick out Bob Hallett's harmony on the GBS CDs I have. Jordawn and John were surprised that I was able to do that. I hadn't had that much fun singing in a long time. Jordawn even had little Kitchen Party Songbooks already made up, which she eagerly passed out to anyone who wanted to sing. I took over the lead on The Old Polina and Feller From Fortune. TheNewfoundlanders on board thought I was a Newfoundlander! They didn't know any Yanks that knew the trad songs. LOL! I loved it! I told them I knew the songs thanks to Great Big Sea and bands they introduced me to. Pretty soon, people were joining us, playing spoons, harmonica and anything else they had with them. Gary from Cornerbrook joined us on his favorite set of spoons. Jordawn and John's kids stayed back even though they knew how to play and sing. I guess teenagers can stand just so much attention with their parents, huh? The people on the stern deck heard all kinds of song, from Sonny's Dream to I'se the B'y, Aunt Martha's Sheep to King of the Road, Lukey's Boat to Country Roads. It was heartwarming to hear from the Newfoundlanders on board that they loved the impromptu Kitchen Party and were grateful for the music. We played till it started to get dark and very windy. Before I left them, I thanked Jordawn and John for inviting me to jam and found out they were on their way to Halifax for a week of busking. I bade them good luck and joined Louise back at the table. It was a shame Rob had slept through all this - he could have joined us on the accordion. I was thinking about waking him up but he looked so beat when he went down to the bunk that I just couldn't bear to wake him. Those hours spent on the deck singing were the impetus I needed to get geared up for a good 2 weeks at the Gaelic College in St. Ann's, Cape Breton. I wasn't sad anymore and was in fact looking forward to my two weeks of bodhran instruction especially. I was eager to see Andi who was waiting at the North Sydney Ferry Terminal for me. I had emailed her about the boat getting in late but she hadn't gotten it. She was waiting for me since 4:30 PM and it was after midnight when we arrived! The rain began about halfway to North Sydney and I spent the last few hours chatting with Rob and Louise about music, boats and whatever. When we got to the Ferry Terminal, Andi was right there! She is terminally shy and surprised me by asking Rob and Louise if they needed a ride to their boat. They did, and we obliged. Got a little lost but soon enough found our way back and dropped them off. Bon Voyage, Rob and Louise! Every ending is the start of a new beginning. Goodbye to Newfoundland and hello to new adventures in Cape Breton! |
| After checking the baggage and carrying on the instruments, Rob and Louise and I wandered up to the lounge to find a place to sit for the duration. I had reserved a dormitory sleeper but they had not. So I put my gear on the bed and went outside to watch the land disappear. I was having a really hard time leaving this time because I knew Vic had been invited to go to St. Pierre with Jim, Lillian and Thierry and I was jealous. The CD Launch is tomorrow - the one I was supposed to see. Plus I had had such a wonderful time in Newfoundland that I really didn't want to leave. It was kind of foggy and I didn't take any photos as we left Argentia. In fact, I was pretty tired and after some chitchat with Rob and Louise, I went to sleep. I never have any trouble sleeping on a boat. It's like rocking a baby I suppose - me! When I woke up, I came back up to the lounge area and offered the bunk to Rob and Louise - they looked sooooo beat! Rob took me up on the offer and I went back out on the deck while I could, and people watched. I had my bodhran with me in its case as I sat there on deck. Suddenly, two people passed by carrying a guitar and a fiddle, neither in their cases. They saw me and said, "Bodhran?" "Yes," I replied. "Come on, we're going to play on the stern deck. We could use a bodhran player!" Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! I have never been asked to accompany anyone. I have only been playing for a year. Usually, you can find me banging away with a CD of Sean McCann of Great Big Sea or Lucy MacNeil of the Barra MacNeils. But this was for real. My grin extended as wide as the ship and my adrenaline hit high gear as I followed them to the stern. We sat at a little round table and introduced ourselves. Jordawn, John and Anne. Jordawn was a Newfoundlander married to an American, living in Oregon. A familiar face already on deck laughed and said "Hi! Here we meet again!" It was Mary and Paddy, tourists who had stayed at the Captain's Quarters and to whom we had given some suggestions for trips. "We went to Bay Bulls," Mary said. "It was as nice as you said! Thanks for the tip!" Laughing, I mentioned what a small world it was and asked whether she would join us in the singing. All of the people on the deck were excited with the prospect of some entertainment outside. "Do you know Lukey's Boat?" Jordawn asked. LOL! Little does she know, I know it quite well, fiddle part included. So off we went - the three of us singing Newfoundland and Nova Scotia trad songs, country songs, folk songs... just about anything we could think of. |
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| Just after this photo was taken, my camera broke!!! My face broke the camera. Can you imagine? HA! |