As with many Newfoundland stories, the history of Newfoundland music of
European origin begins with codfish.

Europeans first came to the island in the 16th century to harvest northern
cod, and they brought their music with them. That music grew to become
the voice of Newfoundland and Labrador, a powerful evocation of its
lifestyle, heritage and personality. Music is our international calling card,
and at home it is by far our most popular art form. There are many
thousands who have never read a Newfoundland book or seen a piece of
local theatre. But practically everyone here has heard The Kelligrews Soiree
or danced to a local rock band.

The music arrived with the Irish, Scots, French and English who settled
along the island shoreline and up the coast of Labrador. They sang
shanties as they worked and shared ballads and tunes at the end of the
day. Over time, the settlers and their descendants reworked the old music
and created new songs to tell their own stories. Newfoundland music
spoke of work, politics, humour, fear, hope, tragedy and the ebb and flow of
day-to-day existence. Whether it was the simple story of Lukey and his boat
or a lament for the oppressive life cycle of labour and debt,
Newfoundlanders recorded it in song.

In its evolution, folk music varied significantly from one harbour to the next,
but remained true to its old world roots as it was passed on through
generations. Other musical genres developed on a more modest scale. By
the end of the 19th century a few communities had church choirs, military or
civilian bands and amateur troupes performing operettas and other light
entertainment. The centres of greatest activity were St. John's and Harbour
Grace, where visiting bands and companies occasionally played and local
songwriters like Johnny Burke became popular. In Labrador, Moravian
missionaries introduced Protestant spiritual music to the Inuit people,
forming choirs and brass bands in every community. In the process, the
aboriginal music of the Inuit was virtually eradicated.

It wasn't until the 20th century that Newfoundland folk music truly emerged
from the kitchens and sitting rooms to take its place as a broader cultural
voice. In the last 80 to 100 years the music has been heard by more people
and has changed more rapidly than in the previous four centuries
combined.

In the first half of the 20th century several printed collections helped spread
and popularize the music. The most popular was Gerald S. Doyle's Old
Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland. The Doyle songbook first
appeared in 1927 and eventually found its way into thousands of homes. By
the 1930s Newfoundlanders were hearing homebred music performed on
local radio. Shows like The Big Six and The Irene B. Melon included
repertoires of Irish and Newfoundland favorites.

Radio also introduced listeners to music from afar, such as American
popular songs and British dance hall numbers. But it was during the
Second World War any cultural separation between Newfoundland and the
rest of the western world was broken for good.

American soldiers arrived at military bases around the island and Labrador
with their own musical tastes. Their radio stations and visiting entertainers
played jazz, pop and country music.

Social and cultural change accelerated following the war, with
Confederation and the push for modernization. In the 1950s and 1960s
young Newfoundlanders embraced rock and roll. The new generation of
musicians picked up electric guitars instead of fiddles and accordions.
Nightclubs and radio stations were dominated by rock and roll and country.
In the new, more worldly Newfoundland, the old music was relegated to the
venues where it had originated: kitchen parties and family gatherings.

A revival of interest in traditional music can be traced as far back as the
debut of the television program All Around The Circle, which first aired on
the CBC in 1964. Another revival was underway in Ontario, where expatriate
Newfoundlanders popularized the traditional and country-influenced music
played by Harry Hibbs and others.

By the end of the 1960s young musicians and artists were taking a new
interest in traditional culture. Searching for an alternative to mainstream
pop music, they turned to the music of their forebears. By the
mid-seventies, young bands were playing the old tunes and ballads with
electric instruments, sophisticated arrangements and the driving rhythms of
the rock music they had grown up with. The Wonderful Grand Band was
perhaps the most popular of the new traditional groups. But Figgy Duff left a
towering legacy, bringing the music to national and international festivals
and recording albums of traditional and original material.

Figgy Duff - along with other young musicians like Anita Best, Kelly Russell
and Jim Payne - also helped search out and shine a spotlight on some of
the best players of the older generation. Émile Benoit, Rufus Guinchard and
Minnie White were among those who toured the island and the world. They
were all over the age of 60 by the time they became public performers.

The 1970s and 1980s were also a time when the term "Newfoundland
music" broadened, as audiences and musicians confidently embraced
indigenous and outside influences. Rock, pop and blues thrived at
nightclubs and high school dances. A solid classical and choral music
community took shape, centred on the Memorial University School of Music
and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. A few notable jazz players
emerged, including the Jeff Johnston Trio, now recognized as one of
Canada's finest jazz groups.

The last decade has seen unprecedented optimism about the commercial
potential of Newfoundland music. Showcased and glamorized by the East
Coast Music Awards, Atlantic Canadian music has been promoted as an
industry, an untapped economic resource. For many Newfoundlanders the
packaging and star-making style of the entertainment industry is a poor fit.
Ron Hynes, for example, recorded two albums for the multi-national
company EMI, but has since returned to being an independent artist and
composer based in St. John's. But others have prospered in the
mainstream. The Irish Descendants released several gold records. The
Thomas Trio and the Red Albino were briefly considered one of Canada's
most promising rock groups before breaking up in the early 1990s.

The province's greatest musical success story is Great Big Sea, a quartet
based in St. John's that has enjoyed a hugely successful national career.
With the proven combination of traditional material and original
pop-oriented songs, GBS brings Newfoundland music to a younger and
larger Canadian audience than it has ever reached before.

The latest wave of activity has also focused new interest on aboriginal
music and the music of Labrador. With his songs celebrating the land and
its people, Harry Martin is perhaps Labrador's most popular artist. At the
2001 East Coast Music Awards both Martin and the Flummies, a Labrador
folk group, were nominated for Aboriginal Artist of the Year. Others to
emerge recently include David Penashue, whose band Tipatchimun plays
rock music with lyrics sung in Innu. On the island, the Mi'kMacs of Conne
River released a recording of drum and choir music.

As is the case everywhere, most musicians in Newfoundland and Labrador
struggle to make a living. Playing to enthusiastic but small audiences at
local clubs, concerts and festivals is not a lucrative venture. But talented
composers, singers and players continue to emerge, live music flourishes
(particularly in the clubs of St. John's) and technological changes have
made it easier and cheaper to make quality recordings. There are now
more local recordings in record stores than ever before.

The most obvious ways the contemporary Newfoundland musician bears
little resemblance to the outport balladeer or fiddle player of centuries past.
But the spirit behind the music suggests a direct link between old and new.
Like their ancestors, today's singers and players follow a do-it-yourself
ethic, combine outside and local influences, encourage experimentation,
and treat their musical heritage with both respect and irreverence. It is a
formula that guarantees the continued the vitality of the music in years to
come.

© 2001, Jamie Fitzpatrick
Our Music, Our Heritage
Phil Grimes
The NL Traditional Songwriters Festival