Son of a Sailor

As a follow up to last year’s release, Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes, Great Big Sea’s Séan McCann returns with the release of his second solo effort, Son of a Sailor, on February 8, 2011.

Having grown up in Newfoundland and spending nearly 18 years touring with the band, it’s not difficult to hear the musical and maritime influences on songs like “Rather Be a Sailor” and the title track. Drawing inspiration from the road, family, home, love and longing, Son of a Sailor provides the listener with a collection of first person narratives.

Whether it’s told from a barstool or a battlefield, each track invites the listener to briefly live in the life of another. “The Reply (the ballad of John and Mary)” tells a heartfelt love story that explores a love affair lasting over decades and “Soldier’s Song” profiles a soldier at war, longing to get home to his or her family. More personal moments include the title track, which honours Séan’s family roots in the Newfoundland fishery.

Accompanying the captivating lyrics, the album is filled with dynamic instrumentation and lush background vocals provided by seasoned players, including Boyd MacNeil of the Barra MacNeil’s, Figgy Duff’s Kelly Russell, and his Great Big Sea bandmates. With several of the 10 album tracks recorded in the back lounge of a tour bus, it’s not hard to imagine the driver turning down the radio and tuning in to the first passes of “Back to You”.

Séan writes:

The writing of songs has become a bit of a distraction for me of late. Long nights on the road mated with extended periods of time off have confused my Gemini mind sufficiently to convince it that poetry melting into melody can make sense of my world. As my parents get older and my children grow, I find myself more and more seeking solace in song. It is a safe place I can go to work out problems and wish away unwanted emotions. Over the past year these ten “scenarios” have become my closest companions. Like loyal dogs they walk with me over life’s hills and valleys and help me remember that I am never really alone.

If you listen closely, you may find a new friend here.

Songwriting has become my method of self preservation. It has given me a reason to remain focused in an increasingly distracted world. Life is short and Truth is relative. Whether we be Soldiers or Lovers, Sailors or Sons, in the end we will all be remembered by the stories we leave behind……and I am still trying to tell some good ones.

Lullabies For Bloodshot Eyes

Inspired by the birth of his sons, Great Big Sea’s Séan McCann chronicles the beginnings of his journey through fatherhood on the solo debut Lullabies For Bloodshot Eyes. “The arrival of my two sons prompted a fundamental change in my disposition,” confides Séan, “for the first time in my life, someone else mattered more to me than I did…and I was terrified.”

The responsibility for a new life can be overwhelming for many parents, but not many choose to chronicle their experiences in a disc of dreamy lullabies and late night elegies. “These songs were born of the simple fears of a new father; failure, loss, and living up to the hopes and dreams of brand new eyes,” recalls McCann. “When I was a boy the world seemed brighter…and it’s good to feel that light once again…even though it scares me.”

The bittersweet opener “Somewhere (for Finnegan) was written for his son Finnegan after kissing him good-bye at the airport to resume touring, “I guess this was my way of finding the bright side of the situation. Things could always be worse.” Final track “Don’t Cry (for Keegan)” captures those first few moments after birth when, “I swear I could see right through him. Translucent. He looked at me with black alien eyes as I picked him up as if to say ‘please don’t drop me’… And I won’t.”

Others, such as the whiskey soaked “Hold Me Steady” (written by Rick Hartley) recall a bygone era of late nights and invincible youth: “at the Rose and Thistle circa 1999, I knew immediately this was a classic…I’d just bought my first guitar and was eager to learn. [Rick] taught me to play a D7, but I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

“Wish” written for his “beautiful and very patient wife” captures the isolation of the road when “wishing is a good way to pass the time” while the tongue-in-cheek duet “Lazy Lover” chronicles the struggles of parents to make time to be lovers.

When he’s not on the road, Séan returns home to his native St. John’s to write and spend time with his family. He is currently working on the upcoming Great Big Sea release, due out this summer.