RO: How did Great Big Sea catch on with the rest of Canada?
BH: Two factors. One, there was a brief burst of media interest in - I hate to use the word Celtic; that's not the word we would use - but that kind of thing, due to Riverdance and whatnot. That kind of gave us a toe in the door. The other factor is that we had this huge repertoire of interesting folk and traditional music that was literally unheard outside of our own backyards.
So whereas people who would grow up in Austin or whatever might not necessarily be able to draw on this huge folk tradition that was unknown yet fascinating, we were able to do that. That was the two big factors, plus a fairly brutal work ethic. We wanted it really bad, too, so we drove around the continent in a station wagon for ten years. Lots of people say they want to do that, but, you know, after a year or two they change their minds.
RO: How long does it actually take to drive across Canada?
BH: To drive from here to Vancouver would take me a good two weeks. That would be a series of 12-hour days.
RO: Has the band toured much in the States? How often do you get down this way?
BH: I would say it's about three-quarters of our time these days. We haven't spent much time in Texas for complex reasons, but we have toured widely in most of America for the better part of a decade. Despite operating completely under the media radar, at least in terms of things like
Letterman, we've been able to amass a massive audience in the United States to the point where we're headlining big festivals on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
RO: What kind of festivals?
BH: The big outdoor sheds, like Wolftrap in Washington, Millennium [Park] in Chicago, lots of Celtic and Irish festivals all over the continent. Again, it's a case of really hard work and amassing an audience through word of mouth and personal contact. It takes a long time, but it also creates a level of loyalty and interest in the band.
RO: But you haven't been to Texas much.
BH: No. The main reason is it's just so far from where we live. Most of our tours, due to the Byzantine tax regime under which we operate, require us to drive from border cities, so most of our tours start in Buffalo or St. Croix, Maine, places that are relatively accessible from where we live. Texas becomes an unbelievable haul from there (laughs). What's unusual about this tour is we're actually starting in Dallas, which is pretty much unheard of for us.
RO: Tell me a little about your previous band, the Newfoundland Republican Army.
BH: I personally came out of the hardcore punk scene in St. John's. St. John's is very European in outlook and accent, as you can hear, so punk rock took hold here and thrived when it was still a bit of a joke elsewhere in North America.
We took the whole do-it-yourself political agenda very seriously, and when I started moving more into traditional music, it was sort of natural to take some of that - how do I put it? - aggro along with me (laughs). It looked good on paper, but honestly, Newfoundland Republican Army was a bit of an unwieldy operation.
RO: Is there any of that spirit, if not quite the sound, in Great Big Sea?
BH: The spirit is there. I wouldn't say we're particularly political. Canadian politics would be an entire interview. The way politics operates in Canada is very, very different from the way it operates in America, particularly in Newfoundland. But certainly the idea of do it yourself and take control of your situation has been Great Big Sea's mantra from day one.
Plus that kind of approach to performing, where you're trying to get people engaged and involved. We're not one of these folk bands that just sits there and plays a concert like the Chieftains. Our concerts are something where people definitely have to deal with us and participate in, and that makes a big difference. That definitely comes out of our punk ideals.