For more than 25 years Alan Doyle has been charming audiences across the country and beyond, first as a member of Newfoundland’s beloved Great Big Sea and for the past eight years as a solo artist, starting with 2012’s critically acclaimed Boy On Bridge.
It’s not hard to understand why Doyle has done as well as he has.
The pride of Petty Harbour writes material that reaches across genres and across generations to connect with all manner of people.
He does so again with Rough Side Out, his first new project since 2017’s A Week at the Warehouse.
Released on Valentine’s Day, Rough Side Out is a seven-song EP that runs just a hair under 25 minutes but more than makes up for its brevity by delivering one prime track after another. It’s a classic case of quality over quantity.
While Doyle hasn’t abandoned his traditional Newfoundland Celtic roots – and I don’t believe he ever will – fans will find a much stronger country influence at play on this record than they’ve heard until now. That influence is very much in play on tracks like “We Don’t Wanna Go Home”, his duet with Canadian country star Dean Brody.
This is Doyle’s second outing with Brody who brought Great Big Sea on board in 2012 to record It’s Friday with him for his Platinum-selling Dirt album.
And Brody isn’t the only country artist to appear on the record.
Three-time CCMA female artist of the year Jess Moskaluke joins Doyle for a classic country duet on What the Whiskey Won't Do, a powerful song about a couple turning to the bottle in order to get over each other. The song serves as a reminder of the dangers of overindulgence.
Doyle, whose natural charisma and sense of humour is eclipsed only by his magnetic stage presence, says he realized the door to the country music world was open to him and other East Coast Celtic-leaning artists when he first worked with Brody.
“My personal journey with the whole thing has been very organic,” Doyle said. “When my parents weren’t listening to traditional folk music, they were listening to country music on the radio. So, when I began creating my own musical identity, I was inspired by artists who were able to blend those two worlds.”
Fast Facts
- Doyle embarked this week on a 34-date Canadian tour in support of Rough Side Out.
- That tour will bring Doyle to P.E.I. on April 7th for a show in Summerside at Harbourfront Theatre. Shows will follow over the next several days in Moncton, Halifax, Fredericton and Saint John.
- Doyle will be touring with his powerhouse 6-piece band and special guest Kelly Prescott. Every ticket purchased comes with a physical copy of the EP and one dollar from each ticket sold for this show will go to support the A Dollar A Day Foundation. Every dollar collected goes directly into the hands of proven Mental Health and Addictions programs across the country.
The country influence on Rough Side Out can also be seen on Doyle’s songwriting and production team which includes frequent collaborators Donovan Woods and Todd Clark.
Doyle said the songs on this record all have strong personal meaning to me.
He believes the best songwriters in any genre are the ones who can look in their own backyard and find something they want to sing about.
“In a way, that’s why I wanted to call this record Rough Side Out. It’s a Newfoundland expression I love and have used before that refers to clapboard that’s only sanded on one side. Houses in Newfoundland always have the rough side out because it holds the paint better, but it’s also a metaphor for who we are as people. Most of us have the rough side out – in the best possible way, of course.”
Other gems on this record include the anthemic We’re Gonna Love Tonight, described as a celebration of freedom aimed at bringing people together, It’s OK, a beautiful ballad, and a wicked cover of John Mellencamp’s Paper In Fire. That track features the work of Doyle’s acclaimed fiddle player Kendel Carson.
The closing track, a beauty of a song called I Gotta Go" contains one of the best choruses Doyle has ever penned and goes as follows:
I gotta go go go
Another airplane, another show
Twenty songs if they love me
Only eighteen if they don’t.
Rough Side Out has hit written all over it.
(Rating 4 out of 5 stars)
Doug Gallant is a freelance writer and well-known connoisseur of a wide variety of music. His On Track column will appear in The Guardian every second Saturday. To comment on what he has to say or to offer suggestions for future reviews, email him at [email protected].
