Although the live show is a Great Big Sea specialty, they have also put out six extremely successful studio albums, one live record and a concert DVD.  The band's newest CD, "Something Beautiful" is due to be released on February 24 in Canada and March 9 in the United States.

     Unlike most other bands, Great Big Sea utilizes an incredible combination of traditional and modern instruments to achieve their unique pop-rock sound.  Their music combines traditional Newfoundland music with a rock feeling while using only acoustic instruments.  In fact, it was only on the "No Cares Tour" in 2002 that the band toured with a full-time drummer.

     Great Big Sea was formed in 1993 when Alan Doyle (vocals, guitars, bouzouki), Séan McCann (vocals, guitars, bodhran), Bob Hallett (accordions, whistles, bouzouki, mandolin, fiddle, mandola) and Darrell Power (bass, bones), combined to form this unique group.  The band got it's start in the pubs of Atlantic Canada and soon released it's debut self-titled album which was later re-released by Warner Music.  The band's sophomore album, Up, was released in 1995 and went platinum in July 1996.  Great Big Sea's third release, Play (1997), went platinum in only 3 months and took six months to go double-platinum.  In 1998, the band released Rant & Roar, a compilation of songs from Up and Play for the folks south of the border.  The band's 1999 album, Turn, went platinum in only 3 weeks.  On the Turn tour, the band recorded every night and in 2000, they released Road Rage, their first live album.  Their latest release, Sea Of No Cares, has done well in the shops, spawned the band's largest tour ever and expanded their musical sounds. 

     Although Great Big Sea wields a vast array of albums, singles and videos, they are primarily a live band.  The band members all agree that playing live is the best thing to do in music.  Their shows pack so much energy, volume and pure love for the music that by the opening chords of the first song, everyone is on their feet, singing, dancing and shouting.  One of the most remarkable thing about the live shows is the vast age differences in the audience.  You can have an 80 year old dancing right next to an 8 year old!  The band plays about 250 shows a year and is currently planning a huge Canadian tour in support of their new album.

     In January of 2003, original bassist Darrell Power left the band for family reasons although they still remain on good terms.  He was replaced by bassist Murray Foster from the band Moxy Fruvous. Percussionist  Kris MacFarlane rounds out the group with his contributions on drums as well as accordion and guitar.  The band's newest studio album, Something Beautiful*" was released on February 24 in Canada and March 9 south of the border.

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     Séan McCann was born in the small fishing town of Carbonear  in Conception Bay, Newfoundland.  When he was five, he moved to St. Johns with his family where he eventually ended up at Memorial University.   It was at Memorial that he met Bob with whom he formed the "Newfoundland Republican Army." Later they met Darrell Power and together they formed Rankin Street.  Rankin Street was dissolved and reformed into Great Big Sea when Alan showed up.

     Séan is the one member of Great Big Sea who seems to enjoy a major change every few months. He can be counted on to have a new hairstyle or wardrobe.  On stage he plays guitar most of the time but occasionaly brings out the Bodhran and is even known to play the whistle.  He also played snare on the band's earlier recordings. Séan provides about half the lead vocals for the band including most of their a capella numbers.

Sean was born on the 22nd of May and refers to himself as "a hopelessly confused schizophrenic Gemini."  Séan's favourite colour is green and he enjoys cooking, mountain biking and jogging.

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     Alan joined his uncle Leonard's band, "The New Sandells" at age 15 playing the guitar and many other bands followed.  He eventually found himself playing a bar-room duo aplty named "Staggering Home."  It was while playing in St. Johns that Alan met his partners in crime, Séan, Bob and Darrell who were already playing in a band called Rankin Street.  Not long afterwards, Great Big Sea was formed and the rest is history.

     While Alan mainly plays guitar on stage, he drags out a bouzouki every once and a while for tunes like Jack Hinks or Paddy Murphy.  Alan sings about half of Great Big Sea's repetoire.

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     Bob is the only member of the band from St. Johns where he grew up in the far west end of the city.  From an early age he was encouraged to play music and soon mastered the guitar, tin whistle and button accordion, which, oddly enough he plays upside-down.  It wasn't until the age of 20 that he picked up the fiddle.   It was at Memorial University that Bob met Séan McCann and together they formed the "Newfoundland Republican Army."  The "NRA" turned into Rankin Street when Darrell arrived and lated Great Big Sea with Alan.

     Bob is the band's multi-instrumentalist playing, at one time or antother, button accordion, bouzouki, mandolin, mandola, fiddle, banjo and various whistles.  Bob generally writes a couple of songs for each album and they are probably the deepest songs on the records. Bob also designed all the band's early publicity material.   On stage Bob is the quiet one who rarely (never) engages in antics with Alan and Séan but he is also tremendoulsy fun to watch as he beats out tunes on his many instruments.

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