PREVIEW
What: The Concert for Hope Help Home featuring Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Gypsies
When: Friday, 8 p.m.
Where: McPherson Playhouse, 3 Centennial Square
Tickets: Sold out
Musicians in Canada are uniquely positioned to help others, especially as the holidays approach, singer-songwriter Alan Doyle says.
“It’s the time of year [that] if you’re a musician, and have a day or two in your calendar to give back to your community, somebody could probably use it,” Doyle, formerly of Great Big Sea, said Wednesday from a tour stop in Portland, Oregon.
“I’ve long touted the role of the Canadian music industry in charitable work in this country,” he said. “I would love to know much money the Canadian music industry has raised for charity. It would be staggering.”
Doyle knows whereof he speaks. Back home in St. John’s, N.L., he sits on several boards and committees for fundraising groups. For his efforts, he was feted last month with a 2016 Humanitarian Award from the Canadian Red Cross, Newfoundland and Labrador.
For the past few weeks, Doyle and his solo band, the Beautiful Gypsies — which includes Victoria fiddler Kendel Carson — have been touring Canada and the U.S., with fundraising stops in between. Doyle and Co. will be in Victoria Friday for the Concert for Hope Help Home, a sold-out fundraiser for Community Living Victoria.
Doyle has campaigned often in support of the Community Living Society of Canada, which supports people with developmental disabilities.
“It makes me proud to be a part of a long tradition of Newfoundlanders helping people when they need help. As a Newfoundlander, it’s not just who I am, it’s who we are as a people. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rich doctor or a folk singer, you do what you can and everyone is better for it.”
The concert sold out three months ago, and will add to the $500,000 that Community Living Victoria concerts such as this one have raised during the series’ 10-year run.
Doyle has a new book out and an album he’s preparing to release in 2017. The new record with the Beautiful Gypsies will be produced by Bob Rock, who has helmed recordings for everyone from Michael Bublé to Metallica. Doyle said he has no doubt the record will sound amazing, his contributions aside. “I’m the worst one in the band by so long, it’s not even funny. It’s like standing in the middle of a tsunami every night.”
Music is a focal point for all facets of Doyle’s life and drives his daily thinking.
He enjoyed an incredible run with Great Big Sea, which has not officially ruled out a return, and his musical memoir, Where I Belong, about growing up in the fishing village of Petty Harbour, N.L., had a distinct lyrical quality. Fans should expect the unexpected when he performs at the McPherson Playhouse.
“The band is so versatile, we can do a bunch of songs from Newfoundland, traditional songs, Great Big Sea songs and a bunch of my own. If something shows up on the day of a show and it feels like we should be doing a John Cougar song because it’s his birthday, we’ll do that.”