Newfoundland and Labrador music’s biggest musical acts are set to release a new tribute album to the late Ron Hynes, the singer often dubbed “the man of a thousand songs.”
Sonny Don’t Go: A Tribute to Ron Hynes features 20 of Hynes’ best-known songs, and the roster of cover artists includes many of the province’s best-known artists, including Alan Doyle, Kellie Loder, The Once, Shanneyganock and Amelia Curran, to name a few.
Doyle co-produced the album with collaborator Cory Tetford as a way to recognize the legacy of Hynes, who died at age 64 in 2015 after a battle with cancer.
“As soon as Ron passed away, I feel like a dozen or more of us in St. John’s and the neighboring music scene instantly thought about paying tribute to Ron in some way,” Doyle said.
“Then, of course, the pandemic hit and suddenly everyone was available and it was probably doable,” Doyle told CBC Radio. weekend morning.
Doyle’s manager, Louie Thomas, brought the project to the label he runs, Sonic Entertainment.
“We thought it was the perfect time to try to bring a group of people together to honor Ron’s legacy and catalog,” Doyle said.
Doyle and his team rented a small house in the Battery neighborhood of St. John’s, overlooking the same harbor that Hynes immortalized in Waltz of Saint John, which Doyle himself covers with the Dardanelles, the folk band fronted by Q host Tom Power, to record some of the smaller cuts like The Fortunate Ones and Ennis Sisters.
In July, a CBC television network filming a documentary about Beaumont Hamel captured an emotional moment between Doyle and the owners of a Belgian farm where Tommy Ricketts was awarded the Victoria Cross. Doyle sang a signature Ron Hynes song as a thank you.
They were also given the use of the Devon House in downtown St. John’s, where artists such as Shanneyganock and members of the Wonderful Grand Band (Sandy Morris, Paul “Boomer” Stamp and Glenn Simmons) recorded, at a time Doyle says It was surreal.
“Having the Grand Band play music together was a very important moment for me because of course I grew up listening to the Grand Band,” Doyle said of the artists seen weekly on the CBC series in the early ’80s. WGB.
“They became an integral part of Ron’s development as a solo artist and effectively became his band for a long time, and it was great to have them there.”
Doyle said it didn’t take long for people to agree to be a part of the album, and the first 20 people asked said they wanted to be a part of it.
That being said, I was nervous about taking on the project.
“Dealing with Ron’s songs in Newfoundland and Labrador is like recording the Bible or something,” he said.
“I didn’t take this project lightly. It was a project I was passionate about. [and] everyone who came through the door.”
Ron Hynes tells stories and performs for a live audience.
Doyle said Hynes’ legacy includes not only his vast catalog of songs, but also a successful career that helped others appreciate his home as a source material.
“We hear ourselves in Ron’s songs. And we hear our stories, the voices of our moms and dads, the voices of our grandparents and the voices of our friends in a way that was never heard on commercial radio,” he said Doyle.
“We felt that Ron made it not only okay for us to sing and write about our own backyard here, but also essential to write about it. Ron’s greatness gave us all the license to be ourselves, and I think it was in Hindsight, that’s all.” been irreplaceable.”
All-star list of artists
Sonny Don’t Go: A Tribute to Ron Hynes It will be released on physical and digital platforms on October 20.
Here is a complete list of the artists and the Hynes song they cover:
- Tim Baker Setting off with the evening tide
- Amelia Curran and Duane Andrews dark river
- Quote the crow – Godspeed (Requiem by Gene MacLellan)
- Alan Doyle and the Dardanelles – Waltz of Saint John
- The time – Atlantic blue
- Jodee Richardson The crybaby’s paradise
- Mallory Johnson River of no return
- Joel Thomas Hynes last chance avenue
- Ennis Sisters lonely song
- Matthew Byrne 1962
- Barry Canning Where do you get off?
- Cory Tetford – Shine like diamonds
- Glenn Simmons Image of Dorian Gray
- Yvette Lorena Where does love go wrong?
- Tattered Rum – Home
- Shanneyganock – If I leave you alone with my heart
- Lucky ones – There is no change in me
- Silver Wolf Band – Dry
- Mick Davis Recover change
- Kellie Loder – Sonny’s dream
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